5. Past Simple

The Past Simple tense is sometimes called the "preterite tense". We can use several tenses and forms to talk about the past, but the Past Simple tense is the one we use most often.
In this lesson we look at the structure and use of the Past Simple tense, followed by a quiz to check your understanding.

How do we make the Past Simple tense?

 1. Positive sentences

 Past Simple with main verb be
 The structure of the Past Simple with the main verb be is:

How do we use the Past Simple tense?
We use the Past Simple tense to talk about an action or a situation - an event - in the past. The event can be short or long.