The Past Simple (Indefinite) Tense. Past simple (indefinite) tense in English

We already know how to express regular and ordinary actions of the present time, now it’s time to learn how to write stories about the past. In English, simple combinations of the past are represented by the form past indefinite or past simple, examples of which are found in almost every dialogue. Today we will analyze the construction of this tense, possible types of sentences and the nuances of exceptions. This category is more difficult than the present simple , but it also has grammatical features similar to it.

As in other tenses, this aspect is characterized by the formation of several types of expressions.

Affirmative

Interrogative

But asking questions using one verb in English will not work at all. Let's remember how the present simple behaves in such situations and make sentences in the past simple according to the model. Examples:

• Do you read this magazine? –Youyou're readingthismagazine?(Present tense)
• Does your sister watch the cartoons? –Yourssisterlookscartoons?(Present tense)

To give the expression context of the past, it is necessary to change only one element - the auxiliary verb do. Moreover, if in the present tense it has two options, then for the past it is even simpler - in all persons the form did is used.

• Did you read this magazine? –Youreadthismagazine?(Past tense)
• Did your sister watch the cartoons? –Yourssisterwatchedcartoons?(Past tense)

As you can see, the construction is very simple, but many people make a common mistake - they put the main verb in the past tense. Remember, past tense questions are always formed using did and simple infinitive !

• Did we buy five or six books? –Webought 5 or 6books?

Please note once again: used buy, but under no circumstances Notbought!

Special questions, that is, phrases with special question words, are also very popular in English. They move did and take first place in the sentence.

• Where did they walk yesterday? -Where did they go yesterday?

There are examples of other question constructions for the past simple, but we will look at them a little later.

Negative

When creating negatives, let's also draw an analogy with the present simple.

Examples

• She doesn't paint portraits –SheNotdrawsportraits.(Present tense)
• I don't drink lemonadeINotI drinklemonade.(Present tense)

To change the present to the past, we manipulate the combination do/does+not, turning it into did + not, the same for all persons.

• She didn't 't paint portraits“She didn’t paint portraits.”(Past tense)
• I didn't 't drink lemonade– I didn’t drink lemonade.(Past tense)

Everything ingenious is simple, and there is nothing more to add on the topic of a negative sentence in the past indefinite.

Interrogative-negative

It's time to study the previously mentioned interrogative combinations. In this case, they are represented by a combination of question and denial. Such phrases are often used in colloquial speech when we want to clarify something with our interlocutor. Let us give examples of such expressions immediately in the past tense.

Examples

• Didn 't you call me? -Didn't you call me?
• Did they not go tothecinema? – Didn’t they go to the movies?

Pay attention to how not behaves in shortened and full constructions.

There is also the concept of dividing questions. They are very similar to regular statements, only they have a small tail at the end. “ did?” , which can be translated as “yes?”, “isn’t it?”

• You read thisarticle, didn't 't you ? – You read this article, didn’t you?
• They didn't play tennis did they? They didn't play tennis, right?

To use such questions, remember the rule: if the sentence is affirmative, then the tail will be negative, and vice versa.

To be and have

We have already noted that irregular verbs behave in a special way when changing their form to the past simple. We won’t cover them all, but we’ll look at the two most important types: to be and have (in the British version, have got).

Pronouns	Infinitive	Past tense Past indefinite
		+	?	—
3 face unit +1 face unit: he, she, it, I		…was….	Was….?	...wasn't...
Plural: we, you, they		...were...	Were...?	...were not...
All pronouns	have	…had…	Did...have...? Didn't...have...?	…didn’t have… …didn’t have…

To reinforce this, here are a few examples of to be and has in the past simple and their translation.

Examples

As you can see, to be is transformed independently, and have requires an auxiliary did.

With this, we complete the study of grammatical structure and move on to considering cases of using simple pastes.

Situations of use

There are several situations characteristic of the simple past tense. The most popular case is a description of an action committed once in the past.

• We translated those sentences from Russian into English yesterday –YesterdayWetranslatedthoseoffersWithRussianonEnglish.
• 2016 was the year of the monkey. 2017 is the year of rooster – 2016wasyearmonkey. 2017 –yearrooster (Present Time).
  

