Past Indefinite in English: writing rules and usage. Past tense “Past Indefinite (Past Simple) Tense Time past indefinite in English

There are different ways to express the past tense in English. Each of them has its own patterns, having comprehended which, you will be able to easily convey the events of the past in English. One of the most “in demand” tenses is the Past Simple.

It is very easy to draw a parallel here with the Russian language. Everything that we are accustomed to attributing to the past is expressed by the Past Simple (Indefinite). That is why it is called simple time, which conveys ordinary actions and isolated facts.

Formation of Past Simple in English

As in any tense, all points of contact converge in the form of the verb and the use of the auxiliary verb. In an affirmative sentence, the predicate takes either ending ed (if the verb is correct), or it is used second form (2nd column of irregular verbs): V ed or V 2(with all faces the same) . To form questions or negatives, you need an auxiliary verb did. In the first case, it takes place before the subject, in the second - after + the particle not. It is important to note that the predicate verb returns to its primary person, i.e. infinitive without to. It is easy to see how the Past Simple is formed using a table.

Not only in colloquial speech, but also in writing they often use shortened form.

Important nuances

• The first thing I want to note is the verb to be. In principle, it is incorrect, therefore it has a second form (was - singular / were - plural). In affirmative sentences it is used like this, but negative and interrogative sentences are formed without did: wasn’t, weren’t. Despite the fact that it is semantic, no auxiliary verb or other semantic verb is used with it in the past simple.

We were at home last night. — We were at home last night.

I wasn't the best student. — I was not the best student.

Were you in a new club? — Have you been to the new club?

• The pronunciation of the ending ed changes. It all depends on the letters next to each other:

after voiceless consonants - [t] - worked

after voiced consonants and vowels [d] - used, enjoyed

after t/d — — studied, landed

• Features of writing. The second form of the verb will have to be learned by heart, there is no way to escape from it. And with the addition of ed, not everything is easy either. When adding this ending to a word, sometimes there are some changes that are important to know:

1. If the word ends in "y", and in front of her is consonant, then “y” changes to “i”+ ed: try-tried, hurry - hurried. But: pl a y-pla y ed.
2. If a verb has a letter at the end "e", then when adding ed, one of the “e” disappears: change - changed, dance - danced.
3. If the verb ends in I agree(except c, w, z) or — er, -ur, and in front of her short vowel, then the last letter is doubled: stop - stopped, plan-planned, omit-omitted, occur - occurred.
4. If the latter is « l", then it is also duplicated: travel - travelled, quarel - quarelled.
5. Ending with "With", the verb in this case adds and "k": panic - panicked.

Cases of use

The rules for Past Simple (Indefinite) are quite easy to understand. And there are not many of them.

1. First of all, I would like to highlight isolated events in the past, facts. This way we emphasize what happened and simply state the fact. Vivid clues of this time are words such as ago (back), last year/month/week (last year, month, week), yesterday (yesterday), the other day (the other day), in 1998, in questions with when .

Last night my friends celebrated their anniversary. — Last night my friends celebrated their anniversary.

There wasn’t any rain in September. — There was no rain in September.

2. Alternately listed events in the past. The chronological order is very important: for example, got up, washed, had breakfast.

The dog picked up the bone and went away. — The dog picked up the bone and ran away.

She woke up, opened the window and switched on the TV. “She woke up, opened the window and turned on the TV.

3. Regular, constantly repeated actions in the past we will also express it in Past Indefinite: rarely, every week, often, always. You will immediately say that these are Present Simple pointers, and how can you find out. This is always clear from the context, whether the action refers to the present or the past. Just think about the proposal, don’t rush when you see the treasured clue.

Every week he took his son out. “Every week he took his son for a walk.

When I was a little boy I usually went to bed at 8. - When I was a little boy, I went to bed at 8 o'clock.

Sometimes there is confusion between the last function and the phrase used to do smth (be used to do smth). You can study this construction in detail in the article “Used to turnover”.

