Past Simple Tense
We use the Past Simple Tense to talk about finished actions in the past. The action started and ended in the past.
<----x----- now ---->
I played tennis on Saturday.
They went to Rome last month.
This month is June. They went to Rome in May. They are back from Rome.Last month is an example of a relative time expression. Learn more about relative time expressions.
Making the Past Simple Tense
+ I played tennis on Saturday. s=‘I’ + v past=‘played’
- I didn’t play tennis on Saturday. s=‘I’ + ‘didn’t’ v =‘play’
? Did you play tennis on Saturday? did + s=‘you’ + v=‘play’
For most verbs, we add -ed to make them past.
| Verb | Past Simple |
|---|---|
| play | played |
| watch | watched |
Examples of past simple verbs
Learn more about making past simple verbs and the spelling rules for adding -ed.
Pronunciation
I played tennis on Saturday.
I didn’t play tennis on Saturday.
Did you play tennis on Saturday?