All about paste simple. If the stem of the infinitive already ends in e, then only -d is added

In this article we will look at the second simple time form in English – The Past Simple (Indefinite) Tense.It is a tense form of a verb, which is used to express single actions that took place in the past and the time for which has expired. In certain contexts where a past tense verb is used, you may notice the following marker words:

yesterday (yesterday);
last week/month/year (last week, last month/year);
two days ago (two days ago);
in 1917 (in 1917).

For example:

I watched my favorite film yesterday.– Yesterday I watched my favorite film.
My parents bought a new car last week. Last week my parents bought a new car.
The First World War began in 1914.– The First World War began in 1914.

Marker words can be used both at the end of a sentence and at the beginning. For example:

Yesterday I walked with my friends.– Yesterday I went out for a walk with my friends.
In 988 Christianity was adopted in Russia.– In 988, Christianity was adopted in Rus'.

Please note that in the simple past tense the verbs change their form. According to the method of forming the forms of the simple past tense, all verbs are divided into regular and irregular.

Regular verbs– verbs formed by adding the suffix –ed to the base of the infinitive. The suffix –ed is pronounced [d], after voiceless consonants (except t) it is pronounced [t], after t and d it is pronounced . For example:

The baby stopped crying. – The baby stopped crying.

For Not regular verbs There is a special table called “Table of Irregular Verbs”. You can view it here (). The table of irregular verbs consists of three forms. Let's look at some irregular verbs as an example:

Our team won the football competition two days ago.– Two days ago our team won the football competition.

We have examined the main features of the affirmative form of simple past tense verbs. Negative form of verbs in The Past Simple Tense is formed using the auxiliary verb did and the negation not, which are placed before the semantic verb in the form of an infinitive without the particle to. Same as in the simple present form (The Present Simple Tense) in speech and writing the abbreviated form didn’t is used. For example:

We didn't go to the sea last summer.– We didn’t go to the sea last summer.
They didn't know anything about that story.“They knew nothing about this story.”

The interrogative form of verbs in the simple past tense is formed using the auxiliary verb did, which is placed after the subject, and the subject is followed by a semantic verb in the form of the infinitive without the particle to. At the same time, the tone of voice on the last stressed syllable of the sentence rises. For example:

Did you see him yesterday? – Did you see him yesterday?
Did the pupils visit the museum last week?– Did the students visit the museum last week?

The answers to the questions in these examples are identical, as is the case with the interrogative form of the simple past tense. The answers will look like this: Yes, I did or No, I didn’t.

Using The Past Simple Tense

designation of events, actions, situations that occurred at a certain time in the past and are not related to the present: Last summer we ofte went to the river.— Last summer we often went to the river;
designation of completed actions in the past: Yasterday I wrote you a letter.- Yesterday I wrote you a letter;
designation of habits in the past: My sister liked to play with dolls when she was small.— My sister loved to play with dolls as a child;
denoting a fact that happened once in the past: Mary telephoned an hour ago. — Maria called an hour ago;
description of life events of people who have already died: Pushkin wrote lots of stories for children.— Pushkin wrote many fairy tales for children;
formulating polite questions and requests: I wondered if you could give me a lift(a more polite request than I wonder if...). — I wanted to know if you could give me a ride.

Summary table of tense formation The Past Simple Tense

Formation of The Past Simple Tense in sentences

Affirmative		Negative		Interrogative
I	spoke	I	didn't speak	Did	I	speak
You	worked	You	didn't work		you	work
We		We			we
They		They			they
He		He			he
She		She			she
It		It			it

To summarize, I would like to note that the difference between the simple past tense and the simple present is that actions occur once in the past and are not repeated. The time in which these actions were performed has expired, and the actions themselves are in no way connected with the present. In English, the grammatical meaning of verbs in simple past tense coincides with the meaning of verbs in the past tense of both imperfect and perfect forms in the Russian language. Read about the last simple tense form of the verb in English in the following article.