Past indefinite is also used to express regular events that occurred in the past.

• My brother often painted cats and dogs in his childhood –MyBrotheroftendrewVchildhoodcatsAnddogs.
• LastyearI studied Englishtwiceaweek – Last year I studied English twice a week.

When listing past actions that were performed simultaneously, the simple past construction is also used.

• She bought apen, wrote apostcardand sent ittoherfriends “She bought a pen, wrote a postcard and sent it to her friends.
• I took a shower, called my girlfriend and went to sleep –Iacceptedshower,calledhisgirlAndlay downsleep.

This concludes the study of the theory. To make it easier to remember, a small table is presented below, which includes diagrams of past simple constructions and example sentences. In addition, it contains time circumstances - these are unique keywords by which you can easily determine that a past simple is used in a sentence.

Past simple example sentences and tense indicators

+	?	—
….IIverb form...	Did……infinitive…	…didn’t (didn’t)infinitive…
She signed the agreement. She signed this agreement. I bought a new flat last year. Last year I bought a new apartment. We sang a lot of songs at the karaoke club. We sang a lot of songs at the karaoke club.	Did they watch the movie? Have they seen this movie? Did he catch this bird? Did he catch this bird? Did you invite him to the party? Did you invite him to the party?	We didn't offer you this job. We didn't suggest you change your car. You didn't write the report. You didn't write the report. I didn't run at the stadium last weekend. I didn't run at the stadium last weekend.
Unith….was… Mn.h...were...	Was...? Were...?	…wasn’t (wasn’t)… …were not (weren’t)…
I was at the gym. I was at the gym. They were right. They were right.	Was is he angry? Was he angry? Were we at the cinema last month? We went to the cinema last month?	They weren't happy together. They weren't happy together. She wasn't born in London. He was not born in London.
Signal words: ago, long ago, last week (month, year), yesterday, in 1990 year, in those times.

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Fig. 1 Past indefinite - past indefinite

The past is indefinite, you can also find another name for Past Simple - simple past tense.

The past indefinite of regular verbs is formed by adding the ending -ed or -d to the stem of the infinitive. The ending -d is added to the stem of the infinitive if it ends in e

• to ask - he ask ed - ask - he asked
• to answer - he answer ed - answer - he answered

If the verb ends in e

• to invite - he invite d - invite - he invited
• to decide - he decide d - decide - he decided

• ask - [ ɑːsk ] - (a:sk)- ask.
• answer - [ ˈɑːnsə ] - (ansa)- answer, answer.
• invite - [ ɪnˈvʌɪt ] - (invite) - invite, call, ask
• decide - [ dɪˈsʌɪd ] - (disaid) - decide, make a decision

Pronunciation

The endings -ed and -d are pronounced [ ɪd] after the consonants t and d, like [ d ] after voiced consonants, except d, And How [ t ] after voiceless consonants, except t

If a verb ends in y, preceded by a consonant, the y before the ending -ed changes to i

• to try - he tr ies try - he tries

If a verb ends in a consonant preceded by a short vowel, the final consonant is usually doubled.

• to stop - he stops pped - stop - he stopped
• to plan - he pla nned - plan - he planned
• to prefer - he prefer rred - prefer - he preferred
• to quarrel - he quarre lled - quarrel - he quarreled

• stop - [ stɒp ] - (stop ) - stop, delay.
• plan - [ plæn] - (plan) - plan, program of action.
• prefer - [ prɪˈfəː ] - (kudos:)- prefer.
• quarrel - [ ˈkwɒr(ə)l ] - (Corel) - dispute, quarrel, disagreement, discord.

The past indefinite of irregular verbs is formed specially.

