Past simple

The point

A finished time takes the past simple: yesterday, last week. Regular verbs add -ed. Common verbs often change: go becomes went, see becomes saw. Questions and negatives use did plus the base, not the past form.

Form and use

The past simple names a finished action or a finished state. Useful time words are yesterday, last night, last week, last year, and ago. She called yesterday. They left last week. The time word sits outside the verb, often at the end or at the start. It does not change the verb form.

Regular verbs add -ed. Work becomes worked. Call becomes called. If the base ends in e, add only -d: live becomes lived. A consonant plus y becomes -ied: study becomes studied. A short verb with one vowel and one final consonant doubles that consonant: stop becomes stopped. The past is the same for every subject. I worked, she worked, and they worked. There is no extra -s.

Many common verbs are irregular. Learn these pairs. go / went see / saw have / had do / did make / made take / took come / came get / got She went home. They saw the note. He had time. We did the job. I made lunch. She took the bus. He came early. They got the file. Do not add -ed to these. Goed, haved, and comed are not the past forms.

Questions and negatives use did plus the base. Did already shows the past, so the main verb returns to the base. Did you go? Did she see it? I did not go. She did not see it. The short form is didn't. Did she went and She didn't saw it are wrong. Did she go and She didn't see it are right. The time word stays outside the verb group: Did you call yesterday?

Don't translate it like this

Yesterday is finished, so the past form went.

Short examples