The past simple

The past simple

by Alessandro Ursic, PC MUIC

​Look at the verb in the following sentences:

1. ​I graduated in Marketing two years ago.

2. ​In the past, families had more children than today.

3. ​Yesterday you went to a shopping mall.

4. ​When my parents were young, they did not have much money.

Notice how all of these actions or situations were completed at some point in the past:

1. ​I graduated in Marketing two years ago.

2. ​In the past, families had more children than today.

3. ​Yesterday you went to a shopping mall.

4. ​When my parents were young, they did not have much money.

Things to remember about the past simple:

• In Thai, verbs don't change in the past. However, in English they do!

• ​For regular verbs, the past simple is easy: simply add "-ed" to the base form of the verb. For example:

​

​to play ----> played

​to love ----> loved

• ​Many verbs are irregular, and you need to learn the past simple form (also called "V2" in some tables of verbs) by heart. For example:

​to teach ----> taught

​to go ----> went

​Here are some common irregular verbs:

​V1

​to be

​to have

​to eat

​to drink

​to break

​to become

​to find

​to rise

​V2

was/were

had

ate

drank

​broke

became

found

rose

​V3

been

had

eaten

drunk

​broken

become

found

risen

Negative verbs in the past simple:

• ​It's actually quite easy. Simply use "did + not + V1". For example:

I did not play football yesterday.

She did not go to school last week.

• ​However, if the verb is "to be", simply add "not" after "was" or "were":

I/he/she was not tired yesterday.

We/you/they were not at home last week.

​The movie was not interesting.

Multiple Choice

Last year my father _______ a new car.

• buy

• bought

• will buy

• buyed

Multiple Choice

I ______ to a new restaurant two weeks ago.

• goed

• go

• went

• gone

Multiple Choice

My teacher _________ us the date of the exam.

• not told

• did not told

• was not tell

• did not tell

Multiple Choice

My mother _______ happy when I told her that I failed the exam.

• was not

• is not

• did not be

• were not