Past Simple (I did)
Regular and irregular past forms, negatives and questions with 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 |
Irregular Verbs: No -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. |
Questions and Negatives with Did
In questions and negatives, use did/didn’t + the base form of the verb (not the past form).
| Positive | Question | Negative |
|---|---|---|
| I enjoyed the presentation. | Did you enjoy it? | I didn’t enjoy it. |
| She saw the error. | Did she see the error? | She didn’t see the error. |
| They went to the workshop. | Did they go to the workshop? | They didn’t go to the workshop. |
- I enjoyed the team dinner. Did you enjoy it?
- How many people did they invite to the meeting?
- I didn’t buy anything because I didn’t have any budget left.
- ”Did you go to the office?” “No, I didn’t.”
When do is the main verb, you still need it after did:
- What did you do at the weekend? (not
What did you at the weekend?) - I didn’t do anything. (not
I didn’t anything.)
Was / Were (Past of Be)
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?*
Quick Self-Check
The project team _____ the final report to the client last Friday.
Select your answer:
_____ you attend the budget meeting yesterday?
Select your answer:
We _____ afford to renew the contract, so we cancelled the service.
Select your answer:
The training session _____ very useful. Several employees said it was too short.
Select your answer:
What _____ you do at the trade fair last week?
Select your answer: