The past simple (or simple past, or preterite) in English - TOEIC® Preparation

❓ The words preterite and past simple mean the same thing in English.

1. Formation of the past simple (or preterite)

In English, there are 2 types of verbs:

• Irregular verbs: a list of verbs to be memorised (about 200 verbs)
• Regular verbs: the other verbs

Why are we talking about this? Because depending on whether it is a regular or irregular verb, we will not conjugate the verb in the same way...

❓ Irregular verbs can be intimidating, as we have always been forced to learn them mindlessly.

🎯 However, if they are learnt in the right way (our game allows you to do this), they will help you enormously for the TOEIC®, as they provide you with a very solid vocabulary base.

🔗 Find the list of irregular verbs, as well as the game we have created to help you learn them easily here: Irregular Verbs

1.1. With a regular verb

• For affirmative sentences, you just add "ed" (or "d") to the end of the verb.
• For negative sentences, you just add "did not" (or "didn't") between the subject and the verb (in the infinitive).
• For interrogative sentences, you must put the sentence in the form "did" + subject + verb (in the infinitive) + ?

Common mistakes

• Using "did" with a past tense verb in negative and interrogative sentences:

  • Incorrect: I didn't traveled to Paris.
  • Correct: I didn't travel to Paris.

• Confusing regular and irregular forms: (see next section)

  • Incorrect: He goed to the store.
  • Correct: He went to the store.

• Forgetting subject-verb inversion in questions:

  • Incorrect: You did travel to Paris?
  • Correct: *Did you travel to Paris?*

1.2. With an irregular verb

1.2.1. Conjugation of irregular verbs

• For affirmative sentences, we use the irregular verb in the preterite (in the list of irregular verbs, it is generally the second column)
• For negative and interrogative sentences, we use the same form as for regular verbs.

1.2.2. Particularity of the verb "be"

• We use were everywhere except for the 1st and 3rd person singular (we use was).
• Be very careful, because be conjugated in the preterite does not use the false auxiliary did, we use was and were directly to form the preterite.

2. When to use the past simple (or preterite)?

2.1. Actions definitively completed

The past simple is used to talk about actions that are definitively completed in the past. These actions have no connection with the present.

• I finished my homework last night.
• They moved to a new house in 2015.

Time markers

As soon as you find some of these time markers in a sentence, you can be almost certain that the verb must be conjugated in the preterite:

• at
  • I finished at 9 o'clock
  • I finished at 3.30
  • I finished at the end of the day
  • I finished at Christmas
• on
  • I finished on Monday
  • I finished on 23th March
  • I finished on the 28st
  • I finished on Christmas Day
• in
  • I finished in February
  • I finished in 1976
  • I finished in the 1990s
  • I finished in winter / summer …
• Sans prépositions :
  • I finished yesterday
  • I finished yesterday afternoon
  • I finished last Friday
  • I finished a few days ago
  • I finished the day before yesterday
  • I finished when I was young
  • I lived in Paris *for five years. (pendant 5 ans, je n’y vit plus actuellement)*

2.2. Repeated actions in the past

The past simple is used to talk about actions that were repeated in the past but no longer happen now.

• When I was a child, I played outside every day.
• She visited her grandparents every summer.

2.3. Actions that occurred one after the other in the past

The past simple is also used to describe a series of actions that occurred one after the other in the past.

• He entered the room, sat down, and started to read.
• She finished her homework, put away her books, and went to bed.
  

2.4. Actions that lasted for a period of time in the past

We also use the past simple to talk about actions that lasted for a certain period of time in the past, but which are now finished.

• I lived in Paris for five years.
• They worked at the company from 2010 to 2015.
  

2.5. Actions that interrupted another action in progress in the past

The past simple is used to describe an action that interrupted another action in progress in the past. The action in progress is often expressed with the past continuous.

• I was watching TV when the phone rang.
• She was cooking dinner when he arrived.

⚠️ This is a form of conditional, we will return to it in the associated course

Conclusion

If you wish to learn more about the past tense, in order to master it for your TOEIC® exam, we recommend these articles:

1. The past tense for the TOEIC® - general presentation
2. The past continuous for the TOEIC®