Interrogative form Past indefinite

The interrogative form past indefinite is formed using the auxiliary verb to do in the form did, which is placed before the subject. The main verb is put in the infinitive form without the particle to

Negative form Past indefinite

The negative form past indefinite is formed using the auxiliary verb to do in the form did, followed by the negation not

• He ask ed. -
  [hi ɑːsk ] -
  (hee a:sk) -
  He asked.
• Did he ask? -
  [dɪd hi ɑːsk ] -
  (didhi a:sk) -
  Did he ask?
• He didn't ask. -
  [hi dɪd nɒt ɑːsk ] -
  (hee did not a:sk) -
  He didn't ask.

Verb forms in the past simple

Verb forms in past indefinite

Number	Affirmative form	Interrogative form	Negative form
Ask - verb, translated as ask, ask
Verb forms in the past simple
units number	I asked.	Did I ask?	I didn't ask.
	You asked.	Did you ask?	You didn't ask.
	He asked.	Did he ask?	He didn't ask.
	She asked.	Did she ask?	She didn't ask.
	It asked.	Did it ask?	It didn't ask.
pl. number	We asked.	Did we ask?	We didn't ask.
	You asked.	Did you ask?	You didn't ask.
	They asked.	Did they ask?	They didn't ask.

Use of Past indefinite

Past indefinite is used to express:

1. A repeated action or constant sign of an object in the past;
   • He always came to school on time. -
     [hi ˈɔːlweɪz keɪm tuː skuːl ɒn ˈtaɪm] -
     (hee olweis keim tu: sk:l on time) -
     He always comes to school on time.
     Repeated action in the past.
   • He was a good pupil -
     -
     (hee woz e good pyuu:dil) -
     He was a good student
     A constant sign of an object in the past

   Note. If a repeated action or sign that occurred in the past no longer takes place in the present, use combination used do + infinitive. This combination is translated into Russian with the words: "happened before" or "early, usually", "once upon a time"

   I used to go to school with him- We once studied together.

   .
2. Chains of sequential actions in the past;
   • He took a book, opened it and began reading it. -
     [hi tʊk ə bʊk ˈəʊpənd ɪt ænd bɪˈɡan ˈriːdɪŋ ɪt] -
     (hee knock e book open it and bigan ri:din it) -
     He took the book, opened it and began to read.
     Chain of sequential actions
3. Single action in the past.
   • I took the book from the library yesterday -
     [aɪ tʊk ðə frɒm ðə ˈlʌɪbrəri ˈjɛstədeɪ] -
     (ay tuk the book from the library estate) -
     I borrowed a book from the library yesterday
     One time action in the past

There are different ways to express the past tense in English. Each of them has its own patterns, having comprehended which, you will be able to easily convey the events of the past in English. One of the most “in demand” tenses is the Past Simple.

It is very easy to draw a parallel here with the Russian language. Everything that we are accustomed to attributing to the past is expressed by the Past Simple (Indefinite). That is why it is called simple time, which conveys ordinary actions and isolated facts.

Formation of Past Simple in English

As in any tense, all points of contact converge in the form of the verb and the use of the auxiliary verb. In an affirmative sentence, the predicate takes either ending ed (if the verb is correct), or it is used second form (2nd column of irregular verbs): V ed or V 2(with all faces the same) . To form questions or negatives, you need an auxiliary verb did. In the first case, it takes place before the subject, in the second - after + the particle not. It is important to note that the predicate verb returns to its primary person, i.e. infinitive without to. It is easy to see how the Past Simple is formed using a table.

Not only in colloquial speech, but also in writing they often use shortened form.

Important nuances

• The first thing I want to note is the verb to be. In principle, it is incorrect, therefore it has a second form (was - singular / were - plural). In affirmative sentences it is used like this, but negative and interrogative sentences are formed without did: wasn’t, weren’t. Despite the fact that it is semantic, no auxiliary verb or other semantic verb is used with it in the past simple.

We were at home last night. — We were at home last night.

I wasn't the best student. — I was not the best student.

Were you in a new club? — Have you been to the new club?

