Simple Past Tense Explain with Example, Past Indefinite Tense

The past indefinite tense, also call as the simple past tense, is used to label actions or events that occurred in the past and are now completed. It is typically used to talk about a specific time in the past and is not ongoing. Read this article to know the definition, structure, formula, and examples of the past indefinite tense.

What is Past Indefinite Tens e?

The simple past or Past Indefinite tense is a verb tense used to describe actions or events that occurred and were completed in the past. It is basically used to talk about a specific time in the past and indicates that the action is no longer going on.

The structure of the simple past tense is quite straightforward. For regular verbs, the tense is formed by adding the suffix “-ed” to the base form of the verb. However, there are also many irregular verbs that have unique past tense forms that need to be remembered.

Definition– The Simple Past tense is used to express an action or state that was completed at a specific time in the past.

Read: Present Perfect Tense

Examples of sentences using the simple past tense

• I visited my grandparents’ last weekend.
• She danced at the party yesterday.
• They studied for the exam all night.
• He cooked dinner for his family.
• We played soccer in the park.

In the above examples, the actions (visited, danced, studied, cooked, played) are all completed actions that happened in the past. The simple past indicates that the actions are finished and not ongoing.

It’s important to learn that when using the simple past tense, it is essential to pay attention to subject-verb agreement. For regular verbs, the past tense form is the same for all subjects (I, you, he/she/it, we, they). However, for the third-person singular (he, she, it), “s” or “es” is added to the base form of the verb.

Read: Present Indefinite Tense

For example.

• She danced (not dance).
• He cooked (not cook).

In short, the simple past tense is a verb tense used to talk about completed actions or events in the past. It follows a straightforward structure for regular verbs, and it’s important to remember the past tense forms of irregular verbs.

Read. Present Continuous Tense

Simple Past Tense Formula Chart with Example

The simple chart is giving below that provides examples of regular verbs in the past indefinite tense.

And the following chart includes examples of irregular verbs in the past indefinite.

In these charts, the base form of the verb is provided, along with the corresponding past indefinite tense form. The example sentences demonstrate how these verbs are used in the past indefinite to describe completed actions or events in the past.

Simple Past Tense Structure

Structure: The past indefinite is formed by adding the suffix “-ed” to regular verbs or using the irregular verb forms for irregular verbs. For the 3rd-person singular (he, she, it), “s” or “es” is added to the base form of the verb.

Simple Past Tense Formula-

• Positive sentence: Subject + past tense of the verb
• Negative sentence: Subject + did not + base form of the verb
• Interrogative sentence: Did + subject + base form of the verb

Examples- Positive sentence.

• I studied for the exam last night.
• She walked to the park yesterday.
• They played soccer on Saturday.

Negative-sentence.

• He did not watch the movie last week.
• We did not visit the museum yesterday.
• She did not eat dinner at the restaurant.

Interrogative-sentence.

• Did you finish your homework?
• Did they go to the party?
• Did he play the guitar at the concert?

Past Indefinite Tense Rules

1. The past indefinite is used to describe completed actions in the past.
2. It is used for actions that happened at a specific time or for a specific duration in the past.
3. Regular verbs are formed by adding “-ed” to the base form of the verb.
4. Irregular verbs have their own unique past tense forms that need to be remembered.
5. The third-person singular (he, she, it) requires the addition of “s” or “es” to the base form of the verb in positive sentences.

Note: The past indefinite is used in various situations and contexts, and it’s helpful to study more examples to understand its usage completely.

10 Examples of Simple Past Tense

1. She travelled to Europe last summer.
2. I ate breakfast at a café this morning.
3. They watched a movie at the cinema last night.
4. He finished reading the book yesterday.
5. We played basketball in the park yesterday.
6. The concert started at 8 p.m. yesterday.
7. I studied French for three years in high school.
8. They visited their grandparents during the holidays.
9. She bought a new car last week.
10. We went hiking in the mountains last weekend

Past Indefinite Tense Exercise

Few exercises of Simple Past are giving below, that will help you to improve your English Grammar Knowledge. In order to practice using the past indefinite or simple past , complete the following sentences by filling in the blanks with the correct past indefinite tense form of the verbs.

1. We __________ (play) soccer in the park yesterday.
2. She __________ (bake) a delicious cake for her birthday.
3. They __________ (visit) their Grandparents last weekend.
4. He __________ (watch) a movie at the cinema with his friends.
5. I __________ (complete) the project before the deadline.
6. The children __________ (run) and laughed in the playground.
7. We __________ (travel) to Paris during the summer vacation.
8. She __________ (read) an interesting novel last night.
9. They __________ (dance) at the party until late.
10. He __________ (paint) a beautiful picture of the sunset.

Answers:

1. We played soccer in the park yesterday.
2. She baked a delicious cake for her birthday.
3. They visited their grandparents’ last weekend.
4. He watched a movie at the cinema with his friends.
5. I completed the project before the deadline.
6. The children ran and laughed in the playground.
7. We travelled to Paris during the summer vacation.
8. She read an interesting novel last night.
9. They danced at the party until late.
10. He painted a beautiful picture of the sunset.

By practicing exercises like this, you can improve your understanding and usage of the Simple past.