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What is Grammar?
English Grammar Terms
The 8 English Parts of
Speech
These are the words that you use to make a sentence.
There are only
8 types of word - and the most
important is the Verb!
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Verbs |
be, have, do, work |
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Nouns |
man, town, music |
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Adjectives |
a, the, 69, big |
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Adverbs |
loudly, well, often |
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Pronouns |
you, ours, some |
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Prepositions |
at, in, on, from |
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Conjunctions |
and, but, though |
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Interjections |
ah, dear, er, um |
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Hot Links
Verbs
Passive voice
Modal verbs
Conditionals
Questions
Irregular
verbs
Going to
Gerunds
Phrasal Verbs
Tenses
Nouns
(Un) Countable nouns
Adjectives
Articles
Pronouns
Preposition List
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| Grammar Quizzes
Parts of Speech Quiz
Verb Classification Quiz
Main Verb Forms Quiz
Active or Passive Quiz
Subjunctive Quiz
Future Time Quiz
Continuous Tense Verb
Quiz
Used to do or Be used to
Quiz
Have to,
Must, Must not Quiz
Can, Could, Be able
to Quiz
Questions Quiz
Tag Questions
Quiz
Infinitive or
-ing Quiz
Gerunds Quiz
Phrasal Verbs
Quiz
Conditionals Quiz
For or Since Quiz
Present Simple
Present Continuous
Present Perfect
Simple
Present Perfect
Continuous
Past Simple
Questions
Comparative
Adjectives
Superlative
Adjectives
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How do we use the Simple Past?
We use the simple past tense to talk about an action or a
situation—an event—in the past. The event can be short or
long.
Here are some short events with the simple past tense:
The car exploded
at 9.30am yesterday.
She went to the door.
We did not hear the
telephone.
Did you see that car? |
| past |
present |
future |
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| The action is in the past. |
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Here are some long events with the simple past tense:
I lived in Bangkok
for 10 years.
The Jurassic period lasted about 62 million years.
We did
not sing at the concert.
Did you watch TV last night? |
| past |
present |
future |
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| The action is in the past. |
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Notice that it does not matter how long ago the event is: it can
be a few minutes or seconds in the past, or millions of years in the past. Also
it does not matter how long the event is. It can be a few milliseconds (car
explosion) or millions of years (Jurassic period). We use the simple past tense
when:
- the event is in the past
- the event is completely finished
- we say (or understand) the time and/or place of
the event
| EnglishClub.com Tip |
| In general, if we say the
time or place of the event, we must use the simple past tense; we
cannot use the present perfect. |
Here are some more examples:
- I lived in that house when I was young.
- He didn't like the movie.
- What did you eat for dinner?
- John drove to London on Monday.
- Mary did not go to work yesterday.
- Did you play tennis last week?
- I was at work yesterday.
- We were not late (for the train).
- Were you angry?
Note that when we tell a story, we usually use the simple past
tense. We may use the past continuous tense to "set the scene", but we almost
always use the simple past tense for the action. Look at this example of the
beginning of a story:
"The wind was howling around the hotel and the rain was
pouring down. It was cold. The door opened and James Bond
entered. He took off his coat, which was very wet, and
ordered a drink at the bar. He sat down in the corner of the
lounge and quietly drank his..."
| EnglishClub.com Tip |
| This page shows the use of
the simple past tense to talk about past events. But note there are some other
uses for the simple past tense, for example in conditional or if
sentences. |
Now check your understanding
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