Lesson 13 of 46

Past simple

Talk about finished actions in the past.

The rules

1.Regular verbs add -ed: work → worked, stop → stopped, study → studied.
2.Irregular verbs change form: go → went, buy → bought, see → saw, have → had, make → made, take → took, write → wrote.
3.Questions and negatives use did/didn't + base verb. The main verb goes back to the base form: "Did you go?" "I didn't go."
4.Use time words that finish: yesterday, last week, in 2020, two days ago.

Incorrect: ~~I buyed a new phone.~~

Correct: I bought a new phone.

"Buy" is irregular.

Incorrect: ~~I didn't went to the office.~~

Correct: I didn't go to the office.

After didn't use the base verb.

Incorrect: ~~Did you saw the email?~~

Correct: Did you see the email?

After did use the base verb.

Watch out: Only one verb shows the past. Once "did/didn't" shows it, the main verb is the base form.

1. She ___ to Delhi last week.

2. Which is correct?

3. I ___ the meeting because I was ill.

Paste any text and see exactly what to fix, with the rule explained.