• The pronunciation of the ending ed changes. It all depends on the letters next to each other:

after voiceless consonants - [t] - worked

after voiced consonants and vowels [d] - used, enjoyed

after t/d — — studied, landed

• Features of writing. The second form of the verb will have to be learned by heart, there is no way to escape from it. And with the addition of ed, not everything is easy either. When adding this ending to a word, sometimes there are some changes that are important to know:

1. If the word ends in "y", and in front of her is consonant, then “y” changes to “i”+ ed: try-tried, hurry - hurried. But: pl a y-pla y ed.
2. If a verb has a letter at the end "e", then when adding ed, one of the “e” disappears: change - changed, dance - danced.
3. If the verb ends in I agree(except c, w, z) or — er, -ur, and in front of her short vowel, then the last letter is doubled: stop - stopped, plan-planned, omit-omitted, occur - occurred.
4. If the latter is « l", then it is also duplicated: travel - travelled, quarel - quarelled.
5. Ending with "With", the verb in this case adds and "k": panic - panicked.

Cases of use

The rules for Past Simple (Indefinite) are quite easy to understand. And there are not many of them.

1. First of all, I would like to highlight isolated events in the past, facts. This way we emphasize what happened and simply state the fact. Vivid clues of this time are words such as ago (back), last year/month/week (last year, month, week), yesterday (yesterday), the other day (the other day), in 1998, in questions with when .

Last night my friends celebrated their anniversary. — Last night my friends celebrated their anniversary.

There wasn’t any rain in September. — There was no rain in September.

2. Alternately listed events in the past. The chronological order is very important: for example, got up, washed, had breakfast.

The dog picked up the bone and went away. — The dog picked up the bone and ran away.

She woke up, opened the window and switched on the TV. “She woke up, opened the window and turned on the TV.

3. Regular, constantly repeated actions in the past we will also express it in Past Indefinite: rarely, every week, often, always. You will immediately say that these are Present Simple pointers, and how can you find out. This is always clear from the context, whether the action refers to the present or the past. Just think about the proposal, don’t rush when you see the treasured clue.

Every week he took his son out. “Every week he took his son for a walk.

When I was a little boy I usually went to bed at 8. - When I was a little boy, I went to bed at 8 o'clock.

Sometimes there is confusion between the last function and the phrase used to do smth (be used to do smth). You can study this construction in detail in the article “Used to turnover”.

Even more examples of cases of using this tense can be found in the article “Examples of Past Simple”.

Comparison of times

The grammar of Past Indefinite Tense is quite simple. You will easily understand the formation and usage. But when comparing different past tenses, difficulties arise. Let's figure it out.

Past Simple	Past Continuous	Past Perfect	Past Perfect Continuous	Present Perfect
A single action in the past, a fact, just happened	Long-term action in the past, the exact period when it occurred is indicated	An action ended before a moment or another action in the past, what matters is that it ended	The action lasted a certain time period in the past	The action is not just completed, its consequences are visible in the present, and they are the ones that matter
I wrote a new novel last week.	I was writing a new novel the whole week.	I had written a new novel by New Year.	I had been writing a new novel for a year.	I have written a new novel, and now I go to the editor.
I wrote a new novel last week.	I've been writing a new novel all week.	I wrote a new novel for the New Year.	I've been writing a new novel for a year.	I wrote a new novel, and now I'm going to the editor.

So, let's summarize. According to the rules of Past Simple (Indefinite), the verb changes its form, and negation and question are formed using did. When performing exercises and tests, comparing past simple (indefinite) with other tenses, remember that the first of them tells, informs, lets you know that the action happened sometime in the past. All the time frames are a little blurry, the exact time is never given.

In the last article we tried to understand how tense forms are formed in English and looked at the present tense of the English language in all four of its manifestations.
If this is learned, then it will be easier to deal with the past tense. So, let's move on.

The Past Tenses: Past Tenses

1.The Past Indefinite (Simple): Past indefinite (simple)

Use Past Indefinite when you want to tell:

• about some event or about the constant quality of an object or subject in the past
• about a chain of successive events
• about what happened periodically, but constantly

For example:

• I wrote an article - I wrote an article (the event happened in the past).
• Wasn't a good writer. -He was a good writer (a constant quality is a good writer)
• He woke up and washed. — He woke up and washed himself (chain of events)
• I and my friends went to the mountains every summer.- My friends and I went to the mountains every summer (that is, periodically)

The same sentence can be remade using the phrase - used to:

• I and my friends used to go to the mountains every summer. My friends and I used to go to the mountains every summer (literally: we used to go)

The verb in this case is in the 1st f.

