Past Simple Active
Affirmatives |
Questions |
Negatives |
|||||
I You He She It We They
|
Ved or V2 |
Did |
I youhe she it we they |
V |
I You He She It We They |
did + not |
V |
V - verb (глагол)
Past simple for to be (был/была/было/были)
Affirmatives |
Questions |
Negatives |
|||
I He She It |
was |
Was |
I he she it |
I He She It |
was+not |
You We They |
were |
Were |
you we they |
You We They |
were+not |
Time expressions
a week, etc. ago; |
in former times |
that/those, etc. |
ago |
in olden times |
then |
formerly |
in the (good) old days |
three days/weeks/etc. |
How long ago…? |
in the past |
when |
in 1997/etc. |
in yesteryear |
yesterday |
in days of old |
last night/week/month/year/Tuesday/etc. |
yesterday afternoon /evening/morning/night/noon |
in days of yore |
once (upon a time) |
|
in days/years/times gone by |
previously |
Meanings |
Examples |
Single completed actions. |
Sony and Philips invented the CD in the early 1980s. |
Repeated actions in the past. |
We decorated our flat quite often when I was a child. |
Habitual actions in the past. |
When the neighbourhood boys teased me, I ran away and hid. |
General truths about the past. |
Early fridges were usually very heavy. |
Permanent situations and states in the past. |
It was true, that we knew each other very well and forgave each other's faults. |
Lists of past successive events. |
I wrote a letter, sealed it and went to the post. |
Details of «news». |
When and where did you get this bruise? |
Stative verbs in the past temporary situations. |
When I was listening, I believed every word he was saying. |
Condition and time clauses in the past context. |
He promised to lend me his laptop whenever I needed it. |
I wish (that) somebody/smth. |
I wish that it were not cold here. |
It is time (that) somebody/smth. |
It is high time that he arrived. |
I would rather (that) somebody/smth. |
I would rather that she apologised. |
I would sooner (that) somebody/smth. (present or future preferences and desires) |
I would sooner that they invested in our business. |
Comment on more examples
- I had a terrible night, I turned and wound all night.
- He spent a weekend in London.
- I flew back home last evening.
- The dog seized the meat and bit a piece off.
- As the ice melted away, the river rose in dangerous floods.
- We beat that team for the second time.
- She made a bet that her favourite team would win.
- The driver lost control when a tyre burst.
- The fishermen cast a large net around a school of tuna.
- The man flung a look back along the way he had come. (J. London )
- As he turned to go on, he spat speculatively. (J. London)
- … through this channel of poverty and inaction the Continent sped its wealth and industry. (Joyce)
- There lay a huge and almost endless forest.
- I sought the nearest excitement.
- The excitement in the room rose to fever pitch. (W. Collins)
- The vassal of Luck slid upon the seat by her side with complaisance. (O. Henry)
- Hartley cast a quick, critical, appreciative glance at her before speaking, and told himself that his taste in choosing had been flawless.
- My spirits sank.
More practice with Dual-Grammar Choice
- One day when I went to get the mail, I found/have found a strange letter addressed to my house.
- We restored/were restoring the old stone house as a self-catering accommodation not so long ago.
- They spent /were spent a few days at the 300-year-old hotel.
- We been ordered/ ordered in a seafood platter to eat in the garden.
- Christopher Columbus never had known/knew why he failed to find Asia.
- Vespucci talked/has talked several Spanish sailors into taking him along on their westward voyages.
- The mapmaker named/was named a discovered land America in honour of Amerigo Vespucci.
- Police investigated/was investigating the murder of a businessman and the disappearance of his family a year ago.
- A five-day excavation deep in the Devon countryside has come/came to a halt last week.
- Rural populations across Eurasia used to/used cannabis as a food crop.
- The ancient Romans loved/had loved food additive that enhanced flavour and ate/were eating them with almost every meal.
- When the Roman Empire collapsed, they were put/put taxes on the salt.
- The pirates started/were starting destroying the cities and the industries nearby the coast.
- When taste buds were discovered in the 19th century, tongue cells under a microscope looked/had looked like little keyholes into which bits of food might fit, and the idea persisted /persisting that there were four different keyhole shapes.
- Escoffier was created/created meals that tasted like no combination of salty, sour, sweet and bitter; they were tasting/ tasted new.