Mean past tense. The Simple Past Tense in English (The Past Simple)

Hello friends! Time Past Simple used to denote an action that occurred at a certain time in the past and the time for which has already expired.

To clarify the moment of an action in the past when using the Past Simple tense, words such as five days ago (five days ago), last year (last year), yesterday (yesterday), in 1980 (in 1980), etc. P.

When we use Past Simple

We use the simple past tense when we say:

1. About events or actions that occurred in the past and the time for which has expired. That is, the action or event is complete. (he bought a car last year, they went on vacation last month, the meeting was last week)

2. About events or actions in the past that were repeated regularly, but are not happening now. (she danced at school, we went to the gym last year)

3. About events in the past that happened one after another. (they met, walked in the park, went to the cinema)

• My brother was born in 1987. - My brother was born in 1987.
• She moved to the capital 7 years ago. - She moved to the capital seven years ago.
• We saw him last month. - We saw him last month.
• The Second World War began in 1939. - Second World War started in 1939.

How is the Past Simple formed?

Statement

In order to form the Past Simple, we add an ending to the verb -ed, if the verb is correct (work – worked, learn – learned, ask – asked). If the verb is irregular, then we look for the form for Past Simple in the second column of the table. Most likely, at first it will be difficult for you to immediately determine which verb is in front of you.

Past Continuous - long past tense in English

Time Past Continuous indicates a process that lasted at a certain moment or period in the past. Unlike the Past Simple tense, this moment in the past must be named directly (for example, yesterday at 5 o’clock, when you called, when rain started) or be obvious from the context.

• When you called I was taking a shower.
  I was taking a shower when you called.
• Charlie and me were already driving home when the engine suddenly stopped.
  Charlie and I were already driving home when the engine suddenly stopped.

Using the Past Continuous

1. An action that took place at a certain moment in the past. Since this moment is still expressed in a long time, it is possible to indicate the period.

• From six to seven I was cooking dinner.

The same action can be expressed both through the Past Continuous and the Past Simple. It depends on whether you want to emphasize the duration of the action or not. Usually, when there is such a choice, choosing a long tense puts more emphasis on the action being performed.

What did you do last night? — I played cards(more like a fact) or I was playing cards(sharpening attention).

2. An action against the background of which another action occurred, which must be expressed in the Past Simple. The past simple is usually inserted into a sentence using the conjunctions when and and.

• He was walking home (background action) when someone called his name.
• She was reading a book and suddenly came across an interesting phrase.

3. Actions that occupy a certain period of time in the past.

• He told me that he was working at his diploma.

4. Negative evaluative characteristics of a person’s constant actions or behavior in emotionally charged speech. Such sentences usually use adverbs of frequency such as always, constantly, all the time.

• He was always lying on the sofa and doing nothing.
• His parents were quarrelling all the time.

5. To express two parallel actions occurring at a certain moment in the past. None of the parallel actions of the sentence is background to the others.

• The boy was reading, and the girl was playing the piano.

6. There are verbs in the present continuous tense ( look, feel, understand etc.), which usually do not have a long-lasting form. The same rule applies to these verbs in the past continuous tense.

To express strong emotions or to emphasize the importance of an action, these verbs can take a continuous form.

• He couldn’t believe in what he was seeing and hearing.

In all types of continuous tense it is possible to use several semantic verbs with one connective verb with one subject

• She was driving her car and talking on the phone.

How is the Past Continuous formed?

Statement

The predicate in the Past Continuous consists of an auxiliary verb and a main verb. In order to form the Past Continuous, we need the past tense forms to be – was, were. Was is used in the singular, were in the plural. From the main verb we remove the particle to and add the ending -ing.

Affirmative sentences:

Negative Suggestions:

Past Perfect and Past Perfect Continuous

Perfect and perfect continuous past tenses in English.

Time Past Perfect denotes an action that was completed before a certain point in the past. The Past Perfect is characterized by the use of adverbs already, yet, ever, never, as for Present Perfect. These adverbs show which action happened earlier, which means for which action the Past Perfect must be used.

• By the time Mary got to the office, her boss had already left.
• By the time Mary arrived at the office, her boss had already left.