Hello! Today we continue to get acquainted with the temporary forms of the English language. Our next step is the simple past tense (indefinite), namely - Time Past Simple, or as it is also called Past Indefenite. Our goal is to learn how to conjugate verbs in the affirmative, interrogative and negative forms in the Past Simple Tense, and also to understand in which cases the Past Simple Tense should be used.

First, let's define what Past Simple Tense is. So, Past Simple Tense expresses actions or states that occurred at some time in the past. At the same time, their duration, completion, precedence in relation to another action, etc. are not indicated, i.e. the action is expressed as a fact.

The Past Simple is a tense form that is used to narrate events that happened in the past. This time is typical for both written language and spoken language. Rules for forming the past tense in English

Education Rules Past Simple Tense

Now let's move on to the main thing - the rules for forming Past Simple Tense in English.

Affirmative form Past Simple Tense

To form the affirmative form of the Past Simple Tense, auxiliary verbs are not required.

Regular verbs form the Past Simple Tense by adding an ending -ed to the stem of the infinitive without a particle to. This applies to all persons singular and plural.

Rules for pronunciation of the ending - ed:

1. after voiceless consonants, except t → [t]
to work - worked
to help - helped

2. after voiced consonants, except d, and after vowels → [d]
to answer [ˈɑːnsə] – answered [ˈɑːnsəd]
to open [ˈəʊpən] — opened [ˈəʊpənd]

3. after consonants t and d → [ɪd]
to land - landed [ˈlændɪd]
to want - wanted [ˈwɒntɪd]

Rules for adding the ending -ed:

1. If the verb ends in silent - e, That - e is missed.
to hop e− hoped
to blam e- blamed

2. If the verb ends in -y, and there is a consonant before -y, then -y changes to — i.
to tr y-tr i ed to cr y-cr i ed

If before -y there is a vowel, then no changes occur.
to pla y- played

3. If a one-syllable verb ends in a consonant preceded by a short vowel, then the final consonant is doubled.
to sto p-sto pp ed

4. If a verb consisting of several syllables ends in a consonant preceded by a stressed vowel, then the final consonant is doubled.
to prefer r—prefe rr ed to permi t—permi tt ed

5. In such cases, the final consonant l doubles before both a stressed and an unstressed vowel.
to travel l— travel ll ed to compe l- compe ll ed

to walk

I walk ed in the forest.
You walk ed in the forest.
He/ She/ It walk ed in the forest.
We walk ed in the forest.
You walk ed in the forest.
They walk ed in the forest.

Irregular verbs form Past Simple Tense not according to the general rule, but with the help of the II main form of irregular verbs, which is also the same for all singular and plural persons. You can find a table of irregular verbs in the article Irregular verbs in English. Verb to be, in this case, is an exception, and we will return to it later. List of irregular verbs to understand in Past Simple Tense in the affirmative form:

I understood the question.
You understood the question.
He/She/It understood the question.
We understood the question.
You understood the question.
They understood the question.

Question form Past Simple Tense

The interrogative form for both regular and irregular verbs in English is formed using the auxiliary verb did (Past Simple from to do) and the infinitive form of the main verb.

For education interrogative form Past Simple auxiliary verb did comes first, followed by the subject, and the subject is followed by the infinitive of the main verb.

Regular verb conjugation example to walk

Did I walk in the forest?
Did do you walk in the forest?
Did he/ she/ it walk in the forest?
Did we walk in the forest?
Did do you walk in the forest?
Did do they walk in the forest?

Example of irregular verb conjugation to understand in Past Simple Tense in interrogative form:

Did I understand the question?
Did
Did he/ she/ it understand the question?
Did do we understand the question?
Did do you understand the question?
Did do they understand the question?

Negative Past Simple Tense

The negative form in English is also formed using an auxiliary verb did, but already in combination with a negative particle not. So, the subject comes first, followed by auxiliary verb did + negative particle not, and finally the infinitive of the main verb.