Even more examples of cases of using this tense can be found in the article “Examples of Past Simple”.

Comparison of times

The grammar of Past Indefinite Tense is quite simple. You will easily understand the formation and usage. But when comparing different past tenses, difficulties arise. Let's figure it out.

So, let's summarize. According to the rules of Past Simple (Indefinite), the verb changes its form, and negation and question are formed using did. When performing exercises and tests, comparing past simple (indefinite) with other tenses, remember that the first of them tells, informs, lets you know that the action happened sometime in the past. All the time frames are a little blurry, the exact time is never specified.

Presented by The Past Indefinite Tense in English with examples.

Several tenses have already been discussed in previous topics, and in this topic the tense The Past Indefinite Tense, which is the past tense of the group Indefinite, will be studied in detail.

In order to begin studying it in detail, you need to remember that in the English language there are regular and irregular verbs.

These two types of verbs differ from each other in the way they form the past tense forms of the Indefinite group, as well as participle II.

Let's look at how the tense The Past Indefinite Tense is formed, and then - the cases of its use.

1. Affirmative form.
To compose affirmative sentences with regular verbs, it is necessary to add the ending -ed* to the infinitive in all persons. In this case, the particle to is not used. Study the example.
I (we, you, they, he, she, it) lived - I (we, you, they, he, she, it) lived (lived, lived, lived).

To compose affirmative sentences with irregular verbs, you need to refer to the second column of the table of irregular verbs (Past Simple). Study the example.
I (we, you, they, he, she, it) came - I (we, you, they, he, she, it) came (came, came, came).

2. Negative form.
To compose negative sentences with both regular and irregular verbs, the past form of the auxiliary verb to do - did is used in all persons, as well as the negative particle not. Study some examples.
I (we, you, they, he, she, it) did not choose - I (we, you, they, he, she, it) did not choose (chose, chose, chose).
I (we, you, they, he, she, it) did not live - I (we, you, they, he, she, it) did not live (lived, lived, lived).
Please note that if the auxiliary verb did is used, then the verb is used in the infinitive form (without the particle to).

In colloquial speech and in writing, the abbreviated form did not - didn't is usually used.

3. Interrogative form.
To compose interrogative sentences with both regular and irregular verbs in all persons, the auxiliary verb did is also used, which is placed first in the sentence, that is, before the subject.
Did you choose the book? -Have you chosen a book?
Did she close the door? - Did she close the door?

To compose special questions, you should follow the same word order as indicated above, but put a question word before the auxiliary verb.
Where did they see me? -Where did they see me?
When did you buy this book? - When did you buy this book?

Study the cases in which The Past Indefinite Tense is used.
This tense is used to indicate an action that was or has been done in the past. When translated into Russian, a verb in the past tense can be either imperfect or perfect, depending on the context.

The Past Indefinite Tense is used in those sentences where there are such time circumstances, such as at five o"clock - at five o'clock, yesterday - yesterday, the day before yesterday - the day before yesterday, four years ago - four years ago, last month - last month, in 1986 - in 1986, last time - last time, last week - last week, two hours ago - two hours ago d, etc. Study some examples.

I saw you yesterday - I saw you yesterday.
I had dinner an hour ago - I had lunch an hour ago.
My daughter entered the university in 1999 - My daughter entered the university in 1999.
We moved to St. Petersburg three years ago - We moved to St. Petersburg three years ago.
I read this book last month - I read this book last month.

The Past Indefinite Tense is used in those sentences where we are talking about a series of past events that occurred in a certain sequence. Study some examples.

I bought a gift and went to my friend's birthday party - I bought a gift and went to my friend’s birthday party.
I read a poem, wrote an essay and began to watch TV - I read a poem, wrote an essay and started watching TV.

The Past Indefinite Tense is used in those sentences that express an ordinary, repeated past action. Study some examples.

