• The simple past is one of the eight basic English verb tenses. It is formed in two ways:
1. regular verbs: base form + "ed" (started, walked, believed) 2. irregular verbs: special past tense form (went, saw, put)
• The simple past is used in three important ways:
1. to report a single past event or an event in a narrative
for example (single event): Last night Harry and Sarah WENT to see a new movie, "Three Fat Men."
for example (narrative): Jill PHONED Harry but he WASN'T home. She DECIDED to send him an e-mail, so she SAT DOWN at her computer. {when the simple past refers to a single past event an adverbial such as "last night" is nearly always present. When it is used to refer to an event in a narrative, however, such adverbials are not usually required.} 2. to report habitual activity or repeated occurrences in a period of time that begins and ends in the past for example: When Dick and Jane were at their cottage they, GOT UP EARLY every morning. 3. in the dependent clause of an unreal conditional for example: If Tom STOPPED drinking at lunch, he'd get a lot more work done. • And in two less important ways important ways: 4. in non-conditional dependent clauses requiring hypothetical meaning (in other words, when a speaker wants to indicate that the event referred to did not actually happen) for example (narrative): After they left work, Jane complained to Jill, "Sometimes, Harry treats me as if he HATED me." 5. for the sake of politeness when talking about the present for example: When Harry met Jill in the corridor he said, shyly, "I THOUGHT you might like to have lunch again today."