Auxiliary verb did usually merges into one with the particle not:
did not - didn't

Regular verb conjugation example to walk

I did not (didn't) walk in the forest.
You did not (didn't) walk in the forest.
He/She/It did not (didn't) walk in the forest.
We did not (didn't) walk in the forest.
You did not (didn't) walk in the forest.
They did not (didn't) walk in the forest.

Example of irregular verb conjugation to understand in Past Simple Tense in negative form:

I did not (didn't) understand the question.
You did not (didn't) understand the question.
He/She/It did not (didn't) understand the question.
We did not (didn't) understand the question.
You did not (didn't) understand the question.
They did not (didn't) understand the question.

And now, in order to make it easier for you to navigate the Past Simple Tense construction, let’s summarize all these rules into tables.

Regular verb conjugation table

Number	Face	Affirmative form	Question form	Negative form
Unit h.	1 2 3	I walk ed You walk ed He/ She/ It walk ed	Did I walk? Did do you walk? Did he/ she/ it walk?	I did not (didn't) walk You did not (didn't) walk He/She/It did not (didn't) walk
Mn. h.	1 2 3	We walk ed You walk ed They walk ed	Did we walk? Did do you walk? Did do they walk?	We did not (didn't) walk You did not (didn't) walk They did not (didn't) walk

Conjugation table for irregular verbs

Number	Face	Affirmative form	Question form	Negative form
Unit h.	1 2 3	I understood You understood He/She/It understood	Did I understand? Did do you understand? Did he/ she/ it understand?	I did not (didn't) understand You did not (didn't) understand He/She/It did not (didn't) understand
Mn. h.	1 2 3	We understood You understood They understood	Did do we understand? Did do you understand? Did do they understand?	We did not (didn't) understand You did not (didn't) understand They did not (didn't) understand

And now, as promised, we return to the verb exception to be. This verb acts as an auxiliary and forms interrogative and negative forms without did.

Conjugation table for the verb to be

Number	Face	Affirmative form	Question form	Negative form
Unit h.	1 2 3	I was You were He/She/It was	Was I? Were you? Was he/ she/ it?	I was not (wasn't) You were not (weren't) He/She/It was not (wasn't)
Mn. h.	1 2 3	We were You were They were	Were we? Were you? Were they?	We were not (weren't) You were not (weren't) They were not (weren't)

Past Simple Tense is used

1. When expressing facts that happened in the past that are not related to the present. Most often, the relationship of an action or state to a specific period in the past tense becomes clear from the context (the content of the sentence or neighboring sentences).

I read this book in London - I read this book in London. (The circumstance in London indirectly indicates the time of the action.)
I called for help, but no one answered - I called for help, but no one answered (The verbs called, answered express a sequence of actions.)
I’m sorry I was out when you called - I’m very sorry, I was absent when you called. (The subordinate clause when you called indicates time.)

Very often sentences in the Past Simple Tense contain time adverbials:

Yesterday - yesterday
last night - last night
last week - last week
last month - last month
last year - last year
last summer - last summer
the other day - on another day
in 1945 - in 1945

And also phrases with adverbs ago:

five minutes ago - five minutes ago
an hour ago - an hour ago
two years ago - two years ago

Where did you travel last year? —Where did you travel last year?
I was born in 1982— I was born in 1982.
They were here ten minutes ago“They were here ten minutes ago.”

Interrogative adverbs when And how can also indicate the past tense.

How did it happen? - How did this happen?
When did you begin your studies? — When did you start studying?

2. When expressing ordinary or repeated actions in the past that are not related to the present:

Last summer I often swam in pool - Last summer I often swam in the pool.
When you were ill I went to see you every other day - When you were sick, I visited you every day.

Please note that you can also use the construction to express repeated actions in the past used + infinitive
We used to see each other very often when I was young - We saw each other very often when I was young.

used + infinitive is also used to express a habitual or prolonged action in the past (usually distant).
In his childhood he used to be capricious - As a child, he was capricious.

