Uses of Simple Past Tense.

 

There are 12 tenses in English and we have already learnt two tenses. Today we will learn about Uses Of Simple Past Tense.

Definition Of Simple Past Tense Under the title of Uses Of Simple Past Tense

 

Under title of Uses Of Simple Past Tense,

Simple past tense is a tense that is used to talk about an action, that action happened in the past. That means that action was finished in the past.

Sentence Pattern Of Simple Past Tense Under the title of Uses Of Simple Past Tense

Under title of Uses Of Simple Past Tense, We’ll learn sentence pattern.

Subject + Past Verb

Now let’s learn some past verbs.

Go – went
Cook – cooked
Wash – washed
Play – Played
Call – called
Pray – prayed
Come – came
eat – ate
write – wrote
invite – invited
study – studied
finish – finished

Above we have learned about some past verb.
To form a sentence in the Past Tense, we must write a Past Tense with Subject so, that becomes a Past Tense.

Some Examples Of Simple Past Tense.

01.I came to school.
02.She ate rice and curry.
03.He wrote a poem.
04.They invited us.
05.My sister studied hard.
06.We finished our homeworks.
07.My friends went to the beach.
08.Our Students sang a beautiful song.
09.It built a small nest.
10.The cat chased a rat.

Key words of Simple Past Tense Under the title of Uses Of Simple Past Tense

Under title of Uses Of Simple Past Tense we’ll learn its keywords.

yesterday
last week
last month
last year
two days ago
two weeks ago
two years ago
an one hour ago
two hours ago

Some of the words given above are used only in Simple Past Tense.

Let’s look at some more examples using the words given above.

01.I talked with my friends two months ago.
02.My sister cooked rice and curry one week ago.
03.Last week, I went to beach.
04.Last year, we found a beautiful place.
05.Yesterday, we watched a movie.
06.Yesterday, I slept late.
07.We thought about it yesterday.
08.Two hours ago, we went to a party.
09.Police caught the thieves two days ago.
10.Sri Lanka won the World Cup in 1996.

As per the above examples, we have written some words before the subject. so, when we write before the subject we must write Comma (,). some words are at the end of the sentence.

All the sentences we have seen above are positive sentences.

Question Sentences / Interrogative Sentences Of Simple Past Tense

Under title of Uses Of Simple Past Tense we’ll learn its question form.

To convert a sentence into a question, we have already learned that the auxiliary verb is in that sentence should be written before the subject of that sentence. But in the positive sentence of Simple Past tense the auxiliary verb disappears. when we turn it into a question, we have to take it out and write it before the subject of that sentence. In a sentence, the helping verb is between the subject of the sentence and the main verb of the sentence.

I drank water.

Here,
Subject – I
main verb – Drank

So here, helping verb disappears between the subject and main verb.

Auxiliary verb / Helping Verb of Simple Past Tense

Under title of Uses Of Simple Past Tense we’ll learn its helping verbs.

Did.

“Did” only is the helping verb of simple past tense.

I -Did

He – Did
She – Did
It – Did
Singular noun – Did ( Teacher)

We – Did
You – Did
They – Did
Plural noun – Did ( Teachers)

That is, whether the subject is singular or plural, the helping verb “Did” only can be used here.

In a sentence, the helping verb is between the subject of the sentence and the main verb of the sentence.

Now, we will convert the following sentences into interrogative sentences.

01.I came to school.
Did I come to school?

02.She ate rice and curry.
Did she eat rice and curry?

03.He wrote a poem.
Did he write a poem?

04.They invited us.
Did they invite us?

05.My sister studied hard.
Did my sister study hard?

06.We finished our homework.
Did we finish our homework?

07.My friends went to the beach.
Did my friends go to the beach?

08.Our Students sang a beautiful song.
Did our students sing a beautiful song?

09.It built a small nest.
Did it build a small nest?

10.The cat chased a rat.
Did the cat chase a rat?

When we change simple past tense into interrogative sentences, the main verb changes to its base form.

Ex:- in the first sentence,
came – Past verb
come – Base verb

Negative Sentence Of Simple Past Tense

Under title of Uses Of Simple Past Tense we’ll learn its negative form.

To convert a sentence into a negative sentence, add the word “not” with the helping verb of sentence.

Based on this, in a positive sentence of simple past tense , the helping verb is between the subject and main verb.

We remind again that in the positive sentence of Simple past tense the auxiliary verb disappears.

Let’s see some examples for these.

01.I came to school.
I did not come to school.

02.She ate rice and curry.
She did not eat rice and curry.

03.He wrote a poem.
He did not write a poem.

04.They invited us.
They did not invite us.

05.My sister studied hard.
My sister did not study hard.

06.We finished our homework.
we did not finish our homework.

07.My friends went to the beach.
My friends did not go to the beach.

08.Our Students sang a beautiful song.
Our students did not sing a beautiful song.

09.It built a small nest.
It did not build a small nest.

10.The cat chased a rat.
The cat did not chase a rat.

Here also, when we convert to negative the past verb should be changed as a base verb.

Question / interrogative sentence of negative sentence

Under title of Uses Of Simple Past Tense we’ll learn its question of interrogative.

To turn a negative sentence into an interrogative sentence, “the helping verb” and the word ” not” should be written before the subject of the sentence.

Let’s see some examples for these.

01.I did not come to school.
Did I not come to school?
Didn’t I come to school?

02.She did not eat rice and curry.
Did she not eat rice and curry?
Didn’t she eat rice and curry?

03.He did not write a poem.
Did he not write a poem?
Didn’t he write a poem?

04.They did not invite us.
Did they not invite us?
Didn’t they invite us?

05.My sister did not study hard.
Did my sister study hard?
Didn’t my sister study hard?

06.we did not finish our homework.
Did we not finish our homework?
Didn’t we finish our homework?

07.My friends did not go to the beach.
Did my friends not go to the beach?
Didn’t my friends go to the beach?

08.Our students did not sing a beautiful song.
Did our students not sing a song?
Didn’t our students sing a song?

09.It did not build a small nest.
Did it not build a small nest?
Didn’t it build a small nest?

10.The cat did not chase a rat.
Did the cat not chase a rat?
Didn’t the cat chase a rat?

Did not = Didn’t

As per the above example, while writing “did not” the “did” should be written before the subject and “not” should be written after the subject.

Also, when writing the “didn’t” it should be written before the subject.

General Knowledge

 

An introduction to the English Language