Thesimple past,past simple, orpast indefinite, in English equivalent to thepreterite, is the basic form of thepast tense inModern English. It is used principally to describe events in the past, although it also has some other uses.[1] Regular English verbs form the simple past in-ed; however, there are a few hundredirregular verbs with different forms.[2]
The term "simple" is used to distinguish thesyntactical construction whose basic form uses the plain past tense alone,[3] from other past tense constructions which use auxiliaries in combination with participles, such as thepresent perfect,past perfect, andpast progressive.[4]
Regular verbs form the simple past end-ed; however there are a few hundredirregular verbs with different forms.[2] The spelling rules for forming the past simple of regular verbs are as follows: verbs ending in -e add only –d to the end (e.g. live – lived, not *liveed), verbs ending in -y change to -ied (e.g. study – studied) and verbs ending in a group of a consonant + a vowel + a consonant double the final consonant (e.g. stop – stopped).[5] For details seeEnglish verbs § Past tense.
Most verbs have a single form of the simple past, independent of theperson ornumber of the subject (there is no addition of-s for the third person singular as in thesimple present). However, thecopula verbbe has two past tense forms:was for the first and third persons singular, andwere in other instances.[1] The formwere can also be used in place ofwas in conditional clauses and the like;[6] for information on this, seeEnglish subjunctive. This is the only case in modern English where a distinction in form is made betweeninversion,negations withnot, and emphatic forms of the simple past use the auxiliarydid.[6] For details of this mechanism, seedo-support. A full list of forms is given below, using the (regular) verbhelp as an example:
Base form
Affirmative (+)S + verb(ed) + c
Negative (-)S + did not ( didn't) + verb + C
The simple past is used for a single event (or sequence of such events) in the past, and also for past habitual actions:[1]
It can also refer to a past state:
For actions that were ongoing at the time referred to, thepast progressive is generally used instead (e.g.I was cooking).[7] The same can apply to states, if temporary (e.g.the ball was lying on the sidewalk), but some stative verbs do not generally use the progressive aspect at all, typically verbs of mental states (know, believe, need), of emotional states (love, dislike, prefer), of possession (have, own), of senses (hear) and some others (consist, exist, promise) – seeUses of English verb forms § Progressive – and in these cases the simple past is used even for a temporary state:
However, with verbs of sensing, it is common in such circumstances to usecould see in place ofsaw,could hear in place ofheard, etc. For more on this, seecan see.[7]
If one action interrupts another, then it is usual for the interrupted (ongoing) action to be expressed with the past progressive, and the action that interrupted it to be in the simple past:[7]
The simple past is often close in meaning to thepresent perfect. The simple past is used when the event happened at a particular time in the past, or during a period which ended in the past (i.e. a period that does not last up until the present time). This time frame may be explicitly stated, or implicit in the context (for example the past tense is often used when describing a sequence of past events).[7]
These examples can be contrasted with those given atUses of English verb forms § Present perfect. Also, for past actions that occurredbefore the relevant past time frame, thepast perfect is used.
Various compound constructions exist for denoting pasthabitual action. The sentenceWhen I was young, I played football every Saturday might alternatively be phrased usingused to (... I used to play ...) or usingwould (... I would play...).
The simple past form also has some uses in which it does not refer to a past time. These are generally incondition clauses and some otherdependent clauses referring to hypothetical circumstances, as well as certain expressions of wish:
For more details see the sections onconditionals,dependent clauses andexpressions of wish in the article on uses of English verb forms.
For use of the simple past (and other past tense forms) in indirect speech, seeUses of English verb forms § Indirect speech. An example:
The regular verbs ending with -ed are pronounced as follows:[5]
Other tenses: