Simple Past Tense

Past Tense

The past tense is a verb tense used for a past activity or a past state of being.

	There are two types of past tenses that you need to be focused on:

	Simple past tense Past continuous tense

9.1

Simple Past Tense

The simple past tense is used to:

(a) Show that something has already happened sometime in the past.

(b) Express a past habit - use adverbs like 'always', 'often', etc.

(A) Verbs in the Simple Past

'Be' verbs

'Be' verbs in the simple past are:

(a) was (singular)

(b) were (plural)

It is used to show a state or experience.

Examples:

(a) Mr. and Mrs. Chong were happy to receive a brand new car.

(b) She was an unknown in her time.

'Do' verbs

All verbs other than 'be' verbs are considered 'do' verbs.

It is used to show an action.

Examples:

(a) Maria visited her sister in Korea last month.

(b) She used too many colours in her artwork.

Regular Verbs

Regular verbs take on the suffix '-ed' or '-d' in the past form.

Verb	Simple Past Form
miss	missed
live	lived
paint	painted
use	used
notice	noticed

Irregular Verbs

Some irregular words change completely while some do not change at all.

Verb	Simple Past Form
is	was
sell	sold
cut	cut
become	became
run	ran

(B) Questions in the Simple Past

Verbs for questions in the simple past tense are in the simple past or infinitive form.
Example:

Who brought the yellow box to the counter? (simple past)

If the question contains 'did', the subsequent verb would be in the infinitive form.
Example:

When did you arrive? (infinitive form)

(C) Negative Sentences in the Simple Past

Sentences are made negative using the word 'not' :
Examples: did not, was not, were not

(D) Spelling Rules ('-ed')

Rule 1

A consonant + '-e'		Add '-d'
erase	\(\rightarrow\)	erased
smile	\(\rightarrow\)	smiled

Rule 2

1 vowel + 1 consonant		Double the consonant, add '-ed'
stop	\(\rightarrow\)	stopped
rub	\(\rightarrow\)	rubbed

Rule 3

2 vowels + 1 consonant		Add '-ed'
rain	\(\rightarrow\)	rained
need	\(\rightarrow\)	needed

Rule 4

2 consonants		Add '-ed'
count	\(\rightarrow\)	counted
help	\(\rightarrow\)	helped

Rule 5

Consonant + '-y'		Change '-y' to '-i', add '-ed'
study	\(\rightarrow\)	studied
carry	\(\rightarrow\)	carried

Rule 6

Vowel + '-y'		Add '-ed'
enjoy	\(\rightarrow\)	enjoyed
play	\(\rightarrow\)	played

9.2

Past Continuous Tense

The past continuous tense refers to a continuing action or state that was happening at some point in the past.
It is used to:

(a) Show an action that was in progress at a specific time in the past.

(b) Two or more actions in progress at the same time in the past.

(c) Giving background information in a story.

(d) Show the passive form.

The past continuous tense form is as follows:

was/were			verb's present participle ('-ing' word)
I	was	+	checking	the internet for information yesterday.
Alia	was	+	drawing	while I was singing.

Past Tense

Chapter : Reading Skills

Topic : Simple Past Tense

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