The past simple tense is used to talk about actions or events that occurred in the past and are now completed. It is commonly used to provide a clear and concise description of past events in both spoken and written language.
The formula for asking a question in the past tense is “did + [subject] + [root form of verb]”. However, when asking a question with the verb “to be”, the auxiliary “did” is not needed, and the formula is “was/were + [subject]” .
Verb Formation
We form the regular verbs by adding “-ed” to the base form of the verb. For example, “ask” becomes “asked”, “work” becomes “worked”, “call” becomes “called”, and “use” becomes “used”. Irregular verbs, on the other hand, have unique past tense forms that do not follow a specific pattern. For example, “be” becomes “was/were”, “have” becomes “had”, “do” becomes “did”, “say” becomes “said”, and so on .
Please note that we use this tense to describe events that are completely finished in the past. If a sentence refers to an event that continues into the present or was interrupted, we use different verb tenses.
Overall, the spast simple tense is a fundamental aspect of English grammar that allows us to accurately convey past actions and events in a clear and concise manner.