Simple Past Tense Verbs

Simple past tense verbs show actions that took place in the past.

Here are some examples:

Remember that tense means time. So, think of past tense verbs as past time verbs.

They name verbs that were completed in the past.

All verbs can be broken down into what are called four principal parts.

Those four principal parts are:

1. Present

2. Present Participle

3. Past

4. Past Participle

The past category refers to simple past tense verbs. They show actions that took place in the past.

There are two types of past simple verbs.

1. Regular past simple verbs are those that add either a -d or -ed to the present tense form to create the past tense form.

2. Irregular past simple verbs are those that don't add -d or -ed to the present tense form to create the past tense form.

Let's learn more about these two!

Regular verbs are so nice and predictable.

It's easy to remember how to create the past tense of these verbs because they follow a pattern.

They add either a -d or an -ed to the present tense form to make the past tense form.

Present Tense	+ -d or -ed		Past Tense
walk	+ -ed		walked
pick	+ -ed		picked
move	+ -d		moved
push	+ -ed		pushed

Irregular verbs are just what they sound like.

They are not regular.

They don't end in -d or an -ed in their past tense.

In fact, they don't end in anything in particular.

That can make it hard to remember how to form their past tense. When in doubt, look it up in the dictionary!

Present Tense	+ ?		Past Tense
drive	+ ?		drove
eat	+ ?		ate
have	+ ?		had
begin	+ ?		began
break	+ ?		broke
steal	+ ?		stole
cost	+ ?		cost

English verbs have six different verb tenses, and they are broken up into two different groups.

There are three simple tenses. These are your basic, run-of-the-mill tenses.

1. Present Simple

2. Past Simple

3. Future Simple

There are three perfect tenses. These three tenses are all formed using the helping verbs have, has, had, will, and shall along with the past participle of the verb.

1. Present Perfect

2. Past Perfect

3. Future Perfect

You can learn more about verb tenses here.

Go Back to the Verb Tenses Page

Go from Past Tense Verbs Back to English Grammar Home Page