3. When expressing a property or action that characterized the subject in the past.

She was very thin when she was a small girl - She was very thin when she was a little girl.

4. In additional subordinate clauses V indirect speech, with the condition that the verb in the main sentence is in Past Simple Tense.

Didn't say he lived in Moscow - He said he lives in Moscow.
I told him I wasn’t there - I told him I wasn’t there.

Past Simple Tense is not particularly difficult. The most difficult thing is to learn the II form of all irregular verbs, which I advise you to do. There is no way to do without knowledge of these forms! Good luck in learning English!

In all the variety of verb tenses in the English language, the Past Simple (simple past) also called Past Indefinite (past indefinite) is one of the easiest to master. But this is also one of the most frequently used tenses in the English language, so we simply cannot do without it.

Past Simple (Past Indefinite) is most often used in the following cases:

to describe actions that happened in the past
in indirect speech
in conditional sentences

The simple past tense refers to actions that happened in the past

Past Simple (Past Indefinite) is most often used when talking about completed events. Pay attention to the so-called simple past tense markers - words or expressions that indicate a completed period of time. For example:

They moved to Paris several years ago. — They moved to Paris several years ago.
The Normans invaded Britain in 1066. - The Normans invaded Britain in 1966.
I ate ice-cream every day in summer. — In the summer I ate ice cream every day.
Who played football yesterday? — Who played football yesterday?
I went shopping this afternoon* but didn’t buy anything. — This afternoon I went shopping, but I didn’t buy anything.
Last week she had an interview for a new job. — She had a job interview last week.

* If a person says this in the evening, for him this afternoon is a complete period of time.

Indirect speech

In indirect speech, time often moves backward. For example, if someone says a phrase in the present tense, indirect speech it is conveyed in the past tense. In each of the examples below, the first sentence is written in direct speech, and the second in indirect speech. Verbs in the Past Simple are in bold.

She said: "I am hungry." — She told me she was hungry.
She said, "I'm hungry." “She told me she was hungry.”
He said: “I know how to catch a fish.” — He said he knew how to catch a fish.
He said, “I can fish.” — He said he knows how to fish.
She said: “My father doesn’t like Chinese food.” — She said her father didn’t like Chinese food.
She said, "My father doesn't like Chinese food." — She said that her father doesn’t like Chinese food.
He asked: “Do you know them?” - He asked me if I knew them.
He asked: “Do you know them?” “He asked me if I knew them.”
The halfback said: "I can do it." - The halfback said he could do it.
The midfielder said: “I can handle it.” — The midfielder said he could handle it.

Please note that when translating indirect speech into Russian, the present tense is usually used:
I said: "They live in Moscow." — I said they lived in Moscow. (I said: “They live in Moscow.” - I said that they live in Moscow.)

By the way, in modern colloquial English time often in indirect speech Not changes if the information is current at the moment:
I said they live in Moscow. — I said that they live in Moscow.

Conditional sentences

Past Simple (Past Indefinite) is used in conditions belonging to the conditional II type. Before reading the explanation of what conditional II is, take a look at the examples. Verbs in the past simple are in bold.

If I lived on a tropical island, I would be happy. — If I lived on a tropical island, I would be happy.
If I had time, I would go with you to the cinema. - If I had time, I would go to the cinema with you.
If the weather was fine, we would go to the park. - If there was good weather, we would go to the park.
If you visited me, you would see my brother. - If you came to me, you would see my brother.
If I saw her, I would greet her. “If I had seen her, I would have said hello.”
I would be glad if you helped me. - I would be happy if you helped me.

Past Simple (conditional II) is used in these sentences to describe an event that is unlikely, in the opinion of the speaker, the occurrence of which is prevented by certain circumstances. Thus, the conditions of the first three sentences could be written as follows:

I don"t live on a tropical island... - I don’t live on a tropical island...
I don’t have time... - I don’t have time...
The weather is bad... - The weather is not good...

