Home 9 General English 9 English grammar 9 The past simple at CEFR Level A1

The past simple at CEFR Level A1

The past simple at CEFR Level A1. In English grammar, the past simple is used to talk about things that finished in the past. Here are some example sentences including the past simple:

  • I worked last Monday.
  • They studied for an English test last week.
  • She smiled when she saw him.

Structure of the past simple. To change the present simple (I work) to the past simple, all you have to do is add +ed (I worked). For verbs that already end in ‘e’, we only add the ‘d’ (I smile > I smiled)

Negative form of the past simple. The past simple can also be used to talk about something you did not do. For example, I worked last Monday changes to I did not work last Monday. It is common in English to abbreviate (make shorter) the words DO NOT by saying ‘don’t’.

  • I didn’t work last weekend.
  • He didn’t do his homework.
  • You didn’t tell me!

The rules for the past simple are a little easier than the present simple because they don’t change when you talk about I, we, you etc. For example

  • PRESENT SIMPLE: I live in London He lives in London. (add +s)
  • PAST SIMPLE: I lived in London. He lived in London. (no change in the verb)

The table below shows all of the forms of the past simple for the verb ‘work’.

Positive + Negative –
I worked didn’t work.
You worked didn’t work.
We worked didn’t work.
He worked didn’t work.
She worked didn’t work.
It worked didn’t work.
They worked didn’t work.

Question form of the past simple. To make a question using the past simple, we use ‘Did’ at the beginning of the question. For example:

  • + He lived in London.
  • – He didn’t live in London.
  • ? Did he live in London?

Here’ a stable showing all the different pronouns (I, you, we etc):

Did I work?
Did you work?
Did we work?
Did he work?
Did she work?
Did it work?
Did they work?

 

OTHER POSTS

5 steps in critical thinking

Being able to critically consider something you are reading is essential these days to make sure what you are reading is true. Here are 5 points to consider for critical thinking: 1. Consider the source Where is the information you are reading, watching or listening...

read more

Talking about diet

'Diet' refers to the food you eat, and can also mean an attempt to reduce your weight by eating fewer calories a day. Collocations: a balanced diet (a diet consisting of a variety of different types of food that have enough of the nutrients necessary for good health)....

read more

The past simple at CEFR Level A1

We hope you found this page useful! If you did, please share it with your friends 🙂

Go back to the homepage here.

The past simple at CEFR Level A1