Simple Past

The simple past tense is used to talk about actions that happened at a specific time in the past. You state when it happened using a time adverb.

You form the simple past of a verb by adding -ed onto the end of a regular verb but, irregular verb forms have to be learned.

Simple Past Timeline


For example:

• "Last year I took my exams."
• "I got married in 1992."

It can be used to describe events that happened over a period of time in the past but not now.

For example:

• "I lived in South Africa for two years."

The simple past tense is also used to talk about habitual or repeated actions that took place in the past.

For example:

• "When I was a child we always went to the seaside on bank holidays."