Simple Past Tense

The simple past tense tells us about things that already happened. We use it when the action is finished and done.

What You'll Learn

Something already happened: "She walked to school this morning."
Telling a story about the past: "The bird flew over the tree."
Something happened at a certain time: "We played at the park yesterday."
Describing what someone did: "He lit the candle for dinner."

Most verbs just need -ed at the end to show the past.

Base Verb	Past Tense	Example
walk	walked	I walked to the hawker centre.
play	played	She played with her friends.
help	helped	He helped his mother cook.
wash	washed	We washed the dishes after dinner.

Rule	Base Verb	Past Tense
Most verbs: just add -ed	kick	kicked
Ends in -e: just add -d	bake	baked
Ends in consonant + y: change y to i, add -ed	cry	cried
Short verb ending in consonant: double the last letter, add -ed	stop	stopped

Some verbs do not follow the -ed rule. They change in a special way. You need to remember these.

Base Verb	Past Tense	Example
know	knew	I knew the answer.
fly	flew	The kite flew high in the sky.
light	lit	Dad lit the barbecue.
go	went	She went to the library.
eat	ate	We ate chicken rice for lunch.
see	saw	He saw a butterfly in the garden.
come	came	My friend came to my house.
run	ran	The dog ran across the field.

Regular verbs add -ed: Most verbs follow this pattern. "talk" becomes "talked", "jump" becomes "jumped".
Irregular verbs change in their own way: There is no rule for irregular verbs. You need to learn them by heart. "know" becomes "knew", not "knowed".
Use past tense with time markers: When you see words like "yesterday" or "last week", the verb should be in the past tense.
Do not mix present and past in one sentence: If the action happened in the past, all the verbs about that action should be in the past tense.

Wrong	Right	Why
She knowed the answer.	She knew the answer.	"Know" is irregular. It becomes "knew", not "knowed".
The bird flyed away.	The bird flew away.	"Fly" is irregular. It becomes "flew", not "flyed".
He lighted the lamp.	He lit the lamp.	"Light" is irregular. It becomes "lit", not "lighted".
I walk to school yesterday.	I walked to school yesterday.	"Yesterday" tells us it is past tense. Add -ed.

These words tell you that the action is in the past. When you see them, use the past tense.

yesterday, last night, last week, last month, last year, ago, just now, this morning (if the morning is over), the other day

Tip: When you see "yesterday" or "last ___", it is a big clue to use the past tense!

Check for time markers first: Read the sentence and look for words like "yesterday" or "last week". If you find one, you know the verb must be in the past tense.
Try adding -ed: If the verb sounds right with -ed, it is probably a regular verb. If it sounds wrong (like "goed"), it is an irregular verb and you need to remember its special form.
Make a list of tricky verbs: Write down irregular verbs you keep getting wrong. Read them every day until you remember them.