Simple Past Tense in English

Categories: GrammarTenses

The tenses simply show the time of an action.

Simple Past Tense indicates an action which is completed at a definite time in the past.

POSITIVE FORM (+): Subject + V₂ ( Second Form of Verb )

NEGATIVE FORM (-): Subject + did not + V₁( First Form of Verb )

QUESTION FORM (?): Did + Subject + V₁( First Form of Verb )

NEGATIVE QUESTION FORM (?): Did not / Didn’t + Subject + V₁ ( First Form of Verb )

SHORT ANSWER FORMS ( + / – ) : YES / NO + Subject + did / did not (didn’t)

POSITIVE(+)	NEGATIVE(-)	POSITIVE QUESTION (?)	NEGATIVE QUESTION (?)
He listened	He did not (didn’t) listen	Did he listen	Didn’t he listen
She listened	She did not (didn’t) listen	Did she listen	Didn’t she listen
It listened	It did not (didn’t) listen	Did it listen	Didn’t it listen
I listened	I did not (didn’t) listen	Did I listen	Didn’t I listen
You listened	You did not (didn’t) listen	Did you listen	Didn’t you listen
We listened	We did not (didn’t) listen	Did we listen	Didn’t we listen
They listened	They did not (didn’t) listen	Did they listen	Didn’t they listen