In English Past Indefinite Tense, or simply Past Simple, the rules have not too complicated.The main thing - to understand them thoroughly.Furthermore, the present time is the one most commonly used in English.So, Past Simple - a simple past tense is used mainly to describe the completed action in the past, as well as to describe recurring once events.
Past Simple Rules state that the bulk of verbs the past tense is formed by adding -ed to the base end of the regular verbs (regular):
We played different games.- We played different games.
There is, however, a few special cases, the end of the connection.Consider them:
| End infinitive | verb ending in Past Simple | Examples |
| -e or is its | only -d | love - loved(love - love), agree - agreed (disagree - agree), type - typed (print - printed) |
| single vowel in front of which is a short stroke (except for w and x) | agree toAfter infinitive doubles | hug - hugged (hug - hug), stop-stopped (stop - stops), admit - admitted (to admit - admitted) |
| vowel -y | -y replaced by-i | worry - worried (worried - worried), copy - copied (copying - copying), |
Incorrect same verbs (irregular) have three forms, each of which will have to memorize.It soothes one - such exceptions in the English language is not so much:
I read "Harry Potter" yesterday.- Yesterday I was reading "Harry Potter."
Interrogative sentences in the present time with the participation of the auxiliary verb did (do the second verb form), occupying the place in front of a noun (subject).The main verb remains unchanged:
Did we play?- We played?
In drawing up specific issues verb Assistant did well placed before the subject, and to put the necessary auxiliary verb interrogative pronoun:
When did he come?- When he came?
Why did you cry?- Why are you crying (a)?
Denial is customary for the English rule.Past Simple is no exception:
We did not play.- We did not play.
Instead, «did not» often is used to reduce the turnover of «did not».
Here is a table with examples of the use of Past Simple (rules of making affirmative, interrogative and negative forms with regular and irregular verbs):
| Affirmative offers | ||
| person | number | |
|
singular | pl | |
| 1 | I loved / went | We loved / went |
| 2 | You loved / went | You loved / went |
| 3 | He, She, It loved / went | They loved / went |
| Interrogative sentences | ||
| 1 | Did I love / go?(yes, I did) | Did we love / go?(yes, we did) |
| 2 | Did you love / go?(yes, you did) | Did you love / go?(yes, you did) |
| 3 | Did he, she, it love / go?(yes, he, she, it did) | Did they love / go?(yes, they did) |
| Otritsatelnyepredlozheniya | ||
| 1 | I did not love / go | We did not love / go |
| 2 | You did not love / go | You did not love / go |
| 3 | He, She, It did not love / go | Theydid not love / go |
We have examined the formation of Past Simple, use the same rules for a given time are listed below.
1) The expression of permanent or feature of an object, its properties or the well-known fact that once took place in the past:
She was so good friend.- She was such a good friend.
The school replaced here.- Where the school was located.
2) The expression of individual actions in the past.In this case, the auxiliary used words and phrases like yesterday (yesterday), last week, year (last week, last year), a month ago (a month ago), in 1991 (in 1991), on Monday (Monday) and other:
I saw him a month ago.- I saw him a month ago.
He visited his granny last week.- He came to visit his beloved grandmother last week.
3) The expression on a regular basis to take action in the past:
He never came late.- He's never been late.
4) The expression of several successive actions in the past, in the order in which they occurred:
He opened the box and saw the mail.- He opened the box and saw the letter.
It only remains to add that such a thing as a "form of the verb" usually does not involve Past Simple.Therefore, in this case the transfer is carried out, based on the overall context of a sentence or several sentences.
That's all we wanted to talk about Past Simple.Rules of its use, we hope, will not cause you difficulty.Good luck!
