Simple past tense

Form

Affirmative

I wrote.
She wrote.
You wrote.

Negative

I did not write.
She did not write.
You did not write.

Interrogative

Did I write?
Did she write?
Did you write?

Uses of the simple past tense

We use the simple past tense to talk about many kinds of past events: short, quickly finished actions, longer situations, and repeated events.

• I spent all my childhood in Canada.
• I visited my grandfather yesterday.
• John left 10 minutes ago.

The simple past is common in story-telling.

• Once upon a time there lived a rich man. One day, he met a beautiful princess and …

The simple past is often used with references to finished periods and time expressions.

• He died last year.
• I met her yesterday morning.

Sections in this article

Tenses
The simple present tense
The present progressive tense
The present perfect tense
The present perfect progressive tense
Present tenses to talk about the future
The simple past tense
The past progressive tense
The past perfect tense
The past perfect progressive tense
Past verb forms with present or future meaning
The simple future tense
The future progressive tense
The future perfect tense