Mary called me every day when I was in hospital - Mary called me every day when I was in the hospital.
I worked in Moscow last summer - Last summer I worked in Moscow.

*pronunciation ending -ed.
1. If the ending -ed follows vowels or voiced consonants, with the exception of [d], then it is pronounced as the sound [d].

happen - happened ["hæp(ə)nd]
happen - happened

Answer - answered ["a:nsəd]
answer - answered

2. If the ending -ed follows voiceless consonants, with the exception of [t], then it is pronounced as [t].
astonish - astonished [ə"stɔniʃt]
strike - struck

3. If the ending -ed follows the sounds [d] or [t], then it is pronounced as .
offend - offended [ə"fendid]
offend - offended

Drift - drifted ["driftid]
shift - shifted

When adding the -ed ending, there are some spelling changes to consider.

1. If there is a silent letter e at the end of the verb, then when adding the ending -ed it is discarded.
announce - announced
announce - announced

2. If the stem of the verb ends in y and is preceded by a consonant, then y changes to i.

reply - replied
answer - answered

If the letter y is preceded by a vowel, then the y does not change.
play - played
play - played

3. If the verb ends in a consonant, and it is preceded by a short vowel sound, then adding the ending -ed doubles the last consonant.

stop - stopped
stop - stopped.

We continue to study the tenses of the English language. Let's look at the Past Simple tense - the past indefinite tense in English. Before you get acquainted with the Past Simple table, it is advisable to learn how to use In addition to the sentence structure and cases of using this tense, I will draw your attention in this article to the shortcomings of students, and Past Simple table, will help us with this.

Past Simple is used:

to express an action that happened sometime in the past and is not related to the present. In this case, the moment of the action is either indicated using marker words or implied. For example: We bought a flat (yesterday). We bought an apartment (yesterday).

to describe a series of sequential actions in the past. For example: He woke up up, cleaned his teeth, had breakfast and walked to school.

to express an action that in the past occupied a certain period of time (it is indicated by the words for And during). For example: She didn't speak for an hour.

Marker words(read more about marker words in the article) for Past Simple: yesterday, last week (month, year, autumn), in 2013, 3 days ago. Also indicators of the past tense in English are the words when (when) and where (where)- an indication of a certain time in the past. Therefore, the Past Simple table will be useful to you, in particular, for questions that begin with When? and Where? For example: Where did you go?

Legend for the Past Simple (The Past Indefinite Tense) table:
V– verb – verb
S– subject – subject (who? what?)
Ved– regular verb with ending – ed (“regular” are verbs that form the affirmative form of The Past Indefinite Tense according to the rule - by adding the ending -ed to the main form of the verb e.g. I work - I work ed(I work - I worked))
V2– “irregular” verb in the second form (“irregular” are verbs that form the affirmative form of The Past Indefinite Tense not according to the rule (by adding the ending -ed to the main form of the verb), but by changing the main form. To do this, you need to use a verb, standing in the second column of the table of irregular verbs, e.g. I go - I went (I go - I walked). - 195). Then, when forming a statement in the past indefinite tense, you can confidently add the ending -ed to those verbs that are not in the table of irregular verbs.

THE PAST INDEFINITE TENSE
(THE PAST SIMPLE)

Past indefinite tense

Affirmative form
+

I hope everything is clear with the statement in the past tense. The situation is more complicated with questions - general and special. The video below provides an accessible and simple explanation of how to write questions in Past Indefinite Tense.

Interrogative form
?

Wh-?
Special questions

(start with special words)

Negative form
—

Interrogative-negative form
(Speaking)
?-

Schematically the structure of the sentence in Past Simple can be shown like this:

+
S+V2(ed)

?
Did + S + V?

Wh - ?
Wh + did + S + V?

–
S + didn't + V

? –
Didn't + S + V?

Such a diagram can be printed out and, together with others, pasted into a notebook, for example, a ready-made cheat sheet, where everything is short and concise.

