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simple past tense

Simple Past Tense Example Sentences – All Four Forms

6th June 2020 By Edify English Leave a Comment

In this article four forms of Simple Past Tense example sentences are given which helps to understand how this tenses is used in real-life English communication. But before going into that, it is important to learn the basic structure and rules of simple past tense.

Simple Past Tense Example Sentences

Simple Past Tense

To describe an action that took place at any specific point of time in the past.

Structure : Subject + verb 2 (V2) + Object

Example Sentences:

    • He spoke to me an hour ago.
    • Virat Kohli scored a century in the last match.
    • Narendra Modi became the PM of India in 2014.
    • We watched a movie yesterday.
    • Long ago, there lived a king.

Simple past tense Example Sentences – All four forms

Like every tense, simple past tense can also be expressed in four different forms based on the situation and context.

Positive : Subject + V2 + Object

Positive Interrogative : Did +Subject + V1 + Object?

Negative : Subject + did not + V1 + Object

Negative Interrogative : Did not + Subject + V1 + Object?

This is different from the simple present tense in the way that the helping verbs used in the simple present tense are “do/does” while the one used in the past tense is ‘did’.

If we take the example “We watched a movie yesterday”, the four forms of the tense are as follows:

  • Positive: We watched a movie yesterday.
  • Positive Interrogative: Did we watch a movie yesterday?
  • Negative: We didn’t watch a movie yesterday.
  • Negative Interrogative: Didn’t we watch a movie yesterday?

Exercise:

Let us take some more examples of simple past tense and try to write the four forms of those sentences on your own.

  1. She lived a peaceful life.
  2. He cooked food for everyone today.
  3. The river flew across this road.
  4. He didn’t wash his clothes. [This one is a negative sentence, and you need to convert it into positive.
  5. Did you submit the assignment yesterday?

For remaining Tenses, Click here

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Past Tense- Kinds, Structure, Example Sentences

6th January 2020 By Edify English Leave a Comment

Past Tense- Kinds, Structures, Example Sentences

Past Tense is used in the sentences that denote an action that has already happened in the past. The four kinds of tenses that are present in this are as follows:

Simple Past Tense

Structure: Subject + Verb 2 (V2) + Object

This tense is used to express the following:

  • To describe an action that took place at any specific point in the past.
    • He spoke to me an hour ago.
    • Kohli scored a century in the last match.
    • Narendra Modi became PM of India in 2014.
    • We watched a movie yesterday.
    • Long ago, there lived a king.
  • Even though the adverb or the period of time is not mentioned in the sentence, past tense can be used simply to indicate that the action took place in the past.
    • I watched Cricket at the stadium.
    • Rahul didn’t sleep well.
    • Federer won the match.

Past Continuous

Structure: Subject + Was/ Were + Verb 1 (V1) + ing + Object

Past continuous tense was expressed in sentences containing an action that was happening at some time in the past.

  • I was watching Soccer on TV last night.
  • He was working as a teacher during this time last year.
  • I was visiting London in May last year.

Past Perfect

Structure: Subject + Had + Verb 3 (V3) + Object

The past perfect tense describes an action completed at a certain period in the past.

  • I had met him in New York in 2005.
  • He had written a book when he was 10 years old.

When two past actions are mentioned in a single sentence, in order to distinguish both of them, the earlier action is described in the past perfect and the other action, in the simple past tense.

  • The train had already left by the time he reached the station.
  • The movie had already started by the time we entered the theatre.
  • Martin had called me before he came to my place.
  • I had deposited the money in the bank when Raj met me to borrow some.

Past Perfect Continuous Tense

Structure: Subject + had been + verb 1 + ing + object

This shows an action that started in the past and continued for a period of time till some action happened in the past. We can use Past perfect continuous like the past perfect in combination of simple past.

  • Mary had been working as a nun for 30 years, when she passed away in 2015.
  • Rahul had been waiting for the bus for half an hour, when his friend picked him up.

To learn about the types, structures and examples of Present tense, click here

To learn about the types, structures and examples of future tense, click here.

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Filed Under: Grammar, Tenses Tagged With: grammar tenses, past perfect continuous tene, past perfect continuous tense, past perfect continuous tense examples, past perfect tense, past tense examples, simple past tense

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