Mastering the Simple Past Tense: A Complete Lesson with Practice and Worksheet

Grammar Rules: Simple Past Tense

• Purpose: The simple past tense is used to talk about actions or events that happened and finished in the past.

• Structure:

  • Regular verbs: Add –ed to the base form (e.g., work → worked).

  • Irregular verbs: Change form (e.g., go → went, buy → bought).

• Negative form: Use did not (didn’t) + base verb (e.g., She didn’t go to school.)

• Question form: Use Did + subject + base verb (e.g., Did you see the movie?)

• Time expressions: Common with yesterday, last week, ago, in 1999, etc.

• Examples:

  • I walked to school yesterday.

  • They went to Paris last summer.

  • Did you watch the game last night?

Practice Together

Fill in the blanks using the simple past tense of the verbs in brackets.

1. She ________ (visit) her grandmother last weekend.

2. We ________ (not see) the movie yesterday.

3. ________ you ________ (finish) your homework last night?

4. They ________ (go) to the park and ________ (play) soccer.

5. I ________ (be) really tired after the trip.

Answer Key (for Practice Together)

1. visited

2. did not (didn’t) see

3. Did you finish

4. went; played

5. was

Practice Alone