The past indefinite tense of the English language is usually easy for students - some have heard about irregular verbs and, before starting to study this tense, managed to learn the well-known “three columns”, while others are attracted by the presence of only one auxiliary verb did when constructing questions and negations. Sometimes, however, students forget about the ending - ed in the affirmative form. Past Simple table (The Past Indefinite Tense) is simple and will be understandable to anyone, the main thing is to understand it right away and not delay practice.

Examples will help you plunge into the world of the past, understand all the specific nuances of its reflection in English. After all, the rule you read is like having a snack: it will satisfy your hunger, but it will not solve the main problem. That's why we suggest you study examples that will help you see all the details.

The use of the Past Simple does not have many cases that are easy to understand and remember. If you have already studied the rule of Past Simple and want to expand your horizons in order to clearly understand what, where and when, then the examples of Past Simple (Indefinite) will help you. So, let's remember that this is a simple, indefinite tense, which helps convey ordinary actions in the past. We are not interested in how long it lasted, how it lasted, only the fact.

Example sentences in Past Simple (Indefinite)

First, let's look at education, all forms and cases.

1. In an affirmative sentence, the verb takes either ending ed, or the second form, which can be found in the table of irregular verbs. But, when adding ed, some things happen features in writing, which can be found in more detail in the article “Rules of Past Simple (Indefinite)”. So let's analyze it.

Jim throw out the ball to Lisa. — Jim threw the ball to Lisa (second form).

Last year Tom worked for a company in England. — Last year Tom worked for a company in England (end ed).

2. Negative and interrogative sentences require an auxiliary verb did , which in the first case is placed before the subject, and in the second - after, but with the particle not: didn't/didn't. I would also like to note that if there are special question words: when, what, where, etc., then they come first, and then did + subject and everything else. If a sentence contains did (it doesn’t matter whether it’s a question or a negation), then verb unchanged— its first form is used, as in a dictionary.

How did you give up smoking? - How do you quit smoking?

I didn'tvisit Europe last month. — I didn’t go to Europe last month.

3. Let’s highlight as a separate point verb to be , which is a little different from all the others. In an affirmative sentence it takes the second form - was/were. But the question and negation are constructed without did, but according to its principle: Was/ were + S + minor members? S + was/ were + not + minor members. So, we note that although this verb is semantic, there should not be auxiliary verbs next to it.

Pete was so difficult as a child. “Pete was a very difficult child.

Unfortunetly, she wasn’t at home. - Unfortunately, she was not at home.

There were so many soap operas on television five years ago. — Five years ago there were a lot of soap operas on television.

Using the Past Simple

There are only three uses of this tense in English, although they are more common than other tenses.

• The action took place in the past, there is no connection with the present, reports just a fact of accomplishment. Signal words are: ago (back), last year/month/week (last year, month, week), yesterday (yesterday), the other day (the other day), in 1998, in questions with when.

I felt very happy last year. — I felt happy last year.

My brother quickly adapted to his new job. — My brother quickly adapted to the new job.

My brother worked as a taxi-driver the other day. — The other day my brother worked as a taxi driver.

• Actions that happened in the past one after another, sequentially, following chronological order:

Liza sang a song and quickly went out. — Lisa sang a song and quickly left.

I opened the book, found the right page and started reading aloud. — I opened the book, found the right page and began to read aloud.

She came home and laid down on the sofa. — She came home and lay down on the sofa.

• Actions that usually happened in the past, regularly :

Every Sunday last year I was in church. — Last year I went to church every Sunday.

When she was young she usually went to work on foot. — When she was young, she walked to work.

When I was a teenager I visited a lot of dances. — When I was a teenager, I went to dances a lot.

Sentences in the Past Simple are a common occurrence in English grammar, everyday speech and literary language.

Having worked with the Past Simple (Indefinite) examples, it’s time to move on to the exercises. Practice makes it easier to understand, you learn to compare, use and think independently. On our website you can test and improve your knowledge.