Simple Past Tense

This was the president's car.

Simply put, the simple past tense is an action that takes place in the past, a series of completed actions or an action that went on for a duration of time but ended in the past. The time is before now, which could be a thousand years, a hundred years, or even one second ago. 

It began in the past and it ended in the past. And like the simple present it expresses habits and routines (in the past), and general truths or facts that are no longer true.

The form for simple past is to add an 'ed' at the end of the verb for common verbs and for irregular verbs we change the the word itself. 

An example of an irregular verb is the verb 'to be', of which the simple past forms are 'was' and 'were'. Students usually catch on to the 'ed' ending because it's fairly easy to comprehend, but they always ask me how they can remember the irregular verbs. Well, there is only one answer: memorize them. 

It takes some time, but with a system, you can memorize practically all of them. Write them in a notebook and study them every day. Maybe you could try learning 5-10 a day or every two days. Write them in the notebook and when you're sure you have them memorized, write some new ones on a new page. Make sure when you go back and look at the new ones, read the ones you have memorized just in case you've forgotten one and also so you don't forget them.

Now here are some examples of using the simple past:

A completed action in the past:

• I saw my grandmother yesterday.
• Mother cooked dinner yesterday evening.
• I left my book in the car. 

A series (more than one, one after the other) of completed actions:

• Nick came home, made a sandwich and watched TV.
• Mother cooked the meal and washed the dishes.

Something that started in the past, went on for a duration of time and ended. They should be used with a stated time in the past:

• John went to Ohio State University for two years.
• We were at the beach all day yesterday.
• She lived in Istanbul for ten years.

Past habits or routines:

• I worked at McDonald's when I was younger.
• When we were children we played together.
• She ran all the time in high school.

Past truths or generalizations:

• David lived in Texas when he was in school.
• They liked broccoli when they were children.
• The astronauts walked on the moon.

If you just keep in mind these simple rules, memorize your irregular verbs and practice using the past tense every day, you will master it in no time.

Here are a few exercises to help you to test yourself.
Exercise 1
Exercise 2
Exercise 3
Exercise 4
Exercise 5 
Exercise 6
Exercise 7
Exercise 8
Exercise 9
Exercise 10

As always, I hope this lesson was helpful. Please leave a comment and let me know your thoughts.