Structure of Simple Past Tense
|
Affirmative |
subject + V2 + object |
James ate rice. |
|
Negative |
subject + did not +VI+object |
James did not eat rice. |
|
Interrogative |
Did+subject+V1+object?
Wh+did+subject+V'+object? |
Did James eat rice?
What did James eat? |
|
Passive |
object
+ was/ were+V3+ by + subject |
Rice
was eaten by James. |
The Simple Past is used:
(a) To denote completed/finished event or situation with a past time reference:
ü Anita
met me an hour before.
ü I
didn't see a play yesterday.
ü Who
invented the telescope?
ü Long
ago there lived a king.
ü The
steamer sailed yesterday.
ü Mukesh
left college last year.
(b) To express past facts or generalizations or situations which are no longer true:
ü I
studied English when I was a child.
ü Deepa
worked at a restaurant after college.
ü They
never wore shorts; they wore pants.
ü Did you play musical instruments when you were a child?
(c) A series of completed actions in the past:
ü He
wrote a letter, put it in the envelope, put a stamp on it and posted it.
ü She
got off at the bus stop, called her friend and went with her to the hotel.
(d)Duration of any completed action which starts and stops in the past:
ü We
talked on the phone for 30 minutes.
ü I
waited for Anjali for two hours.
ü Olivia
studied French for three years.
(e)With adverbs of time: yesterday, ago, last week, last night, last, month, just now, in the past
ü It
happened many years ago.
ü Columbus
discovered America in 1492.
ü Atul
came back last week.
ü Dorje
left two hours ago.
(f) With when clause (before the event):
ü When
he fell down, he was painting the ceiling.
ü I
was writing on the board when the marker fell down.