The Past Simple Tense

(also called the simple past tense)

(Click here to learn about how to USE the past simple)

It’s similar to the present simple because it has different rules for the verb ‘be’, which becomes ‘was’ or ‘were’:

The Past Simple with ‘be’

Here’s how to make the positive:

Positive with ‘be’

I was cold

you were tired

he was in the garden

she was late

it was sunny

we were on holiday

they were hungry

To make the negative with ‘be’, just add ‘not’:

Negative with ‘be’
Negative Short Form

I was not sleepy
I wasn’t sleepy

you were not on the bus
you weren’t on the bus

he was not at school
he wasn’t at school

she was not beautiful
she wasn’t beautiful

it was not cold
it wasn’t cold

we were not at work
we weren’t at work

they were not tired
they weren’t tired

Here’s an exercise to practise the positive and negative forms with ‘be’

To make a question, just like the present simple, we change the position of ‘was / were’ and the subject.

Here are the past simple ‘yes / no’ questions with ‘be’:

‘Yes / No’ Questions with ‘Be’
was I sleepy?

were you late?

was he at the cinema?

was she kind?

was it hot?

were we hungry?

were they at work?

And the ‘wh’ questions with ‘be’ (the question word just goes at the beginning, everything else is the same):

‘Wh’ Questions with ‘Be’

why was I sleepy?

where were you?

when was he at the cinema?

how was she?

how was it?

why were we hungry?

when were they at work?

And here’s an exercise for ‘wh’ and ‘yes / no’ questions

Here’s another exercise with ‘be’ (this time it’s all forms – positive, negative and questions)

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The Past Simple (Simple Past) with Other Verbs

We make the past simple just like the present simple except we use ‘did’ instead of ‘do / does’. It’s really easy because ‘did’ doesn’t change, even with ‘he / she / it’.

The positive:

We usually make the positive by adding ‘-ed’ to the infinitive. For example, ‘play’ becomes ‘played’. However, there are some irregular verbs, for example ‘go’ becomes ‘went’ and ‘run’ becomes ‘ran’.

(Here’s some help if you are not sure how to pronounce ‘-ed’ at the end of a verb).

Positive with Other Verbs

I walked (regular)

you played (regular)

he cooked (regular)

she listened (regular)

it rained (regular)

we ate (irregular)

they drank (irregular)

Click here for a list of 50 common irregular verbs (PDF file)

Click here for an exercise about irregular verbs in this verb tense

Click here for another irregular verb exercise

In the negative there aren’t any irregular verbs. All verbs use ‘did not (didn’t) + infinitive’:

Negative
Negative Short Form

I did not walk
I didn’t walk

you did not play
you didn’t play

he did not cook
he didn’t cook

she did not listen
she didn’t listen

it did not rain
it didn’t rain

we did not eat
we didn’t eat

they did not drink
they didn’t drink

Here’s an exercise about the negative form

Questions are also very easy. Just put ‘did’ before the subject, and the infinitive after it.

Here are the ‘yes / no’ questions:

‘Yes / No’ Questions
did I walk?

did you play?

did he cook?

did she listen?

did it rain?

did we eat?

did they drink?

And here’s an exercise about ‘yes / no’ questions

To make a ‘wh’ question, of course, put the question word at the beginning of the sentence:

‘Wh’ Questions

where did I go?

what did you play?

what did he cook?

why did she listen?

when did it rain?

where did we eat?

how did they travel?

And here’s an exercise about ‘wh’ questions

Here are some exercises about making all the forms:
Mixed Exercise 1
Mixed Exercise 2
Mixed Exercise 3
Mixed Exercise 4

Click here to learn about when we use this tense

Need more practice? Get more Perfect English Grammar with our courses.

Welcome to
Perfect English Grammar!

Welcome! I’m Seonaid and I hope you like the website. Please contact me if you have any questions or comments.

For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.”

For even the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”

For even the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.

For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”

For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.”

“For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”

“For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”

For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.”

For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life—a ransom for many.”

For the Son of man also came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.

“For even The Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve and give his life a ransom in the place of the many.”

The Son of Man did not come to be a slave master, but a slave who will give his life to rescue many people.

For the Son of man also is not come to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a redemption for many.

For verily the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.

For even the Son of Man did not come to be served; he came to serve and to give his life to redeem many people.”

It’s the same way with the Son of Man. He didn’t come so that others could serve him. He came to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many people.”

because even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many people.”

for even the Son of Man did not come to be ministered to, but to minister, and to give His life [as] a ransom for many.”

For even the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

For the Son of Man also did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

For the Son of Man also did not come to be waited upon, but to wait on others, and to give His life as the redemption-price for a multitude of people.”

For the Son of Man also came not to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

for even the Son of Man came not to be ministered to, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.’

For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many.”For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.”For even the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve, and to give His lifea ransom for many.”For even the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.”“For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”“For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.”For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life—a ransom for many.”For the Son of man also came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.“For even The Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve and give his life a ransom in the place of the many.”The Son of Man did not come to be a slave master, but a slave who will give his life to rescue many people.For the Son of man also is not come to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a redemption for many.For verily the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.For even the Son of Man did not come to be served; he came to serve and to give his life to redeem many people.”It’s the same way with the Son of Man. He didn’t come so that others could serve him. He came to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many people.”because even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many people.”for even the Son of Man did not come to be ministered to, but to minister, and to give His life [as] a ransom for many.”For even the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”For the Son of Man also did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”For the Son of Man also did not come to be waited upon, but to wait on others, and to give His life as the redemption-price for a multitude of people.”For the Son of Man also came not to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”for even the Son of Man came not to be ministered to, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.’