The Past Simple TenseThe Past Simple Tense The Past Simple Tense The Past Simple TenseThe Past Simple TenseThe Past Simple Tense The Past Simple TenseThe Past Simple Tense The Past Simple Tense The Past Simple TenseThe Past Simple Tense The Past Simple Tense

(also called the simple past tense)

It’s similar to the present simple because it has different rules for the verb ‘be’, which becomes ‘was’ or ‘were’:

The Past Simple with ‘be’

Here’s how to make the positive:

• I was cold

• You were tired

• He was in the garden

• She was late

• It was sunny

• We were on holiday

• They were hungry

To make the negative with ‘be’, just add ‘not’:

Negative with ‘be’

Negative Short Form

• I was not sleepy

• I wasn’t sleepy

• You were not on the bus

• You weren’t on the bus

• He was not at school

• He wasn’t at school

• She was not beautiful

• She wasn’t beautiful

• It was not cold

• It wasn’t cold

• We were not at work

• We weren’t at work

• They were not tired

• They weren’t tired

To make a question, just like the present simple, we change the position of ‘was / were’ and the subject.

Here are the past simple ‘yes / no’ questions with ‘be’:

• Was I sleepy?

• Were you late?

• Was he at the cinema?

• Was she kind?

• Was it hot?

• Were we hungry?

• Were they at work?

And the ‘wh’ questions with ‘be’ (the question word just goes at the beginning, everything else is the same):

• Why was I sleepy?