As you can see, the tense Past Simple (Past Indefinite) is indeed widely used in both written and oral speech.

A story about the simple past tense in English (with English subtitles):

Comparative analysis of the simple past (Past Simple / Indefinite) and the past perfect tense (Past Perfect) in English (with English subtitles):

It’s not that complicated, it’s the simple past. But if you still have questions, ask us in the comments!

to listen, to permit, to stay, to hate, to fry, to travel, to walk, to live, to rob, to carry, to save, to clean, to hurry, to slip, to answer, to bake, to empty , to prefer, to play, to like, to regret, to talk, to reply, to plan, to wait, to close, to tidy.

Answers: -ed: listened, stayed, walked, cleaned, answered, played, talked, waited; -d: hated, lived, saved, baked, liked, closed; -ied: fried, carried, hurried, emptied, replied, tidied; double consonant+-ed: permitted, travelled, robbed, slipped, preferred, regretted, planned.

Exercise 2. Fill in the table with the missing forms of irregular verbs.

Present (present simple tense)	Past (past simple tense)	Present
			broke
	bought	build
			came
do
		find
	got
		make
	paid	run
			swam
speak		take
	told	think
understand

Answers: bigin - began, break - broke, buy - bought, build - built, catch - caught, come - came, do - did, drink - drank, eat - ate, find - found, get - got, have - had, know - knew, make - made, pay - paid, run - ran, see - saw, swim - swam, speak, spoke, take - took, tell - told, think - thought, understand - understood, wake - woke, wear - wore, write - wrote.

Exercise 3. Select irregular verbs from the list provided and write down their past tense form.

To ask, to bring, to collect, to bathe, to sleep, to keep, to read, to complete, to reply, to grow, to show, to say, to fly, to put, to relax, to cook, to shake , to leave, to act, to give, to protect, to cost, to blow, to move, to meet, to order, to lose, to forget, to play, to feel.

Answers: to bring - brought, to sleep - slept, to keep - kept, to read - read, to grow - grew, to show - showed, to say - said, to fly - flew, to put - put, to shake - shook, to leave - left, to give - gave, to cost - cost, to blow - blew, to meet - met, to lose - lost, to forget - forgot, to feel - felt.

Exercise 4. Open the brackets using verbs in the Past Simple.

What your neighbors (to do) yesterday?
Mr. Smith (to fix) his car yesterday morning.
His wife (to water) plants in the garden.
Their children (to clean) the yard and then they (to play) basketball.
In the evening their boys (to listen) to loud music and (to watch) TV.
Their little girl (to cry) a little and then (to smile).
Her brothers (to shout) at her.
Mrs. Smith (to work) in the kitchen.
She (to bake) a delicious apple pie.
She (to cook) a good dinner.
She (to wash) the dishes and (to look) very tired.
The children (to brush) their teeth, (to yawn) a little and (to go) to bed.
Their mother (to change) her clothes and (to brush) her hair. Then she (to talk) on the phone.
Her husband (to smoke) a cigarette and (to talk) to his wife.
They (to wait) for the bus. The bus (to arrive) at 9 o’clock.
They (to visit) their friends.
They (to dance) a lot there.
Mr. and Mrs. Smith (to rest) very well last night. They really (to have) a wonderful time at their friends.

Answers: 1. What did your neighbors do. 2. Mr Smith fixed. 3. His wife is watered. 4. Their children cleaned, they played. 5. Their boys listened, watched. 6. Their little girl cried, smiled. 7. Her brothers shouted. 8. Mrs Smith worked. 9. She baked. 10. She cooked. 11. She washed, looked. 12. The children brushed, yawned, went. 13. Their mother changed, brushed, talked. 14. Her husband smoked, talked. 15. They waited, the bus arrived. 16. They visited. 17. They danced. 18. Mr and Mrs Smith rested, they really had.

Exercise 5. Rewrite the following text in the past tense.