Using the Past Perfect

1. The action happened before a certain time in the past

• By 1995, he had become a famous artist.
• By 1995 he had become a famous artist.(That is, he became a famous artist at a certain time in the past.)

2. The action occurred before another time (event) in the past

• I didn’t want to go to the cinema yesterday, because I had already seen the film.
• I didn’t want to go to the cinema yesterday because I had already seen this film.(That is, I had seen this film before, until yesterday.)

Statement

The predicate in the Past Perfect consists of two parts: the auxiliary verb had and the third form of the main verb (we add the ending -ed to the regular verb, and take the irregular form from the third column of the table of irregular verbs).

Past Perfect Continuous - past perfect continuous tense

Time Past Perfect Continuous indicates an action that began in the past, continued for some time, and either ended just before some point in the past or was still unfinished at some point in the past.

• When Jane came home, Martin was very tired, because he had been working hard all day.
• When Jane came home, Martin was very tired because he had worked hard all day.

Using the Past Perfect Continuous

1. The action took place before a certain time in the past

• When it was 3:00 p.m. I had been waiting for Bob for two hours.
• When it was 3 pm, I had been waiting for Bob for two hours.(That is, by the time it was 3 o'clock in the afternoon, this moment was in the past, I had already waited two hours.)

2. The action occurred before another action (event) in the past

• Yesterday we had been playing for two hours when Tom arrived.
• Yesterday, when Tom arrived, we had already been playing for two hours.

Formation Past Perfect Continuous

In order to put a verb in the Past Perfect Continuous tense, you need the auxiliary verb to be in the Past Perfect tense and the present participle (V-ing form) of the semantic verb.

To be in time Past Perfect has a single form had been.

Affirmative sentences:

Negative Suggestions:

When you leave a page without liking it, there is one cat in the world who is sad.

Simple past tense in English

In the last lesson we talked to you about the past simple tense (Past Simple). You have learned to tell what happened to you yesterday, a week ago, last year, etc. But we have touched only part of this topic. You will ask why? All English verbs are divided into two groups: regular and irregular. We learned how to construct a sentence in the past tense using regular verbs.

Today we will talk about irregular verbs.

Irregular verbs in the Past Simple

Verbs are called irregular for a reason, but because they do not form the past tense according to the rule. Most of the most common verbs in the English language are irregular. The exact number of irregular verbs is still unknown, approximately 250-260. The difficulty is that each verb has its own special past tense form. The only way to master them is to simply learn them by taking a table of irregular verbs.

In this lesson we will try to look at the most commonly used verbs.

Irregular verbs include verbs such as:
Be – was, were be - was
Begin – began start - began
Become – became become - became
Come-came come - came
Do-did do - did
Drink-drank drink - drank
Eat-ate eat - ate
Fly – flew fly - flew
Go – went walk - walked
Have - had have - had
Know-knew know - knew
Make – made do - did
Meet-met meet - met
Put - put put - put
Read - read read - read
Run-ran run - ran
Spend – spent spend, spend – spent, spent
Speak – spoke speak - spoke
Tell – told tell – told
Think-thought think - thought
Write – wrote write - wrote

As you may have noticed, there is no special principle for constructing the past tense forms of irregular verbs. But there are verbs in which the form of the present and past tenses coincide, for example, put - put, read - read.

However, the verb read – read written the same, but read differently, in the present tense , in the past time - [e]. This is due to the centuries-long development of the currently existing grammar and phonetics of the English language.

There is also one verb that has two past tense forms, be – was, were. This is a verb we know to be which is not an action verb, but a linking verb and has singular and plural forms. Was – singular form, that is, used with a subject that is singular (I, he, she, etc.). Were – plural form, always used with a plural subject (they, we, you).

Features of constructing sentences with irregular verbs in the Past Simple

Let's look at some example sentences in the past tense with irregular verbs.
I went to work yesterday. I went to work yesterday.
Did do you go to work yesterday? Did you go to work yesterday?
I didn't go to work yesterday. I didn't go to work yesterday.

What do you notice about these sentences?

