Instructions
The past simple is the most common way of talking about past events or states which have finished. It is often used with past time references (e.g. yesterday, two years ago).
Please explain past events or states!
A past event could be one thing that happened in the past, or a repeated thing.
I stopped at a zebra crossing.
We carried on with the test.
We played tennis every day in August.
A state is a situation without an action happening.
We stayed at my grandparents' house last summer.
How do you form the past simple?
Regular past simple forms are formed by adding -ed to the infinitive of the verb.
start → started
kill → killed
jump → jumped
That seems easy!
Yes, but there are some spelling rules. If a verb ends in -e, you add -d.
agree → agreed
like → liked
escape → escaped
If a verb ends in a vowel and a consonant, the consonant is usually doubled before -ed.
stop → stopped
plan → planned
If a verb ends in consonant and -y, you take off the y and add -ied.
try → tried
carry → carried
But if the word ends in a vowel and -y, you add -ed.
play → played
enjoy → enjoyed
OK, not quite so easy! But the past simple form doesn't change at all for I, you, he, she, we and they, does it?
No, the form doesn't change. See, it is easy!
What about the pronunciation of the -ed ending?
There are three kinds of pronunciation: /d/, /t/ and /ɪd/. Look at the table below.
| /d/ | /t/ | /ɪd/ |
|---|---|---|
| arrived | asked | wanted |
| failed | crossed | decided |
| agreed | stopped | started |
Aaagh! How do I know how to pronounce each one?
Good question. Well, really all you need to know is that /d/ is easier to say after arrive, and /t/ is easier to say after ask. For /ɪd/, the infinitive ends in a /d/ or a /t/ sound already so you must add an extra syllable for these verbs.
All right, that makes sense, but how do you form questions and negatives?
With the verb did (do in the past) + the infinitive.
Did you pass?
You didn't fail, did you?
Yes, I did. / No, I didn't.
Right, thanks, I've got it now!
Good. But you also need to learn the irregular past simple forms.
You mean there are verbs that don't end in -ed in the past?
Yes, they don't all end in -ed. Have a look at the past simple irregular verbs too.
Worksheets and downloads
Transcript
Discussion
Did you like this grammar snack? What did you do yesterday? Tell us about your day.
Comments
I do not really like the grammar of any language, so I do not really enjoy doing this. Yesterday was a quiet day, a little tired for the new year, arranging the house of the family reunion of year end, watching movies in bed, in the afternoon we went out to play basketball with my family, then we took a tea and we went to Sleep, we were all a little tired but happy for the new year.
Happy new year 2017 to everyone!
Happy New Year to you too! :)
Best wishes, Jo (LearnEnglish Teens team)
Hello Im Aden
I really like this grammer video. I think it is good for me.
I went to hike yesterday. I had great time.
My day is too complicated to explain in words (-.-)
It was easier to learn new words for me after I divided them into groups, how they are formed, they are formed with some rules and after I classify them it became easier to learn. I had nothing different yesterday, I had an ordunnary day
yesterday, i went to school ,then i went to my house , i ate, i did homework during the day and finally i went to bed
This Grammar snack is very helpful to me and it's fun.
yesterday I had a workshop at school, that workshop started at 8 a.m and finished at 4 p.m...we ate lunch at 1 p.m...there were 32 students in the workshop, we built 8 teams and there were 4 students in any team...we worked together and learnt about teamwork...
This video is very great as presents and explains the simple past and apply it as
Yesterday was the opposite! It was a very fun day and everything was going right.
I love this grammar snack! :D But my day was awful, i had to take my bird to the vet because her wound got worse and I'm very concerned about her. I also hurt my leg pretty bad at football today, now i can't play the next match. Also, school today wasn't fun. I could barely listen and I was really tired, the exercises didn't go to well at all and i got falsely accused of something and i got punishment for no reason, I'm too shy to walk up to the teacher and tell i didn't do it. I'm glad it's Friday though so i can sort things out in the weekend. Altough I feel pretty sad now. ):
Yes, I like it, thanks! :)
I don't really remember what I did yesterday,and it probably wasn't much, so I will make something up. :D
Yesterday, I went to the park to hang out with my BFF. We had a lovely meal; it consisted of chicken curry, rice and curry, and peas. Then, we visited the Giza Pyramids and took photos there. Finally, we went home. We had a fantastic time! :)
Today, I ate Chinese food for lunch (spicy chicken meal) which I liked very much. That meal is one of my favourite.
The End :)
A question...how can I download audio of this video (and other grammar videos)?
Hi shamin, I'm sorry but our grammar videos are not available for download.
Best wishes, Joanna (LearnEnglish Teens team)
Yesterday...I didn't go to school, wasn't a good feeling. my mum phoned to school and said to my teacher. I slept until 10 AM and then I went to hospital with my mum. my mum cooked mushroom soap for lunch, I drank a glass of orange juice. I phoned my friend from school and asked about our homework. I went to bed at 10 PM.
Hello, I'm looking for the rules about when you use the past simple and when the past continuous.
Hi DutchTessa,
I'm afraid we haven't got anything on the past continuous yet but we would like to! Thanks for your comment. Meanwhile, have a look at these pages on LearnEnglish (our website for adults): past continuous and continuous aspect. See if that helps and please come back and tell us if it was useful! Best wishes, Joanna (LearnEnglish teens team)
Yes I really like it. It was very helpful but... poor cats :(! Yesterday, I got up at 10 o clock, I had breakfast and then I went out, through the garden near my house, riding my bike. At 13.00, I had lunch and then I did my homework. I also studied portuguese. I do it for fun! After having dinner, I went to my best friend's party, in a disco. It was a great party. We drinked and danced for all the night. At 3.00 pm i went to bed. It was an happy day!
I like Grammar Snack, it's fun and helpful! Very good job!
(๑˃̵ᴗ˂̵)و !
Today, I hit the gym after school.
＼＼\\(۶•̀ᴗ•́)۶//／／
Thank you very much this web site is very important for me . one day I can speak English same my friends then no one can laugh me
Hello
this site is funny becouse I played and study with this.
Hello,
I am very confused about tenses.
what is the difference between has arrived and have arrived?
I really need someone favor to explain this to me. Thank you :)
Hi millimoller,
Has arrived and have arrived are examples of the present perfect tense. Watch this video to learn more about the present perfect: http://learnenglishteens.britishcouncil.org/grammar-vocabulary/grammar-videos/present-perfect-simple-and-continuous We use 'has' when it's he/she/it and 'have' when it's I/you/we/they.
I hope this helps. Best wishes, Jo (LearnEnglish Teens Team).
This video was very good.
Yetserday I woke up at 11 a.m. I played with the ps3. After I ate with my father and I played guitar. I do my homeworks for 4 hours. I went to my mum's ice cream shop and I ate a fantastic ice cream. I came home and I ate rice with my family. I slept 8 hours and today is my birthday!
Hey!
How can I download this video?????
Hi,
Sorry, but you can't download these videos. :(
From your user name I guess that you may be a teacher. If that is the case, you shouldn't have registered on LearnEnglish Teens because it's for 13-17 year olds. You can still access all the material without being a registered user.
With best wishes, Jo (LearnEnglish Teens Team)
This Grammar snack is very helpful to me and it's fun.
I love all grammar snack videos, i have seen so far. Yesterday i studied English, IT and Maths.I tried my new fries recipe. My father and sister liked it alot. Thanks a lot" learnenglishteens"for these wonderful grammar videos. They make it so easy to understand grammar.
Hi Taioor!
Thanks for your lovely comment! We are really glad that you are enjoying, and learning from these videos.
Tina ( LearnEnglish Teen Team)
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