On Monday we have five lessons. The first lesson is Russian. At this lesson we write a dictation and do some exercises. Nick goes to the blackboard. He answers well and gets a “five”. Pete does not get a “five” because he does not know his lesson. After the second lesson I go to the canteen. I eat a sandwich and drink a cup of tea. I don't drink milk. After school I do not go home at once. I go to the library and change the book. Then I go home.

Answers: On Monday we had five lessons. The first lesson was Russian. At this lesson we wrote a dictation and did some exercises. Nick went to the blackboard. He answered well and got a “five”. Pete did not get a “five” because he did not know his lesson. After the second lesson I went to the canteen. I ate a sandwich and drank a cup of tea. I didn't drink milk. After school I did not go home at once. I went to the library and changed my books. Then I went home.

Exercise 5. Fill in the gaps in the sentences using was, were, wasn 't, weren't.

There ____ a lot of people in the fast food restaurant last night. It was very busy!
“____ Katie at school last week? ""No, she ____. She was sick."
“These flowers are beautiful. ____ are they expensive?” "No, they ____"
____ James and Charlotte in the florist ’ s? Yes, they ____.
That ’ s a pretty dress. ____ is it on sale? Yes, it ____.
____ there is a toy shop in that shopping center? No, there ____.
Where ____ you yesterday, Sam? I ____ at the zoo with my mum.
We ____ at home last night. We ____ at the cinema with friends.

Answers: 1. were. 2. was, wasn’t. 3. were, weren't. 4. were, were. 5. was, was. 6. was, wasn’t. 7. were, was. 8. weren't, were.

Exercise 6. Put the verbs in brackets in the Past Simple.

— ____ (you/play) basketball yesterday afternoon?

- No, I ____. I ____ (surf) the Net.

2. — ____ (your cousin/visit) Germany last month?

- No, he ____. He ____ (visit) Prague.

3. — How old was Mozart when he ____ (die)?

— 35 years old.

4. — When ____ (you/finish) work yesterday?

— At 5:00. Then I ____ (walk) home with Jane.

5. — When ____ (your parents/call) you?

— They ____ (call) an hour ago.

Answers: 1. Did you play, I didn’t, surfed. 2. Did your cousin visit, he didn’t, visited. 3. died. 4. did you finish, walked. 5. did your parents call, called.

WELL DONE!

Literature:

Pavlichenko O.M. English language. Grammar workshop. Level II. — 2nd ed., rev. and additional - X.: Ranok, 2012. - 304 p.
Golitsynsky Yu.B. Grammar: Collection of exercises. - 5th ed., St. Petersburg: KARO, 2005. - 544 p. — (English for schoolchildren).
English language. 5th grade: educational. for general education organizations / [Yu.E.VAulina, D.Dooley, O.E.Podolyako, V.Evans]. — 7th ed. - M.: Express Publishing: Education, 2016. - 164 p.

In English, unlike Russian, there are 16 verb tenses. Most language learners find tenses to be the most difficult topic in grammar. But if you know how and when to use them, then there will be no difficulties, and learning English will be easier. Let's consider in this article Past Simple- rules and examples that will help you better understand this time.

When is Past Simple used?

Past Simple, or Past Simple Tense - simple past repeated or single action in the past. Formed by using regular verbs and changing the root of irregular verbs affirmative sentences. But it also happens that the verb does not change and has the same form in the simple past, perfect past and participle II. Therefore, the past tense form must be learned by heart. It is very simple to distinguish a regular verb from an incorrect one - if the verb is not in the list of irregular ones, then it is correct. There are about 200 irregular verbs in the English language, and each of them has 3 forms - simple past, perfect past and participle II. But there is no need to learn all 200 verbs, since only half of them are in active use.

Every tense in English has time markers - these are adverbs that indicate when an action occurred. IN Past Simple This:

ago - ago;

last - last;

yesterday - yesterday;

the day before yesterday - the day before yesterday;

the other day - the other day;

In British English, adverbs of time are used at the end of sentences. The option of using it at the beginning of a sentence is allowed, which is undesirable, and using it in the middle of a sentence is considered a gross error.

