¿Qué es?
El Past Simple se usa para hablar de acciones, eventos y situaciones que comenzaron y terminaron en el pasado.
Ejemplos:
- I visited my friend yesterday.
- She worked from home last week.
- They went to the cinema.
Los verbos regulares generalmente forman el Past Simple con -ed.
- work → worked
- play → played
- clean → cleaned
Los verbos irregulares tienen formas de pasado especiales.
- go → went
- see → saw
- buy → bought
- have → had
Cuándo usarlo
Usa el Past Simple para:
- acciones completadas en el pasado: I finished the report yesterday.
- una serie de acciones completadas: She opened the door, walked inside, and sat down.
- hábitos pasados: We played outside every day.
- situaciones pasadas que ya no son ciertas: He lived in London for five years.
- acciones en un momento específico del pasado: They arrived at 8 p.m.
Expresiones de tiempo pasado comunes incluyen:
- yesterday
- last night
- last week
- two days ago
- in 2020
- when I was a child
Estructura
Oraciones afirmativas
Para verbos regulares, usa:
sujeto + verbo-ed
| Sujeto | Verbo | Ejemplo |
|---|---|---|
| I | worked | I worked yesterday. |
| She | played | She played tennis. |
| They | visited | They visited us. |
Para verbos irregulares, usa la forma de pasado especial.
| Verbo base | Forma de pasado | Ejemplo |
|---|---|---|
| go | went | We went home. |
| see | saw | I saw Anna. |
| buy | bought | He bought a car. |
| take | took | She took the bus. |
La forma de pasado es la misma para todos los sujetos.
- I worked.
- He worked.
- They worked.
Oraciones negativas
Usa:
sujeto + did not + verbo base
La forma corta de did not es didn’t.
- I did not call him.
- She didn’t go to work.
- They didn’t understand the question.
Después de didn’t, usa la forma base del verbo.
Preguntas
Usa:
Did + sujeto + verbo base?
- Did you call her?
- Did he finish the task?
- Did they arrive on time?
Respuestas cortas
- Did you see him? — Yes, I did.
- Did she call? — No, she didn’t.
- Did they leave? — Yes, they did.
Ortografía de los verbos regulares
| Regla | Verbo base | Forma de pasado |
|---|---|---|
| La mayoría de los verbos: añade -ed | work | worked |
| Verbos que terminan en -e: añade -d | live | lived |
| Consonante + y: cambia y a i y añade -ed | study | studied |
| Vocal corta acentuada + consonante: duplica la consonante final | stop | stopped |
Ejemplos
- I watched a film last night.
- She called me yesterday.
- We visited our grandparents on Sunday.
- He bought a new laptop.
- They didn’t come to the meeting.
- I didn’t understand the question.
- Did you finish your homework?
- Did she take the bus?
- We lived in Calgary for three years.
- He opened the window and turned on the light.
Excepciones
El verbo to be no usa did en preguntas y negaciones en Past Simple.
- I was tired.
- They were at home.
- She wasn’t ready.
- Were you busy?
Algunos verbos son irregulares y no usan -ed.
- come → came
- write → wrote
- make → made
- find → found
Las formas irregulares deben aprenderse individualmente.
Errores comunes
-
Incorrecto: I goed to work yesterday. Correcto: I went to work yesterday. Explicación: Go es irregular. Su forma de pasado es went.
-
Incorrecto: She didn’t went home. Correcto: She didn’t go home. Explicación: Usa el verbo base después de didn’t.
-
Incorrecto: Did you saw him? Correcto: Did you see him? Explicación: Usa el verbo base después de did.
-
Incorrecto: He work yesterday. Correcto: He worked yesterday. Explicación: Usa la forma de Past Simple para una acción completada en el pasado.
-
Incorrecto: They was late. Correcto: They were late. Explicación: Usa were con they.
-
Incorrecto: I didn’t called her. Correcto: I didn’t call her. Explicación: No uses la forma de pasado después de didn’t.
-
Incorrecto: Did she finished the task? Correcto: Did she finish the task? Explicación: Usa la forma base después de did.
-
Incorrecto: We studyed English yesterday. Correcto: We studied English yesterday. Explicación: Cambia consonante + y a i antes de añadir -ed.