EnglishPost.org

150 Simple Past Examples

Published on November 3, 2020 | Updated on April 7, 2024

Today we are going to learn more about the simple past and how to make sentences with them.

The simple past is a verb tense used to describe a completed action that happened at a specific time in the past.

For example:

#1I walked to the store yesterday
#2I ate dinner at 7 PM

Continue reading so you can learn how to make affirmative, negative, and interrogative sentences correctly



Video: Simple Past Explanation

Let’s have a look at this video that explains what the past simple is:


Simple Past: Uses

The Simple Past is used to talk about actions completed in the past.

  • She came back last Thursday.
  • I saw her in the building.
  • I made a cake for my mom, it was delicious
  • I ran to the train station every day
  • I sent some flowers to my girlfriend, today is her birthday
  • They didn’t agree with me.
  • They did their homework, but it was kind of difficult
  • They played video games the whole night
  • Yesterday I did exercise.
  • I didn’t go to the gym last Sunday.

It can also be used to talk about a period of time

  1. She lived in California for seven years.
  2. They were in London from Monday to Friday
  3. Last week, I stayed with my sister for a few days
  4. Joe lived in Boston for ten years.
  5. From 1981 to 1984, he worked for a large multinational company.

Simple Past and Expressions of Time

You will often find the past simple used with time expressions such as these:

  • I met him yesterday
  • I saw him two weeks ago
  • She came to visit me last year
  • The last time I went to a concert was in 2009
  • I played soccer from May to June
  • I have known him for a long time
  •  I worked there for 4 weeks
  • in the 1990s, I stole many cars
  • She was the best singer of the last century
  • In the past, I made so many  mistakes

Simple Past Affirmative Sentences

These are some examples of affirmative sentences in the simple past:

Base FormPast SimpleExample
GoWentI went to the store
PlayPlayedYou played video games last night
RunranShe ran 5 KM yesterday
SaySaid He said that she was beautiful
MakeMadeThey made a cake for us
FixFixedWe fixed her bike

Simple Past Negative Sentences

To make the negative form, we add the negative form (didn’t) between the pronoun or subject and the verb. The verb in negative statements will be an infinitive.

Simple Past AffirmativeSimple Past Negative
I went to the storeI didn’t go to the store
She wanted moneyShe didn’t want money
He played soccerHe didn’t play soccer
It worked wellIt didn’t work well
We watched a movieWe didn’t watch a movie
you cooked dinnerYou didn’t cook dinner
they ran yesterdayThey didn’t run yesterday

Simple Past Questions

To make a question in the simple past, you have to add the word “did” at the beginning of every question and keep the verb in its infinitive form.

Simple Past AffirmativeSimple Past Questions
I went to the storeDid I go to the store?
She wanted moneyDid you want money?
He played soccerDid he play soccer?
It worked wellDid it work well?
We watched a movieDid we watch a movie?
you cooked dinnerDid you cook dinner?
they ran yesterdayDid they run yesterday

Wh-Questions in the Simple Past

These are some examples of questions and answers with the simple past

QuestionsAnswer
Where did you go last night? I went to the club with some friends
What did you do last nightI watched a couple of movies
What movie did they watch?They watched a horror movie
Who did she meet?She met a company executive

Simple Past Conversation questions

These are some common questions you can make when talking about the past

  • Where did you go on your last vacation?
  • What did you do for your last birthday?
  • What did you do last week?
  • How did you spend your weekend?
  • What did you do yesterday morning?
  • Did you watch any movies last night? What movies did you watch?
  • Who was your first crush?
  • What did you do for the last 24 hours?
  • What was the last movie that you watched?
  • When was the last time you went shopping?
  • When was the last time you went on a date?
  • When was the last time you had a party?
  • Did you do any exercises last week? What exercises did you do?
  • How did you spend your days when you were a kid?
  • How did you have fun when you were in high school?

Simple Past: Irregular Verbs

These are the most common examples of irregular verbs in English

bewas/were
beatbeat
becomebecame
beginbegan
blowblew
breakbroke
bringbrought
buildbuilt
buybought
catchcaught
choosechose
comecame
costcost
cutcut
dealdealt
dodid
drawdrew
drinkdrank
drivedrove
eatate
fallfell
feedfed
feelfelt
fightfought
findfound
flyflew
forgetforgot
freezefroze
getgot
givegave
gowent
growgrew
hanghung
havehad
hearheard
hidehid
hithit
holdheld
hurthurt
keepkept
knowknew
laylaid
leadled
leaveleft
lendlent
letlet
lie**lay
light*lit
loselost
makemade
meanmeant
meetmet
paypaid
putput
readread
riderode
ringrang
riserose
runran
saysaid
seesaw
sellsold
sendsent
setset
shakeshook
stealstole
shineshone
shootshot
show*showed
shutshut
singsang
sinksank
sitsat
sleepslept
slideslid
speakspoke
spendspent
springsprang
standstood
stickstuck
swearswore
sweepswept
swimswam
swingswung
taketook
teachtaught
telltold
thinkthought
throwthrew
understandunderstood
wake*woke
wearwore
winwon
writewrote

Manuel Campos

Manuel Campos

I am Jose Manuel, English professor and creator of EnglishPost.org, a blog whose mission is to share lessons for those who want to learn and improve their English