V P ast Simple - past form the verb do - did, which is used in negative and interrogative sentences.

But this rule does not apply to the verb to be - to be, in which all 3 forms - affirmation, negation and question - are formed using the verb to be itself.

Let's look at some examples below. Past Simple with translation in the formation of affirmative, negative and interrogative sentences.

Affirmative sentences

Affirmative sentences in English in Past Simple are formed in 2 ways:

Regular verbs have the ending - ed;

for incorrect ones, the root itself changes.

How verbs are conjugated in Past Simple? Examples will help you understand this issue.

I called - I called.

You called - You called.

He called - He called.

She called - She called.

It called - He/She/it called/la/lo.

We called - We called.

They called - They called.

How to use the verb to be in P ast Simple? Examples of the following sentences will help you understand this issue.

I was a pupil (I was/was a student).

You were a pupil (You were/were a student).

He was a pupil (He was a student).

She was a pupil (She was a student).

We were a pupil (We were students).

They were a pupil (They were students).

The verb to be is irregular and in Past Simple has 2 forms - was for the 1st, 2nd, 3rd person singular and were - for the 1st, 2nd, 3rd person plural.

IN in this example there is no sentence with the pronoun it, since it denotes inanimate objects, and they cannot be students. The pronoun it refers to the singular and with it the verb to be has the form was.

It was an interesting film (It was an interesting film).

Negative sentences

Negation is formed using did and the particle not. In writing, there are two possible options: did not and didn’t, but the latter is used more often.

How is a question formed in P? ast Sipml? Examples:

I didn't work (I didn't work).

You didn't work (You didn't work).

He didn't work (He didn't work).

She didn't work (She didn't work).

It didn't work (He/She/It didn't work/la/lo).

We didn't work (We didn't work).

They didn't work (They didn't work).

For the verb to be the form is in Past Simple will have the following form:

I wasn't here yesterday (I wasn't here yesterday).

You weren't here yesterday. (We weren't here yesterday).

He wasn't here yesterday (He wasn't here yesterday).

She wasn't here yesterday (She wasn't here yesterday).

It wasn't here yesterday (He/she wasn't here yesterday).

We weren't here yesterday (We weren't here yesterday).

They weren't here yesterday (They weren't here yesterday).

Interrogative sentences

The question is formed using did using the following formula:

The formula presented in the picture demonstrates how questions are posed in Past Simple. The examples below will help you better understand and consolidate it.

Did I call? - Did I call?

Did you call? -DID YOU call?

Did he call? -Did he call?

Did she call? - Did she call?

Did it call? - Did she/she/it call/la/lo?

Did we call? - Did we call?

Did they call? - Did they call?

If the sentence contains so-called Wh-questions, then did will be used after them. Let us consider in more detail their use in Past Simple. Examples:

Did you go to the school yesterday? - Did you go to school yesterday?

Did Henry buy his car two years ago? - Henry bought the car 2 years ago?

When did they call you? - When did they call you?

The option is possible not only with did, but also didn’t.

Didn't they help you? - They didn't help you?

Didn't Sarah and John go to the birthday party? - Sarah and John didn't go to the birthday party?

Didn't his daughter call him? - His daughter didn’t call him?

With wh-questions and other questions, the auxiliary verb is used after the question.

When did they go to the office? - When did they go (go) to the office?

Where did they live when he was a small boy? -Where did they live when he was a little boy?

How many questions did you ask? - How many questions did you ask?

In the same way the verb to be is formed in the form Past Simple. Examples:

Was he at school yesterday? - Was he at school yesterday?

Were you in Italy 2 years ago? - You (you) were (were) in Italy two years ago?

Was Peter in the birthday? - Was Peter at the party?

Who was this man with you? -Who was this man with you?

When were you in India? - When were you (were) in India?

When learning English there will be no problems with grammar and in particular with Past Simple. Rules and examples for understanding grammar are the best helpers.