In the affirmative sentence we used the form of the verb go in the past tense – went, but why in interrogative and negative sentences we again started using the verb go in the present tense. This is due to the fact that to construct a question and negation we use a helping verb did, with which we are already familiar. Verb did – this is also the past form of the verb do, which we used to construct questions and negatives in the present simple tense Present Simple . Accordingly, in questions and negations the helping verb did took on the function of expressing the past tense.

Now your task is to learn the forms of irregular verbs and learn to distinguish them from the correct ones and use them correctly in a sentence.

Lesson assignments

Exercise 1. Choose irregular verbs from the list and name their forms.
Stay, do, play, listen, continue, run, write, have, go, wash, clean, want, meet, spend, become, come.

Exercise 2. Insert the verbs in brackets in the correct form into the sentence.
1. I… to music at the weekend. (listen)
2. We… a lot of time outdoors last summer. (spend)
3. Kate…to work by bus yesterday. (go)
4. Did you… lunch yesterday afternoon. (have)
5. They didn’t … English when they … to Italy. (speak, travel)

Exercise 1.
Do-did, run – ran, write – wrote, have – had, go – went, meet – met, spend – spent, become – became, come – came.

Exercise 2.
1. listened
2. spent
3. went
4. have
5.speak, travelled

Anyone who has ever sat down to read an English textbook knows about such a phenomenon as a list of incorrect English verbs. What is this list? It contains verbs that deviate from the standard rules for forming past tense and participle forms. It is believed that about seventy percent of irregular verbs (the English name of the term) are used in everyday speech.

From this we can conclude that knowing the list of irregular verbs in English is simply necessary if you want to speak fluently and understand your interlocutor.

The total number of irregular verbs is about 470 words. Is it possible to learn such a volume? Of course, this is quite possible. However, in order for you to feel confident when speaking English, you just need to know 180 verbs.

Before turning directly to the list itself, we will give some tips on how to quickly and efficiently achieve the desired knowledge.

Rote learning

The technique of rote memorization of information is one of the most common techniques. But how effective is it?

When memorizing, we often notice that a large number of words are quickly forgotten, and some completely refuse to settle in our long-term memory. In order for this technique to show its best side, it is necessary to use the learned verbs in practice as often as possible. By the way, subsequent listening to them in some movie, program or just a song helps a lot.

Be sure to have a list of irregular English verbs with translation.

First, you will have to become well acquainted with the meaning of each new word. Typically, all irregular verbs tables include a translation column, so you don't have to worry about spending hours working with the dictionary on your own. Once the correct associations with your native language are in your head, you can calmly move on to the forms being formed.

Irregular Verbs in Poems

Don't worry - you're not the only student trying to master the full list of English irregular verbs, and there is someone to share your hardships. And some craftsmen even try to help somehow.

On the Internet you can easily find all kinds of poems created specifically for such purposes. They contain a number of the most common verbs, skillfully integrated into the overall rhyme and tone of the work. There are also a lot of funny associations, so it will be even easier to remember the necessary information.

using irregular verbs

Games can be played not only by children, but also by adults. And when it comes to learning a foreign language, then games are one of the most effective ways to memorize. You can also find ready-made options on the Internet. Usually these are flash cards, various animations or mini-games, accompanied by sound examples. If you don’t really want to play on the computer, you can easily do something with your own hands, for example the same cards. If you have an English learning partner, then analogue word games or creating dialogues consisting of irregular verbs would be appropriate.

Meet Irregular Verbs

Having talked a little about the methods of memorization, we move on to the most important thing. So, we present to you a list of irregular English verbs with translation.

Verbs in alphabetical order (a, b, c, d)

Verbs starting with a:

abide - abode - abided - abide, hold on;

arise - arose - arisen - rise, arise;

awake - awoke - awake; awoke - to wake up, wake up.

Starting with the letter b:

backbite - backbitten - backbitten - to slander;

backslide - backslid - backslid - fall away;

be - was (were) - been - to be, to be;

bear - bore - born - bear, be born;

beat - beat - beaten - to beat;

become - became - become - become, become;

befall - befell - befallen - happen;

beget - begot (begat) - begotten - generate;

begin - began - begun - to begin;

begird - begirt - begirt - to girdle;

behold - beheld - beheld - to mature;

bend - bent - bended - bend;

bereave - bereft (bereaved) - bereft (bereaved) - deprive;

beseech - besought (beseeched) - b-esought (beseeched) - beg, beg;

beset - beset - beset - to besiege;

bespeak - bespoke - bespoken - to order;

bespit - bespat - bespat - to spit;

bestride - bestrode - bestridden - sit down, sit astride;

bet - bet (betted) - bet (betted) - bet;

betake - betook - betaken - to be accepted, sent;

bid - bad (bade) - bid (bidden) - command, ask;

bind - bound - bound - bind;

bite - bit - bit (bitten) - bite;

bleed - bled - bled - to bleed;

bless - blessed - blessed (blest) - to bless;

blow - blew - blown (blowed) - blow;

break - broken - broken - (c) to break;

breed - bred - bred - to grow;

bring - brought - brought - bring;

broadcast - broadcast - broadcast - distribute, scatter;

browbeat - browbeat - browbeaten - to scare;

build - built - built - to build;

burn - burnt (burned) - burnt (burned) - burn, burn;

burst - burst - burst - burst, explode;

bust - bust (busted) - bust (busted) - split (someone);

buy - bought - bought - to buy.

Verbs starting with:

can - could - could - be able to, be able;

catch - caught - caught - to catch, to catch;

choose - chose - chosen - choose;

cleave - clove (cleft, cleaved) - cloven (cleft, cleaved) - cut;

cling - clung - clung - cling, cling;

come - came - come - to come;

cost - cost - cost - cost;

creep - crept - crept - crawl;

cut - cut - cut - cut.

Verbs starting with d:

dare - durst (dared) - dared - dare;

deal - dealt - dealt - to deal;

dig - dug - dug - dig;

dive - dived (dove) - dived - dive, plunge;

do - did - done - do;

draw - drew - drawn - draw, drag;

dream - dreamt (dreamed) - dreamt (dreamed) - sleep, dream;

drink - drank - drunk - to drink,

drive - drove - driven - to drive, drive;

dwell - dwelt - dwelt - to dwell, to linger.

Continuation of the alphabet (e, g, f, h)

Verbs starting with e:

eat - ate - eaten - eat, eat.

Verbs starting with f:

fall - fell - fallen - fall;

feed - fed - fed - to feed;

feel - felt - felt - to feel;

fight - fought - fought - to fight;

find - found - found - to find;

flee - fled - fled - to run away, to escape;

floodlight - floodlighted (floodlit) - floodlighted (floodlit) - shine with a spotlight;

fly - flew - flown - fly;

forbear - forbore - forborne - to refrain;

forbid - forbad (forbade) - forbidden - prohibit;

forecast - forecast (forecasted) - forecast (forecasted) - predict;

foresee - foresaw - foreseen - to foresee;

forget - forgot - forgotten - to forget;

forgive - forgave - forgiven - forgive;

forsake - forsook - forsaken - to leave;

forswear - forswore - forsworn - to renounce;

freeze - froze - frozen - freeze, freeze.

Verbs starting with g:

gainsay - gainsaid - gainsaid - deny, contradict;

get - got - got - get;

gird - girded (girt) - girded (girt) - girdle;

give - gave - given - give;

go - went - gone - go, leave;

grave - graved - graved (graven) - engrave;

grind - ground - ground - sharpen, grind;

grow - grown - grown - to grow.

Verbs starting with h:

hang - hung (hanged) - hung (hanged) - hang;

have - had - had - to have;

hear - heard - heard - hear;

hew - hewed - hewed; hewn - chop, hew;

hide - hid - hidden - hide;

hit - hit - hit - hit, hit;

hold - held - held - to hold;

hurt - hurt - hurt - to cause pain, to offend.

Second part of the alphabet

Verbs starting with i:

inlay - inlaid - inlaid - to put in, to lay out;

input - input (inputted) - input (inputted) - enter;

inset - inset - inset - insert, invest;

interweave - interwove - interwoven - to weave, cover with a pattern.

Verbs starting with k:

keep - kept - kept - keep;

ken - kenned (kent) - kenned - to know, to recognize by sight;

kneel - knelt (kneeled) - knelt (kneeled) - kneel;

knit - knit (knitted) - knit (knitted) - knit;

know - knew - known - to know.

Verbs starting with l:

lade - laded - laded (laden) - to load;

lay - laid - laid - put, put;

lead - led - led - to lead;

lean - leant (leaned) - leant (leaned) - lean, lean;

leap - leapt (leaped) - leapt (leaped) - jump;

learn - learnt (learned) - learnt (learned) - teach;

leave - left - left - throw;

lend - lent - lent - lend;

let - let - let - let go, give;

lie - lay - lain - lie down;

light - lit (lighted) - lit (lighted) - illuminate;

lose - lost - lost - to lose.

Verbs starting with m:

make - made - made - create;

may - might - might - be able, have the opportunity;

mean - meant - meant - have meaning;

meet - met - met - to meet;

miscast - miscast - miscast - incorrectly distribute roles;

mishear - misheard - misheard - mishear;

mishit - mishit - mishit - miss;

mislay - mislaid - mislaid - put in another place;

mislead - misled - misled - to confuse;

misread - misread - misread - misinterpret;

misspell - misspelt (misspeled) - misspelt (misspeled) - write with errors;

misspend - misspent - misspent - save;

misunderstand - misunderstood - misunderstood - misunderstand;

mow - mowed - mown (mowed) - mow (lawn).

Verbs starting with r:

rid - rid (ridded) - rid (ridded) - get rid of;

ride - rode - ridden - ride on horseback;

ring - rang - rung - call;

rise - rose - risen - rise;

run - ran - run - run, flow.

Verbs starting with s:

saw - sawed - sawn (sawed) - sawing;

say - said - said - to speak, to say;

see - saw - seen - to see;

seek - sought - sought - to search;

sell - sold - sold - trade;

send - sent - sent - send;

set - set - set - install;

shake - shook - shaken - shake;

shave - shaved - shaved (shaven) - shave;

shed - shed - shed - to spill;

shine - shone (shined) - shone (shined) - shine, shine;

shoot - shot - shot - shoot, shoot;

show - showed - shown (showed) - show;

shut - shut - shut - slam;

sing - sang - sung - sing;

sink - sank - sunk - to sink, sink, sink;

sit - sat - sat - sit;

sleep - slept - slept - sleep;

slide - slide - slide - slide;

slit - slit - slit - to tear, cut;

smell - smelt (smelled) - smelt (smelled) - smell, smell;

speak - spoke - spoken - carry on a conversation;

speed - sped (speeded) - sped (speeded) - accelerate, hurry;

spell - spell (spelled) - spell (spelled) - write or read, pronouncing each letter;

spend - spent - spent - spend;

spill - spilt (spilled) - spilt (spilled) - to spill;

spin - spun (span) - spun - spin;

spit - spat (spit) - spat (spit) - don't care;

split - split - split - split;

spoil - spoilt (spoiled) - spoilt (spoiled) - spoil;

spotlight - spotlit (spotlighted) - spotlit (spotlighted) - illuminate;

spread - spread - spread - spread;

stand - stood - stood - stand;

steal - stole - stolen - to steal;

stick - stuck - stuck - to prick, glue;

sting - stung - stung - sting;

stink - stank; stunk - stunk - smell unpleasant;

strike - struck - struck - to strike, beat, go on strike;

swear - swore - sworn - to swear, take an oath;

swell - swelled - swollen (swelled) - to swell;

swim - swam - swum - to swim;

swing - swung - swung - swing.

Verbs starting with t:

take - took - taken - take, take;

teach - taught - taught - learn;

tear - tore - torn - tear;

tell - told - told - tell, say;

think - thought - thought - think;

throw - thrown - thrown - throw.

Verbs starting with w:

wake - woke (waked) - woken (waked) - wake up, wake up;

wear - wore - worn - wear (clothes);

weave - wove (weaved) - woven (weaved) - weave;

wed - wed (wedded) - wed (wedded) - to give in marriage;

weep - wept - wept - cry;

wet - wet (wetted) - wet (wetted) - wet, moisturize;

win - won - won - win;

wind - wound - wound - wind up (mechanism);

write - wrote - written - to write.

