Past Simple (I did)

Regular Verbs: Add -ed

Most past simple verbs end in -ed.

I work in the finance department now. Before that I worked in operations.
They invited us to the product launch, but we decided not to go.
The manager stopped me on my way out of the office last night.
Laura passed the certification exam because she studied every evening.

Watch the spelling when adding -ed:

Base verb	Past simple	Spelling rule
stop	stopped	Short vowel + single consonant → double the consonant
study	studied	Consonant + y → change y to i
invite	invited	Ends in e → just add -d
work	worked	Most verbs → add -ed

Many common verbs do not follow the -ed pattern. You need to learn these forms.

Base form	Past simple	Example
write	wrote	She wrote* the quarterly report in one afternoon.*
see	saw	We saw* the new branch manager at the conference.*
go	went	I went* to three client meetings last week.*
shut	shut	It was cold, so I shut* the window in the meeting room.*
have	had	We had* a budget review yesterday.*
take	took	He took* the early flight to Berlin.*
buy	bought	The company bought* new laptops for the whole team.*

In questions and negatives, use did/didn’t + the base form of the verb (not the past form).

When do is the main verb, you still need it after did:

The verb be has its own past forms. It does not use did.

Subject	Positive	Negative	Question
I / he / she / it	was	wasn’t	was I/he/she/it?
we / you / they	were	weren’t	were we/you/they?

I was annoyed because they were late to the meeting.
*Was the weather good when you were on the business trip?*
They weren’t able to come because they were too busy with the deadline.
I wasn’t hungry, so I didn’t eat anything at the company lunch.
*Did you go out last night, or were you too tired after work?*

Question 1

The project team _____ the final report to the client last Friday.

Select your answer:

Question 2

_____ you attend the budget meeting yesterday?

Select your answer:

Question 3

We _____ afford to renew the contract, so we cancelled the service.

Select your answer:

Question 4

The training session _____ very useful. Several employees said it was too short.

Select your answer:

Question 5

What _____ you do at the trade fair last week?

Select your answer: