Past Simple — Regular Verbs (-ed)

Hook

“I work” becomes “I worked”. “They play” becomes “they played”. Most English verbs make the past in the same simple way: add -ed. And the good news: the past form is the same for every person.

Notice

  • I worked late yesterday.
  • She watched a film last night.
  • They played football on Saturday.
  • We studied for the test.
  • He didn’t call me.
  • Did you cook dinner? — Yes, I did.

What happens to the verb after didn’t and did?

Rule

Positive: verb + -ed (the same for I, you, he, she, we, they).

  • most verbs + ed: work → worked, play → played, watch → watched
  • ending in -e: + d: live → lived, dance → danced
  • consonant + y → ied: study → studied, carry → carried (but play → played)
  • short verb, one vowel + one consonant: double: stop → stopped, plan → planned

Negative: didn’t + base verb: He didn’t watch TV. Question: Did + subject + base verb? Did she call you? — Yes, she did. / No, she didn’t.

Pronunciation of -ed: /t/ worked, watched · /d/ played, lived · /ɪd/ only after t or d: wanted, needed.

Watch Out

  • ✗ She studyed hard. → ✓ She studied hard.
  • ✗ He didn’t watched TV. → ✓ He didn’t watch TV. (base verb after didn’t)
  • ✗ Did you called me? → ✓ Did you call me?
  • ✗ I work yesterday. → ✓ I worked yesterday.

Practice

  1. Complete: I ___ (walk) to school yesterday.
  2. Complete: She ___ (study) all night.
  3. Complete: They ___ (stop) at the shop.
  4. Complete: We ___ (live) in Cairo in 2020.
  5. Make it negative: “He watched TV.”
  6. Make a question: you / call / your friend
  7. Correct it: “She studyed hard.”
  8. Short answer: “Did they play?” (no)
Show the answers
  1. walked
  2. studied
  3. stopped
  4. lived
  5. He didn’t watch TV.
  6. Did you call your friend?
  7. She studied hard.
  8. No, they didn’t.

Your Turn

Write six things you did yesterday with regular verbs (I cooked, I watched, I talked…) and two things you didn’t do.

Connect

Practise -ed spellings like studied and stopped in our Spelling Quiz.

Try our Spelling Quiz →

Our Grammar Quiz has A1 questions on the past simple.

Try our Grammar Quiz →

CEFR A1 — Writing: I can write simple sentences about past actions using regular verbs.

Azizul Hakim
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