The simple past is used to describe an action that occurred and was completed in the past. The simple past is formed by adding –ed to the base form of the verb (the infinitive without to).
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| base form | + ed = | simple past |
| walk | walked | |
| push | pushed | |
| greet | greeted | |
| cover | covered |
In English, the simple past of regular verbs is very easy because is the same for all persons. For example, here’s the the simple past of the verb WORK.
| singular | plural | ||||||
| 1st per | I | worked | yesterday. | We | worked | yesterday. | |
| 2nd per | You | worked | yesterday. | You | worked | yesterday. | |
| 3rd per | He, She, It | worked | yesterday. | They | worked | yesterday. | |
There are several irregularities in the spelling of regular verbs in the simple past. Similarly, there are different ways to pronounce the simple past ending – see the lesson on pronunciation of the Simple Past –ed ending.
For regular verbs ending in the vowel -e, add –d.
| base form | simple past | |
| hate | hated | |
| seize | seized | |
| hope | hoped | |
| assume | assumed | |
| tie | tied | |
| free | freed |
For the very few English verbs that end in a vowel other than -e, add –ed.
| base form | simple past | |
| ski | skied | |
| echo | echoed |
Exceptions: The verbs DO and GO are irregular: See below.
For regular verbs that end in a vowel+y, add –ed.
| base form | simple past | |
| play | played | |
| decay | decayed | |
| survey | surveyed | |
| enjoy | enjoyed |
Exceptions: The verbs SAY and BUY are irregular: See below.
For regular verbs that end in a consonant+y, change the –y to –i and add –ed.
| base form | simple past | |
| cry | cried | |
| dirty | dirtied | |
| magnify | magnified |
Exception: The verb FLY is irregular: See below.
For regular verbs ending in a consonant + vowel + consonant, double the final consonant before adding -ed.
| base form | simple past | |
| dam | dammed | |
| beg | begged | |
| plan | planned | |
| strip | stripped |
In American English, when the regular verb has more than one syllable and the syllable stress is on the final syllable, the final consonant is doubled.
| base form | simple past | incorrect | ||
| defer | deferred | |||
| regret | regretted | |||
| reship | reshipped | |||
| compel | compelled |
In these verbs, the stress is not on the final syllable so the consonant is not doubled.
| base form | simple past | incorrect | ||
| orbit | orbited | |||
| listen | listened | |||
| travel | traveled | |||
| consider | considered |
Here are examples sentences with regular verbs in the simple present and the simple past.
| simple present | simple past | |
| I walk to school. | I walked to school. | |
| She works downtown. | She worked downtown. | |
| They help on Tuesday. | They helped on Tuesday. | |
| He asks a lot of questions. | He asked a lot of questions. |
Irregular verbs do not form the past tense by adding -ed. Irregular verbs form the past tense by a change in orthography (spelling).
| base form | simple past | |
| buy | bought | |
| do | did | |
| fly | flew | |
| forget | forgot | |
| light | lit | |
| go | went | |
| say | said |
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