Simple Past Tense - English Grammar Basics | Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension (VARC) - CAT PDF Download

Introduction

• The simple past is a verb tense used to talk about actions or states that happened or existed before now and are complete. It is the basic tense for narrating finished events that belong to the past.
  Example (i): Wolfgang entered a hula hoop contest.
  Example (ii): He won the silver medal.
• The simple past emphasizes that an action is finished. This contrasts with the past continuous, which describes actions that were in progress over a period of time in the past.
  Example: Wolfgang admired the way the light glinted off his silver medal.
• The simple past also describes past states of being or feelings, often with the past forms of the verb to be followed by an adjective, noun or prepositional phrase.
  Example (i): Wolfgang was proud of his hula hoop victory.
  Example (ii): The contest was the highlight of his week.

Formation of the Simple Past Tense

• Regular verbs: add -ed to the base form of the verb. If the base form already ends in -e, add only -d.
  Play → Played
  Type → Typed
  Listen → Listened
  Push → Pushed
  Love → Loved
• Irregular verbs: do not follow a single pattern; some have the same form in base and past:
  Put → Put
  Cut → Cut
  Set → Set
  Cost → Cost
  Hit → Hit
• Some irregular verbs have distinct past forms and must be memorised; the verb to be is an important irregular example:
  See → Saw
  Build → Built
  Go → Went
  Do → Did
  Rise → Rose
  Am/Is/Are → Was/Were
• In the simple past (except for to be), verbs do not change to agree in number with their subjects.
  Example: Wolfgang polished his medal. The other winners polished their medals too.

How to Make the Simple Past Negative

• For all verbs except the verb to be, form the negative with the auxiliary did not + the base form of the verb. The contraction didn't is commonly used.
  Formula: did not / didn't + [base form]
  Example: Wolfgang did not brag too much about his hula hoop skills. Wolfgang's girlfriend didn't see the contest.
• For the verb to be in the past, do not use did. Use was not / wasn't with singular subjects and were not / weren't with plural subjects.
  Example: The third-place winner was not as happy as Wolfgang. The fourth-place winner wasn't happy at all. The onlookers were not ready to leave after the contest ended. The contestants weren't ready to leave either.

How to Form Questions in the Simple Past

• Use the auxiliary did followed by the subject and the base form of the verb to make questions.
  Formula: did + [subject] + [base form]
  Example: Did Wolfgang win the gold medal or the silver medal?
  Example: Where did Wolfgang go to celebrate?
  Example: Did the judges decide fairly, in your opinion?
• The simple past is used for situations that existed for a period of time in the past but do not continue now.
  Examples: When I was at high school, I played soccer. The teacher at high school was very strict; he severely punished any misbehaving students.
• Pay attention to tense agreement in sentences with time clauses introduced by words such as when, while, after, before, as.
  Example (exercise): He always ---- at me, before he ---- to me.
  Possible verb pairs:
  (a) shouts / listens
  (b) shouted / listened
  (c) had shouted / listens
  (d) shouts / listened
  Example (exercise): It ---- almost midnight, we ---- go to bed.
  Possible verb pairs:
  (a) is / had to
  (b) is / have to
  (c) was / had to
  (d) was / will have to

Some Other Examples and Uses

• You can use for with the simple past to indicate the duration of a past action or state.
  Examples: I stayed in Canada for six months.
  I had stayed in Canada for six months before I came back. (this sentence uses past perfect to show that one past action was completed before another past action)
• In some fixed expressions the simple past has a present force or a modal flavour.
  It is (high) time + past tense expresses that an action should be done now or should already have been done.
  Examples: It is high time somebody did something. (present meaning)
  It's time you found a decent job.
  It's time you gave up smoking.
  It was time you had started studying.
• If clauses: Use the past simple in the if-clause to talk about unreal or hypothetical present situations; the result clause takes would (or could/might).
  Examples: If I went shopping, I would buy some bread.
  Even if I knew the answer, I wouldn't tell you.
• Wish clauses: The past simple can express a wish about the present (but the wish refers to a different present reality).
  Examples: I wish you worked with us. (but you do not)
  I wish we were in Miami lying on the beach.
• As if / As though: Use the past simple to pretend or to show that something is not true.
  Examples: She speaks as if she was an expert. (she is not)
  I feel as though the world turned round me. (it doesn't)
  She speaks as if she is an expert. (speaker believes she is)
• Would rather + past tense: expresses a preference and corresponds to a wish.
  Examples: I would rather you smoked less.
  I wish you smoked less.
• Common time expressions used with the simple past:
  four hours ago, two days ago, three weeks ago
  I saw Jack yesterday; then he disappeared.
  last night / last year / last week
  in + past time: in June, in 1986