📅 Simple Past

Talking about the past

What is the Simple Past?

The Simple Past is used to describe finished actions in the past. We use it when we talk about something that started and ended in the past.

Time expressions with Simple Past:
  • yesterday — gestern
  • last week/month/year — letzte Woche/Monat/Jahr
  • ago — vor (z.B. "two days ago" — vor zwei Tagen)
  • in 2020 — im Jahr 2020
  • when I was young — als ich jung war

Examples:

Regular Verbs

Regular verbs form the Simple Past by adding -ed to the base form of the verb.

Basic Rule: verb + -ed

Base Form Simple Past Example
walk walked I walked to school.
play played We played tennis yesterday.
watch watched She watched a film.
help helped He helped me with my homework.

Spelling Rules for -ed

Rule Example Simple Past
Verb ending in consonant + vowel + consonant → double the consonant stop stopped
Verb ending in -e → add only -d love loved
Verb ending in consonant + -y → change y to i + ed study studied
More examples:
  • cook → cooked
  • bake → baked
  • rain → rained
  • want → wanted

Irregular Verbs

Irregular verbs do not follow the -ed rule. They have their own unique forms and must be memorized.

Base Form Simple Past Example
go went I went to the cinema.
have had She had a great day.
be was / were I was happy. They were late.
see saw We saw a beautiful sunset.
come came He came to my party.
do did They did their homework.
say said She said "Hello".
get got I got a new bike.
take took He took his umbrella.
make made My mum made a cake.
Tip: Learn irregular verbs by repetition. Write lists of irregular verbs and say them out loud repeatedly. Many of them will become automatic!

Negatives & Questions

Negation: did not (didn't) + infinitive

To make a negative sentence in Simple Past, use did not (didn't) + the base form of the verb (NOT the past form!).

Affirmative Negative
I went to school. I didn't go to school.
She played tennis. She didn't play tennis.
They had fun. They didn't have fun.

Questions: Did + Subject + infinitive?

To ask questions in Simple Past, put Did at the beginning.

Question Affirmative Answer Negative Answer
Did you go to school? Yes, I did. No, I didn't.
Did she play football? Yes, she did. No, she didn't.
Did they watch a film? Yes, they did. No, they didn't.
In negative sentences and questions, always use the base form (infinitive) of the verb, NOT the past form!

Übungsaufgaben

❓ Form the Simple Past of "walk":
❓ Form the Simple Past of "go":
❓ Complete: 'She ___ (not go) to school.'
❓ Form the Simple Past of "have":
❓ Form a question: '___ you see the film?'