Past Simple — Telling what happened yesterday
The past simple is used for actions finished at a time in the past.
Verbos regulares → agregar -ed
| Base | Pasado | Ejemplo |
|---|---|---|
| walk | walked | I walked to school yesterday. |
| play | played | They played soccer last weekend. |
| study | studied | She studied all night. |
Spelling rules for -ed:
- Regular: add -ed → played, worked
- -e: solo agregar -d → loved, used
- consonante + y: cambiar y → i + ed → studied, tried
- vocal + y: solo agregar -ed → played, stayed
- consonante corta acentuada: doblar consonante + ed → stopped, planned
Irregular verbs → memorize!
| Base | Pasado | Ejemplo |
|---|---|---|
| go | went | I went to the park. |
| eat | ate | She ate breakfast at 7. |
| see | saw | We saw a movie last night. |
| have | had | He had a great time. |
| make | made | She made a cake for the party. |
Negativo e Interrogativo
-
Negativo: Subject + didn't + verbo base
- "I didn't go to work."
- "She didn't like the movie."
-
Question: Did + subject + verb base?
- "Did you see the movie?"
- "Did she finish her homework?"
⚠️ VERY IMPORTANT: With "did/didn't", the verb returns to its base form:
- ✓ "Did you go?"
- ✗
"Did you went?" - ✓ "She didn't eat."
- ✗
"She didn't ate."
-ed pronunciation
The -ed ending has 3 different sounds:
| Sound | After | Example | Pronunciation |
|---|---|---|---|
| /t/ | p, k, f, s, sh, ch | walked, watched | /wɔːkt/, /wɒtʃt/ |
| /d/ | vocales, b, g, l, m, n, v, z | played, called | /pleɪd/, /kɔːld/ |
| /ɪd/ | t, d | wanted, needed | /ˈwɒntɪd/, /ˈniːdɪd/ |
Past tense expressions
These words indicate that you should use past simple:
| Expression | Ejemplo |
|---|---|
| yesterday | I saw her yesterday. |
| last + time | last week, last month, last year, last night |
| ago | two days ago, a week ago, three years ago |
| in + year | in 2020, in 1990, in the past |
| when + past | when I was young, when she called |
💡 Memory Tip: The most common irregular verbs are grouped by pattern:
- i → a: sing→sang, drink→drank, begin→began
- Iguales: put→put, cut→cut, hit→hit
- Totalmente diferentes: go→went, buy→bought
🗣️ Pronunciation Practice:
- wanted /ˈwɒntɪd/ (3 syllables)
- played /pleɪd/ (1 syllable)
- stopped /stɒpt/ (1 syllable)
🎯 Strategy: To memorize irregulars, group them by sound or pattern. Practice saying them out loud in groups.