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Grammar Guide

Rules, patterns and examples grouped by level — from A1 basics to advanced structures.

A1 Beginner English Grammar

Past Simple

What is it?

The Past Simple is used to talk about actions, events, and situations that started and finished in the past.

Examples:

  • I visited my friend yesterday.
  • She worked from home last week.
  • They went to the cinema.

Regular verbs usually form the Past Simple with -ed.

  • work → worked
  • play → played
  • clean → cleaned

Irregular verbs have special past forms.

  • go → went
  • see → saw
  • buy → bought
  • have → had

When to use

Use the Past Simple for:

  • completed actions in the past: I finished the report yesterday.
  • a series of completed actions: She opened the door, walked inside, and sat down.
  • past habits: We played outside every day.
  • past situations that are no longer true: He lived in London for five years.
  • actions at a specific past time: They arrived at 8 p.m.

Common past time expressions include:

  • yesterday
  • last night
  • last week
  • two days ago
  • in 2020
  • when I was a child

Structure

Positive sentences

For regular verbs, use:

subject + verb-ed

Subject Verb Example
I worked I worked yesterday.
She played She played tennis.
They visited They visited us.

For irregular verbs, use the special past form.

Base verb Past form Example
go went We went home.
see saw I saw Anna.
buy bought He bought a car.
take took She took the bus.

The past form is the same for every subject.

  • I worked.
  • He worked.
  • They worked.

Negative sentences

Use:

subject + did not + base verb

The short form of did not is didn’t.

  • I did not call him.
  • She didn’t go to work.
  • They didn’t understand the question.

After didn’t, use the base form of the verb.

Questions

Use:

Did + subject + base verb?

  • Did you call her?
  • Did he finish the task?
  • Did they arrive on time?

Short answers

  • Did you see him? — Yes, I did.
  • Did she call? — No, she didn’t.
  • Did they leave? — Yes, they did.

Spelling of regular verbs

Rule Base verb Past form
Most verbs: add -ed work worked
Verbs ending in -e: add -d live lived
Consonant + y: change y to i and add -ed study studied
Short stressed vowel + consonant: double the final consonant stop stopped

Examples

  1. I watched a film last night.
  2. She called me yesterday.
  3. We visited our grandparents on Sunday.
  4. He bought a new laptop.
  5. They didn’t come to the meeting.
  6. I didn’t understand the question.
  7. Did you finish your homework?
  8. Did she take the bus?
  9. We lived in Calgary for three years.
  10. He opened the window and turned on the light.

Exceptions

The verb to be does not use did in Past Simple questions and negatives.

  • I was tired.
  • They were at home.
  • She wasn’t ready.
  • Were you busy?

Some verbs are irregular and do not use -ed.

  • come → came
  • write → wrote
  • make → made
  • find → found

Irregular forms must be learned individually.

Common mistakes

  1. Incorrect: I goed to work yesterday. Correct: I went to work yesterday. Explanation: Go is irregular. Its past form is went.

  2. Incorrect: She didn’t went home. Correct: She didn’t go home. Explanation: Use the base verb after didn’t.

  3. Incorrect: Did you saw him? Correct: Did you see him? Explanation: Use the base verb after did.

  4. Incorrect: He work yesterday. Correct: He worked yesterday. Explanation: Use the Past Simple form for a completed past action.

  5. Incorrect: They was late. Correct: They were late. Explanation: Use were with they.

  6. Incorrect: I didn’t called her. Correct: I didn’t call her. Explanation: Do not use the past form after didn’t.

  7. Incorrect: Did she finished the task? Correct: Did she finish the task? Explanation: Use the base form after did.

  8. Incorrect: We studyed English yesterday. Correct: We studied English yesterday. Explanation: Change consonant + y to i before adding -ed.