Past Simple with Regular Verbs

When do we use the past simple? We use the past simple for actions, situations, and events that happened and finished in the past. The time may be stated directly with expressions such as yesterday, last night, last week, or two days ago. For example, “I watched a movie last night” describes a completed action at a finished time in the past. How do regular verbs form the past simple? Most regular verbs form the past simple by adding -ed to the base form: work → worked and clean → cleaned. If a verb already ends in -e, we normally add only -d: live → lived. Some verbs need a spelling change before the ending is added, such as study → studied and stop → stopped. Positive sentences In a positive past simple sentence, we use the past form of the verb after the subject. The form is the same for every subject: I worked, she worked, and they worked. There is no special third-person form for he, she, or it in the past simple. Negative sentences To make a negative sentence, use did not or the contraction didn't followed by the base form of the main verb: “She didn't work yesterday.” Do not use the past form after didn't. The sentence “She didn't worked yesterday” is incorrect because did already carries the past-time meaning. Questions in the past simple For most yes/no questions, put did before the subject and use the base form of the main verb: “Did you call him?” With a question word, a common pattern is question word + did + subject + base verb: “Where did you stay?” Again, the main verb does not take -ed after did.