Rules for the formation of Past Indefinite:

If the verb is regular, the ending -ed is added to it; if it is irregular, the second form from the table of irregular verbs is used.
In interrogative and negative sentences we use -did and -didn"t (past form -to do)

Let's summarize all the rules for the formation of this tense form in the table: Rules for the formation of Past Indefinite If you ask something or deny, then the main verb must be used in the 1st form (infinitive without -to), and not in the 2nd.

In an interrogative sentence was/were is placed at the beginning before the subject, and in the negative - after, in the form - was not (wasn't) or were not (weren't).

• Were you beautiful in that dress? -Were you beautiful in this dress?
• He wasn’t sure or correctly he writes. He wasn't sure if he was writing correctly.

Auxiliary verb conjugation - to be in the past time:
verb to be in the past tense By what other characteristics, besides - did, was/were, can we determine that the sentence is Past Indefinite? Of course, according to the presence of a time circumstance that answers the question “when”. For example:

• When did you write an article? — When did you write the article?
• I wrote an article last year. — I wrote an article last year.

The circumstance of time is here last year. More options:

• today - today
• a few hours ago - a few hours ago
• on Tuesday - on Tuesday
• on January 7 - January 7th, etc.

Question words are always placed at the beginning of a sentence.

• For whom did you do it? - For whom (whom) did he do this?
• What were you in that dress? -What did you look like in that dress?

2.The Past Continuous

Like the Present Continuous, Past Continuous used in English if you need to talk about a certain period of action, not in the present, but in the past.
Let us also summarize all the rules for the formation of this tense and the construction of all forms of sentences in a table: Past continuous The range of application of this temporary form of English is very wide. There are at least three time ranges for its use.

1. The duration of action is specifically indicated:
   • temporary circumstance
   • another event in the simple past
   • event of the long past
   • certain situation

   Let's look at the examples one by one, corresponding to each case.

   • I was correcting an article yesterday -I corrected the article yesterday (time circumstance)
   • When we found him, he was sitting on the beach. — When we found him, he was sitting on the seashore (simple past event)
   • While he was doing lessons, friends were waiting near the house. -While he was doing his homework, his friends were waiting for him near the house (an event in the long past)
   • I returned home. He was writing still. - I returned home. He was still writing (certain situation)
2. If the action is prolonged, perhaps intermittent, the approximate period of the event is indicated, but not at the moment, then time circumstances are also used here:
   • She was putting things in order in the house for a month after repair - She put things in order in the house after renovation for a month.
   • But if you need to talk about sequentially occurring events, then Past Indefinite is used:
   • I came home from the school, ate and sat down at the computer. — I came home from school, ate and sat down at the computer.

   If you want to talk about the very fact of an event in the past, use Past Indefinite; if you want to emphasize the duration of the action, its process - Past Continuous.

   The use of one tense or another in the English language often depends on an elusive semantic difference, the sound load or intonation with which each word of the sentence is pronounced.

3. Informal usage:
   The time of the event is used in meaning as the future, but it was pronounced or projected from the past, so we also write in the past continuous. You can understand it with an example:
   • I wrote that I was coming next week.- I wrote that I would arrive next week.

   By the way, this sentence can be remade by using the phrase to be going to, which is often used in this tense form to express the intention of an action:

   • I was going to come next week. — I was going to come next week

3.The Past Perfect

This tense of the English language, based on the translation, is, as it were, “past in the past.” Is it difficult to digest right away? Let’s now imagine this: something happened (happened) before some moment, which is also already in the past, and you need to tell about it. You definitely need to report that you did it by five o’clock, or before the boss came, or you did it, and then she said... etc. In short, if you are talkative or a writer, then this time is for you. In simple English dialogue, it is better to use the simple past.
Formed Past Perfect just like the Present Perfect, only the verb have, the auxiliary, takes the past form had. The main verb is in the third form, as in all Perfect tenses.
Table with sentence formulas: Past perfect In what cases is the Past Perfect used in English:

