Past Indefinite (Past Simple or Simple Past)

Past Indefinite (Past Simple or Simple Past)

 What is the Past Indefinite?
Simple Definition
The past simple shows us that an action was in the past, not in the present. It started in the past and ended in the past.

Regular past simple verbs have “–ed” at the end
(e.g. call → called, play → played, arrive → arrived)

Irregular verbs have a different form, usually with a different vowel sound (e.g. wake → woke, break → broke, feel → felt).

Formal Definition
Past Indefinite (Past Simple or Simple Past) tense is used to describe a completed activity that happened in the past. It is used to talk about things that happened or existed before now. In other words, it started in the past and ended in the past.

Formula / Structure

Subject + Verb (Second form) + Object / Adverb

BASIC LEVEL

→ I played cricket.
→ Yaqoob read a book.
Second and third form of READ is “READ” but it is pronounced as “red”.
First form
Second form
Third form
Fourth form
Read
Read
Read
Reading
V2 & V3 = Read (pronounce as red)
→ You watched TV.


NEGATIVE EXAMPLES
For negative we use [did not = didn’t]
→ I did not play cricket.
OR I didn’t play cricket.
→ Yaqoob did not read a book.
OR Yaqoob didn’t read a book.
→ You did not watch TV.
OR You didn’t watch TV.

We do not used past form such as played, watched in negative and questions.

NOT I did not played cricket.
NOT I didn’t played cricket.

Second and third form of READ is “READ” but it is pronounced as “red”.

First form
Second form
Third form
Fourth form
Read
Read
Read
Reading

V2 & V3 = Read (pronounce as red)

INTERROGATIVE / QUESTION
For interrogative we use [Did]
→ Did Yaqoob read a book?
→ Did Yaqoob not read a book?
OR Didn’t Yaqboob read a book?
→ Did you watch TV?
→ Did you not watch TV?
OR Didn’t you watch TV?

NOT Did you not watched TV?
NOT Didn’t you watched TV?

We use did with question words like where, what, how and when:

↷ Where did Yaqoob and Aslam live?
↷ What did Maria play?
↷ How did you go there?

✗NOT Where did Yaqoob and Aslam lived?
✗NOT What did Maria played?
✗NOT How did you went there?

Read these examples

↷ Who rang you?
(Someone rang you.)

↷ Who did you ring?
(You rang someone.) 

INTERMEDIATE LEVEL

We also use was and were in negatives and questions.

↷ I wasn't very well last week
↷ The gates weren't open.
↷ Where was his friend last night?
↷ Was your steak nice?
Steak (گوشت کا قتلہ) (a slice of meat)

We use the past simple for something in the past which is finished.

↷ When did you buy this house? ~ About four years ago.
↷ Maria passed her exam last year.
↷ We went to the theatre on Friday.
↷ I knew what the problem was.

We use it with finished actions, states or habits in the past when we know from general knowledge that the time period has finished. This includes when the person we are talking about is dead.

↷ Quaid-i-Azam died in 1948.
↷ Alexander Graham Bell invented telephone.
↷ The King invaded the city.

↷ Leonardo painted the Mona Lisa.

We use the past tense to talk about:

something that happened several times in the past:

↷ Yaqoob swam a lot while he was on holiday.
↷ When I was a boy, I walked a mile to school every day.
↷ They always enjoyed visiting their friends.

something that happened once in the past:

↷ They got home very late last night.
↷ I met my wife in 1983.
↷ We went to Islamabad for our holidays.

something that was true for some time in the past:

↷ He enjoyed being a student.
↷ She played a lot of tennis when she was younger.
↷ She lived abroad for ten years.

ADVANCE LEVEL

We often use expressions with ago with the past simple:
↷ I met my wife a long time ago.
(= I was in Dubai)

We use it with finished actions, states or habits in the past we have a finished time word (yesterday, last week, at 2 o'clock, in 2003).

↷ We spent a lot of time in Pakistan in 2007.
↷ I went to the hotel yesterday.

We use it with finished actions, states or habits in the past that we have introduced with the present perfect or another tense. This is sometimes called 'details of news'.

↷ I’ve hurt my leg. I fell off a ladder when I was painting my drawing room.
↷ I’ve been on holiday. I went to Islamabad and Karachi.
[I’ve = I have]

For stories or lists of events, we often use the past simple for the actions in the story and the past continuous for the background.

Event:
↷ He went to a café. People were chatting and music was playing. He sat down and ordered a coffee.

Story:
↷ Cinderella lived with her stepmother and two stepsisters.  Poor Cinderella had to work hard all day long so the others could rest.

POINT TO REMEMBER
We sometimes use the present simple to talk about the past when we are:
(i) SUMMARISING A BOOK, FILM OR PLAY
↷ Harry Potter goes to Hogwarts School. He has two close friends, Hermione and …
↷ Shakespeare's Hamlet is the Prince of Denmark. One night he sees his father's ghost.

(ii) TELLING A STORY
To tell stories (particularly jokes) to make your listener or reader feel more engaged with the story.

↷ I was walking down the street the other day when suddenly this man comes up to me and tells me he has lost his wallet and asks me to lend him some money. Well, he looks a bit dangerous so I'm not sure what to do and while we are standing there …