Past simple of regular verbs
The past simple tells about an action that is finished. We often say when: yesterday, last week, in May, two days ago.
A regular verb ends with -ed in the past.
- walk → walked, play → played, visit → visited
- Verb ends in e: just add d: like → liked, hope → hoped
- Consonant + y: change y to ied: study → studied, carry → carried
- One short vowel + one consonant: double it: stop → stopped, plan → planned
The -ed ending sounds /t/ (walked), /d/ (played) or /id/ (visited).
Irregular verbs
Irregular verbs do not take -ed. They change in a special way. You learn them like new words.
- go → went, eat → ate, see → saw
- buy → bought, take → took, make → made
- have → had, come → came, swim → swam
- Same in both: cut → cut, put → put
Be careful: be has two past forms: I/he/she/it was, we/you/they were.
Negatives and questions with did
The word did carries the past. So the main verb goes back to its plain (base) form.
- Positive: We visited a fort.
- Negative: We didn't visit a museum. (not didn't visited)
- Question: Did you enjoy the trip? (not Did you enjoyed)
- Wh-question: Where did you go?
- Short answer: Yes, I did. / No, I didn't.
With was/were there is no did: Was it hot? It wasn't hot.
Talking about trips
When you tell a friend about a trip, answer these questions in order.
- Where did you go? (We went to Goa.)
- Who did you go with? (With my family.)
- How did you travel? (By train.)
- What did you do and see? (We swam in the sea and saw a lighthouse.)
- How did you feel? (It was fun, but I was tired.)
Useful time words: first, then, after that, in the evening, finally, last summer.
Writing a travel diary
A travel diary is a short note about each day. Write it in the past simple.
- Start with the day and place: Monday, 12 May, Jaipur.
- Say what happened in order: first, then, after that, finally.
- Add a feeling and one small detail (a smell, a sound, a colour).
- End with a thought for tomorrow: Tomorrow we will visit the market.
Try it: write five lines about your last holiday or last Sunday. Use three regular and two irregular verbs, and one didn't.
Key formulas and definitions
- Positive: subject + past form (walked / went)
- Negative: subject + didn't + base verb
- Question: Did + subject + base verb?
- Wh-question: Wh-word + did + subject + base verb?
- Regular: base + ed (like β liked, study β studied, stop β stopped)
Worked examples
1. Write the past form: play, study, stop, go.
played (add ed), studied (y β ied), stopped (double p, add ed), went (irregular).
2. Make it negative: "She visited her aunt."
She didn't visit her aunt. (didn't + base verb.)
3. Make a question: "They ate dosa for breakfast."
Did they eat dosa for breakfast? (Did + subject + base verb.)
4. Write a two-line diary note about a trip to the beach.
Sunday, Goa. We went to the beach and played in the sand. In the evening we ate fish curry and watched the sunset. It was a happy day.
Common mistakes
- Writing "didn't visited": after did/didn't use the base verb: didn't visit.
- Adding -ed to irregular verbs: "goed" is wrong, say "went".
- Forgetting to double the last letter: stoped is wrong, stopped is right.
- Mixing time: using now words ("today I went") instead of past words ("yesterday I went").