1. Basically, when the time of action is indicated:
   • temporary circumstance: here they usually indicate the approximate time at which this happened (by Monday - by Monday, by five o'clock - by five o'clock, by midnight - by midnight, etc.);
   • subsequent, later event
   • situation
   • He had finished this thing only by midnight. -He finished this thing only by midnight.
   • When he awoke, everyone had gone already. — When he woke up, everyone had already left.
   • Mary said, that her dog had been ill. — Mary said that her dog was sick

   If there are two past tenses in a sentence, then the Past Perfect is always used in the earlier past

2. Instead of other times:
   where it is impossible to use the Past Perfect Continuous (with verbs to be, think, hope, want, etc.):
   • I had hoped you’d be happy my arrival. - I hoped you would be happy about my arrival
3. As a future for earlier events, in the subordinate clause of a complex sentence:
   • Claire said that we would go to the theater, as soon as her favorite premiere had been held there. — Claire said that we would go to the theater as soon as her favorite premiere took place there.

4.The Past Perfect Continuous

Past Perfect Continuous The formula for the formation of this tense in the English language and sentence patterns are in the table below:
Past Perfect Continuous used in English if it is necessary to express exactly the duration of a completed action that began earlier than some event of the simple past and:

1. Still lasts when this event occurs
2. Ended shortly before some point in the past

In the first case, the time period of what is happening must be indicated.:

• Jean had been working since the morning, when friends went to help him. — Jean had been working since the morning when his friends came to help him

In the second case, the duration of action is not always indicated:

• At last he finished the picture all had been waiting. — Finally, he finished the picture that everyone was waiting for

This tense is often used in language to talk about the causes and consequences of events in the past. Such offers are marked - because, —as(because, since):

• Lena failed the exam, because she had been missing a lot of lessons. — Lena failed the exam because she missed a lot of classes

The reason (in this case, missed lessons) is always in the Past Perfect Continuous.
Sentences of the English language that do not have temporal circumstances, but in meaning belong to the Past Perfect Continuous, are often mistakenly used in the Past Continuous form. Below are examples of sentences that have the same Russian translation, but different in meaning:

• He decided to rest, because he was writing this book so hard - He decided to take a break because he wrote this book so hard (what is emphasized here is that he decided to take a break from the hard work he had been doing up to that point, that is, the usual statement of fact).
• He decided to rest, because he had writing this book so hard. - He decided to rest because he was writing this book so hard (here the emphasis is on the reason why he decided to rest - he wrote hard - and this process could have already ended either at the moment or at some point in the past ).

However, there are cases when the Past Perfect Continuous tense form cannot be used.
Remember.

We continue to study the tenses of the English language. Let's look at the Past Simple tense - the past indefinite tense in English. Before you get acquainted with the Past Simple table, it is advisable to learn how to use In addition to the sentence structure and cases of using this tense, I will draw your attention in this article to the shortcomings of students, and Past Simple table, will help us with this.

Past Simple is used:

to express an action that happened sometime in the past and is not related to the present. In this case, the moment of the action is either indicated using marker words or implied. For example: We bought a flat (yesterday). We bought an apartment (yesterday).

to describe a series of sequential actions in the past. For example: He woke up up, cleaned his teeth, had breakfast and walked to school.

to express an action that in the past occupied a certain period of time (it is indicated by the words for And during). For example: She didn't speak for an hour.

Marker words(read more about marker words in the article) for Past Simple: yesterday, last week (month, year, autumn), in 2013, 3 days ago. Also indicators of the past tense in English are the words when (when) and where (where)- an indication of a certain time in the past. Therefore, the Past Simple table will be useful to you, in particular, for questions that begin with When? and Where? For example: Where did you go?

Legend for the Past Simple (The Past Indefinite Tense) table:
V– verb – verb
S– subject – subject (who? what?)
Ved– regular verb with ending – ed (“regular” are verbs that form the affirmative form of The Past Indefinite Tense according to the rule - by adding the ending -ed to the main form of the verb e.g. I work - I work ed(I work - I worked))
V2– “irregular” verb in the second form (“irregular” are verbs that form the affirmative form of The Past Indefinite Tense not according to the rule (by adding the ending -ed to the main form of the verb), but by changing the main form. To do this, you need to use a verb, standing in the second column of the table of irregular verbs, e.g. I go - I went (I go - I went).To determine whether a verb is correct or irregular, you just need to learn all the irregular verbs :) (there are 218 of them in English, of which 190 are widely used - 195). Then, when forming a statement in the past indefinite tense, you can confidently add the ending -ed to those verbs that are not in the table of irregular verbs.

THE PAST INDEFINITE TENSE
(THE PAST SIMPLE)

Past indefinite tense

Affirmative form
+

Structure
You(you you) We(We) They(They) He(He) She(she) It(he, she, it - about animals and objects)
Examples	Translation
I lived in a big city.	I lived in a big city.
We listened to music.	We listened to music.
They went to England.	They went to England.
He swam in the swimming pool.	He was swimming in the pool.
Sheliked the movie.	She liked the film.
Itstarted in the morning.

I hope everything is clear with the statement in the past tense. The situation is more complicated with questions - general and special. The video below provides an accessible and simple explanation of how to write questions in Past Indefinite Tense.

Interrogative form
?

Structure
	you(you you) we(We) they(They) he(He) she(she) it(it)	It is important not to deliver the ending -ed, which went to Do+ed = Did
Examples		Translation
– Did you cook yesterday? – Yes, I did. (No, I didn't.)		– Did you cook food yesterday? - Yes. (No.)
– Did they swim last night? – No, they didn’t. (Yes, they did.)		– Did they swim last night? - No. (Yes.)
– Did he enjoy the party? – Yes, he did. (No, he didn't.)		– Did he like the party? - Yes. (No.)
Did is an auxiliary verb - it only helps to form a question and a negative, but is not translated. It is important to use only did (didn’t) in short answers. Saying: “Yes, I cooked” or “Yes, I swam” is a mistake!

Wh-?
Special questions

(start with special words)

Structure
How many (much, far...)		you(you you) we(We) they(They) he(He) she(she) it(it)
Examples		Translation
What did they do at the weekend?		What did they do on the weekend?
It is important to understand that “did” is not translated, but only shows that it is a sentence in the Past Simple. Thanks to this, the word “do” is translated “did” (and not “do”).
		Where did your friend play tennis?
Why did she like ballet?		Why did she love ballet?
		How much did it cost?

Negative form
—

Structure
You(you you) We(We) They(They) He(He) She(she) It(it)	didn't (didn't)
Examples		Translation
I didn't like Spanish.		I didn't like Spanish.
(I didn’t like – I didn’t like, not “me not liked”)
You didn't understand Spanish.		You (you) did not understand Spanish.
We didn't teach Spanish.		We didn't teach Spanish.
They didn't know Spanish.		They didn't know Spanish.
He didn't speak Spanish.		He didn't speak Spanish.
She didn't learn Spanish.		She didn't study Spanish.
Please note that not a single semantic verb in negation is in the second form and does not have the ending -ed – know, speak, like...

Interrogative-negative form
(Speaking)
?-

Schematically the structure of the sentence in Past Simple can be shown like this:

+
S+V2(ed)

?
Did + S + V?

Wh - ?
Wh + did + S + V?

–
S + didn't + V

? –
Didn't + S + V?

Such a diagram can be printed out and, together with others, pasted into a notebook, for example, a ready-made cheat sheet, where everything is short and concise.

The past indefinite tense of the English language is usually easy for students - some have heard about irregular verbs and, before starting to study this tense, managed to learn the well-known “three columns”, while others are attracted by the presence of only one auxiliary verb did when constructing questions and negations. Sometimes, however, students forget about the ending - ed in the affirmative form. Past Simple table (The Past Indefinite Tense) is simple and will be understandable to anyone, the main thing is to understand it right away and not delay practice.