Tenses · Elementary (A2)
Past simple
Finished actions at a finished time in the past: I visited, she went, did you see?
The rules
Regular verbs add -ed: work → worked, live → lived, stop → stopped, study → studied. Irregular verbs must be learned: go → went, see → saw, have → had, buy → bought, make → made.
Negative and questions use did / didn’t + base verb: I didn’t go. Did you see it? (not didn’t went). Be is different: was / were, wasn’t / weren’t.
Use for finished actions with a finished time: yesterday, last week, in 2010, two days ago, when I was a child.
-ed pronunciation: /t/ (worked), /d/ (played), /ɪd/ after t or d (wanted, needed).
| Example | |
|---|---|
| + | She visited Rome last year. |
| − | She didn’t visit Paris. |
| ? | Did she visit Milan? |
| be | It was cold. We weren’t tired. |
Examples
- We went to the beach yesterday.
- I didn’t sleep well last night.
- Did you enjoy the film?
- They were very happy.
Common mistakes
✗ I didn’t went.
✓ I didn’t go.
After didn’t, use the base verb.
✗ Did you saw it?
✓ Did you see it?
After did, use the base verb.
✗ I goed home.
✓ I went home.
Go is irregular.
Practice
Complete the sentence.
Quiz
1.I ___ my keys two days ago.
2.They ___ at home last night.
3.Complete the sentence.
4.“Wanted” ends with the sound /ɪd/.