Form: past simple
verb-ed
Affirmative
| Subject | Verb (past tense) | |
|---|---|---|
| I You He/She/It We You They |
arrived | yesterday. |
In the case of regular verbs, the past simple is formed by adding -ed to the base form of the verb for all persons. Note the changes in spelling:
look » looked
stay » stayed
arrive » arrived (we only add -d if the verb ends in -e)
try » tried (a final -y changes to -i- after a consonant)
stop » stopped (we double the final consonant if the verb ends in consonant-vowel-consonant)
A number of verbs have irregular past forms. A few examples are:
buy » bought
fly » flew
hit » hit
shine » shone
swim » swam
See the Appendix for a list of the most common irregular verbs in English.
Negative
In the negative, we use the auxiliary did + not followed by the bare infinitive:
| Subject | Auxiliary | not | Verb (bare infinitive) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| I You He/She/It We You They |
did | not | arrive | in time. |
The contracted form didn't is often used instead of did not in spoken and in informal written language.
Interrogative
In the interrogative, we use the auxiliary did followed by the subject and the bare infinitive:
| (Question word) | Auxiliary | Subject | Verb (bare infinitive) |
|---|---|---|---|
| (When) | did | I you he/she/it we you they |
arrive? |
The verb BE in the past simple
The verb be has irregular past tense forms. In the past simple, the auxiliary did is not used in the negative or interrogative if the main verb is be:
| Affirmative | Negative | Interrogative |
|---|---|---|
| I was at home. You were at home. He/She/It was at home. We were at home. You were at home. They were at home. |
I was not at home. You were not at home. He/She/It was not at home. We were not at home. You were not at home. They were not at home. |
Was I at home? Were you at home? Was he/she/it at home? Were we at home? Were you at home? Were they at home? |
The contracted forms wasn't and weren't are often used instead of was not and were not in spoken and in informal written language.
