Form of the past simple tense with regular verbs

The form is same for all persons, we just add ending –ed on regular verb and irregular verb past forms we have to learn by heart.

I played

You played

He/ She/ It played

We played

You played

They played

As we can see, the most basic characteristic of regular past is that –ed is added to the base form of the verb: opened, knocked, stayed, etc. Verbs ending in –e add –d only: phone-phoned, smile-smiled.

Some short verbs like stop, beg, rub double their last letter when we add ending –ed: stopped, begged, rubbed.

Also, verbs that end in –y and have a consonant before –y change that –y into –i when presented in past: cry-cried, carry-carried, fry-fried, try-tried.

Unlike regular verbs, irregular verbs do not have past forms which can be predicted. A small number of verbs have the same form in the present and in the past like hit-hit, cut-cut, put-put. It is important to remember, particularly with such verbs, that the third person singular does not change in the past for example: he hit (past), he hits (present).

The use of the Past Simple Tense

It is used:

1. for actions completed in the past and a certain time is given

I went to the theatre yesterday.

or the time is not given but we can understand from the context:

I bought this hat in Italy.

2. for an action whose time is not given but which

-lasted for a longer period in the past: I lived in her apartment when I was in the USA.

-for an action which was finished at a moment in a period of time now terminated:

He saw the Golden Gate Bridge when he was in San Francisco.

3. for past habit

They always took a walk in the evening when they were at the sea-side.

4. for actual past:

I knew what you meant. You looked as if you had seen a ghost.

5. for narrative past (a retrospective description of some past event):