SIMPLE PAST

The past simple in English is equivalent to the past imperfect and past indefinite in Spanish. We use the past simple for complete actions in the past. The time period of these actions is not important as in Spanish. In the past simple there are regular verbs and irregular verbs.

English has several irregular verbs in the past simple that are common verbs. There is no simple rule to deduce the past simple in English of these verbs and therefore they must be memorized. Here are some of the most common verbs to start with, but there are many more.

To have - tener

had

see - ver

saw

take - tomar

took

get - tomar/recibir

got

eat - comer

ate

speak - hablar

spoke

drive - conducir

drove

Structure

Affirmative Sentences

Sujeto + verbo principal

She was a doctor.

The keys were in the drawer.

I wanted to dance.

They learned English.

We believed him.

I bought a blue car

Negative Sentences

Sujeto + “to be” + “not”…

She wasn’t a doctor.

The keys weren’t in the drawer.

The verb "to have got"

that in the present simple it follows the same rules as the verb “to be”, it cannot be used in the past tense. To indicate possession in the past, we use the verb "to have".

All the verbs

Sujeto + verbo auxiliar (to do) + “not” + verbo principal (en infinitivo)…

I didn’t want to dance.

They didn’t learn English.

We didn’t believe him.

I didn’t buy a blue car.

Interrogative Sentences

To be

To be” + sujeto

Was she a doctor

All the verbs

Verbo auxiliar (to do) + sujeto + verbo principal (en infinitivo)

Did you want to dance

Did they learn English

Did you believe him

Form

To form the past simple with regular verbs, we use the infinitive and add the ending “-ed”. The form is the same for all people (I, you, he, she, it, we, they).

want → wanted

learn → learned

stay → stayed

For verbs that end in an "e", we just add "-d".

change → changed

believe → believed

If the verb ends in a short vowel and a consonant (except "y" or "w"), we double the final consonant.

stop → stopped

commit → committed

With verbs that end in a consonant and an "y", the "y" is changed to an "i".

Pronunciation

We pronounce the ending “-ed” differently depending on the letter that goes to the end of the infinitive. In general the "e" is silent

With infinitives that end in "p", "f", "k" or "s" (voiceless consonants, except "t") we pronounce the ending "-ed" as a "t".

looked[lukt]

kissed[kisst]

With infinitives ending in "b", "g", "l", "m", "n", "v", "z" (voiced consonants, except "d") or a vowel, we pronounce only the " d ".

yelled[jeld]

cleaned[klind]

With infinitives that end in "d" or "t", we pronounce the "e" as an "i".

ended[endid]

waited[weitid]

Uses

Generally, we use it with adverbs of time like “last year”, “yesterday”, “last night”

om stayed at home last night.

Kate worked last Saturday.

I didn’t go to the party yesterday.

Did they walk to school this morning?

The past simple is used for a series of actions in the past.

I received the good news and immediately called my husband

We also use it for repeated or habitual actions in the past, as the Spanish past imperfect is used.

We always traveled to Cancun for vacation when we were young

We use it for narratives or actions from long periods in the past, such as the Spanish past imperfect.

I worked for many years in a museum.