Definition: The Past Simple Tense is for talking about something that happened in the past.

Past Simple Tense Statement

To make a statement in the past simple tense, we need to add the subject + past form of the verb

Subject	Past form	Sentence
I/they/we	talked	all night.
you/he/she	slept	for 3 hours.
I/they/we	drew	some pictures yesterday.
you/he/she	broke	his/her leg from climbing the tree.

Negative past simple tense sentence

To make a sentence in the negative form of the past simple tense, we need to add the subject + auxiliary + base form of the verb

In other words, we need to use did not or didn’t.

Subject	Auxiliary	Base form +Sentence
I /they/ we	did not	sing at the concert.
you/he/she	didn’t	read the book yet.

How to ask questions using the past simple?

To ask questions in the past simple tense, we need to add the auxiliary + subject +base form of the verb

We add did at the beginning of the question.

Auxiliary	Subject	Base form + sentence
Did	you/ he/she	go to the park?
Did	they	give you money?

Past Simple Exceptions

For questions with who, we do not use did

Who cooked this delicious meal?

Who was the owner of that car?

There are several situations in which we can use the past simple.

1. We can use it when something happened many times in the past

Examples

When l was in high school, l read Literature books every Monday.

We hiked daily during our trip to Turkey.

I studied every day as a student.

2. We can use it when something happened one time in the past

Examples

I wrote 16 poems in 2017.

They wore rain boots because of the heavy rain this morning.

We stood for 4 hours in the queue last Saturday at the cinema to buy movie tickets.

3. We use it when something was true for a certain time in the past

Examples

They lived in the village for twenty years.

We understood what the teacher said in class last week.

She played handball as a youth.

Past Simple Tense Exercises

1. I …..(lose) my wallet yesterday at the park.
2. We ……(make) 5 sandcastles at the beach last Summer.
3. What …….(do) you …..(mean)?
4. Have you …..(meet) Mike before?
5. I have already …….(pay) the taxi driver.
6. After breakfast, she ……(put) her cup in the sink.
7. My dog ………(run) in the garden for 20 minutes two weeks ago.
8. She …..(say), they will come next week.
9. Would you have ………(sell) the house by now?
10. We ……..(send) the presents through the Post Office.
11. Flora…….(sit) down as she wrote the letters. 
12. We …….(stand) at the veranda to discuss.
13. Last week, I ……….(speak) to my sister about my new plans.
14. She ………(leave) 2 mins ago for the airport.
15. I ……….(know) she was coming today.
16. We …………(hold) their hands before crossing the road.
17. They ………..(draw) five pictures during the drawing lesson.
18. I ………..(find) my missing pencil under the table.
19. The handbag………..(cost)was very expensive.
20.  Did you………(sell) the house?

Write your own sentences with the following words

The Past Simple Tense is a crucial grammatical structure in English. Go here to read other grammar points.