Tenses Beginner

Past Simple

Master the Past Simple tense. Learn regular and irregular verb forms, when to use Past Simple vs Present Perfect, signal words, and correct use in PTE and IELTS writing and speaking tasks.

What is Past Simple?

The Past Simple tense is used for completed actions, events, and situations at a specific time in the past. It is fundamental to English narrative writing, academic historical description, and IELTS/PTE <a href="https://sunpte.com/ielts-writing-task-1" class="il-link">Writing Task 1</a> graph descriptions where data from past years must be described.

Rules & Formation

Regular formation: add -d or -ed to the base verb (walk → walked, study → studied, stop → stopped).
Spelling: verbs ending in consonant+y change y→ied (carry → carried). Verbs ending in short vowel+consonant double the consonant (stop → stopped, plan → planned).
Irregular verbs must be memorised: go → went, come → came, take → took, see → saw, have → had, do → did, give → gave, make → made, rise → rose, fall → fell.
Negative: Subject + did + not + base verb ("He did not attend the meeting.").
Question: Did + subject + base verb? ("Did she pass the test?")
Signal words: yesterday, last week, in 2010, ago, then, at that time, in the past, when, as soon as.

Examples

The number of international students rose sharply in 2018. (graph description)

She completed her IELTS exam last month. (specific past time)

Researchers discovered a significant correlation between the two variables. (academic past narrative)

Did the government introduce the policy before or after 2015?

The company did not report any losses during that period.

❌ She has submitted her application yesterday. → ✅ She submitted her application yesterday.

🎯 Exam Tip — PTE & IELTS

In IELTS Writing Task 1 for historical data (e.g., bar charts showing years 2000–2020), always use Past Simple: "Enrolment figures peaked at 45,000 in 2015." In PTE Summarize Written Text, use Past Simple to paraphrase historical facts from the passage. Never confuse Past Simple with Present Perfect when a specific time marker is given.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I know which verbs are irregular in Past Simple?

There is no rule — irregular verbs must be memorised. The most important for academic writing: rise → rose, fall → fell, grow → grew, become → became, begin → began, bring → brought, build → built, buy → bought, catch → caught, feel → felt, find → found, get → got, give → gave, go → went, hold → held, keep → kept, lead → led, leave → left, make → made, meet → met, put → put, run → ran, say → said, see → saw, send → sent, spend → spent, take → took, teach → taught, think → thought, understand → understood, write → wrote.

What is the difference between Past Simple and Past Continuous?

Past Simple describes a completed action: "She studied all night." Past Continuous describes an ongoing background action at a specific moment: "She was studying when the phone rang." Together they describe a longer background action interrupted by a shorter completed one. In academic writing, Past Simple is far more common.

Can I use Past Simple in IELTS Academic Writing Task 2?

Yes, when referring to historical events, past research or established findings: "A study conducted in 2018 found that..." or "Governments introduced environmental legislation in the 1990s." However, for general truths and current situations, use Present Simple. Mixing tenses appropriately shows grammatical range and improves your band score.

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