English grammar
Past simple 📕
We use the past simple for actions that started and finished in the past. We often say when it happened.
I visited my aunt last week.
She moved to Norway in 2019.
We watched a film yesterday.
Regular verbs: add -ed
| Verb | Past simple |
| work | worked |
| live | lived (add only -d) |
| study | studied (consonant + y → ied) |
| stop | stopped (double the consonant) |
Irregular verbs
Many common verbs are irregular: go → went, have → had, see → saw. See the list in "Irregular verbs".
Same form for all persons
I / you / he / she / we / they worked.
Negative: didn't + base form
I didn't see him.
✗ I didn't saw him.
✓ I didn't see him.
Questions: did + subject + base form
Did you go to work yesterday?
Where did she live?
✗ Did you went?
✓ Did you go?
Typical time words
yesterday, last week, in 2020, two days ago, when I was a child