We hope that after reading the article, the English language has become a little clearer for you.

Indicating the time of a certain action in the past.

Collectively, past tense forms in English are usually united by the concept of Past Tenses. This article will look at three main times, which differ in duration and quality. So, there are the indefinite past or Simple), continuous (Past Continuous) and perfect (Past Perfect) tenses.

Past formSimple

The Past Simple form is the most common and frequently used past tense in the English language. This is the primary tense for expressing any action that happened some time ago. Very often it competes with the present perfect tense (Present Perfect), which, despite belonging to the present verbs, is in the past tense. We must not forget that the perfect present tense is only suitable when a past action affects the present. If the events are not related to the present, you should use the Past Simple.

This time is formed very simply. If the verb is correct, you should simply add the ending -ed to it; if it is incorrect, the required form is in the standard table:

We played the piano three days ago; I forgot my hat at home.

To form a question, use the auxiliary verb did:

Did you play the piano yesterday?

For negation, this auxiliary verb is also used, but with the negation particle not:

She didn't watch TV.

Thus, the Past Simple should be used if the action happened in the past and has no relation to the present. Words that foreshadow the use of this tense form of the verb are yesterday (yesterday), 8 years ago (8 years ago), in 1989 (in 1989) and so on.

Past Continuous Form

Past Continuous is a tense that denotes a long action in the past. In other words, it is used when we're talking about about a specific moment, about an action in the process. For example, She was playing the guitar yesterday at 10 p.m. The example shows that the Past Continuous is formed using an additional verb to be in the past tense and a verb ending in -ing. If the sentence is interrogative, it should be moved to the beginning; if it is negative, not should be added to it:

Were you playing the piano yesterday at 10 p.m.? No, I wasn’t doing this at that time.

In addition, this past tense in English is used to denote an action that once occurred at a specific moment and was interrupted by another simultaneous action. For example, We were looking through the magazine when he called.

Past Perfect tenses andPast Perfect Continuous

These tenses are called the perfect and perfect continuous past tenses, respectively. To form them, you need to have a good knowledge of verb forms. The past tense in English is based entirely on this knowledge. So, for the Past Perfect you need an additional one in the form had and the second participle of the main verb. The latter can be found in the table of irregular verbs or formed by adding the familiar ending -ed.

It should be remembered that the simple perfect tense is used to express an action that has already completed before a specific moment. In turn, the Past Perfect Continuous is used in situations where a certain action began before a certain moment in the past and lasted for some time. The Past Perfect Continuous is formed using the form had been, to which the main verb ending in -ing is added.

In general, the past tense in English is not as difficult as it might seem at first glance. It is very important to understand everything and practice various exercises that will best demonstrate the above rules in practice.

Here you can find a table of irregular English verbs with translation into Russian and transcription, videos on learning and memorizing irregular verbs, links.

There is a special category of verbs in the English language that does not follow generally accepted rules when forming the past participle. They are usually called “wrong”. Unlike “regular” verbs, which are appended with the ending –ed to form the past participle, these verbs either remain unchanged or take unusual forms that are not always easy to remember. For example:

put – put – put;
drive – drove – driven.

If the first verb is easy to learn and use in sentences, then the second one has to be learned directly by memorization.

Where did such difficulties with some verbs come from? Scientists have concluded that these are some kind of “fossils” left in the language from ancient times. During its development, the English language adopted a large number of words from other European languages, but some words remained unchanged. It is this category that irregular verbs belong to.

Table of irregular English verbs:

Video on learning and memorizing irregular English verbs:

Top 100 irregular verbs in English.

In this video, the author analyzes the most popular irregular verbs in the English language (top 100, compiled by himself). Examples are given for all irregular verbs, voiceovers, etc. The most commonly used irregular verbs come first, then the least used.

Pronunciation of irregular English verbs.

British version irregular verbs in English. The author gives you the opportunity to repeat after him and thus hone correct pronunciation irregular verbs.

Learning irregular English verbs using rap.

Interesting video for learning irregular English verbs superimposed on rap.

Examples of using irregular verbs: