What is the past simple?

Use the past simple for a finished action at a specific time in the past. I watched a film last night. She went to Paris last year. The form never changes for the subject — no -s, ever.

The rule

Regular verbs add -ed: watch → watched, play → played. Some regular verbs change their spelling: verbs ending in a silent e just add d (bake → baked), short verbs double the last letter (stop → stopped), and verbs ending in consonant + y change y to i (study → studied, but play → played keeps y after a vowel).

Many common verbs are irregular and do not follow any rule: go → went, see → saw, have → had, buy → bought. These must be learned one by one.

For negatives and questions, use did/didn't and the plain form of the verb — never the past form again: I didn't go. Did you see it?

Form

Examples

• I watched a film last night.
• She went to Paris last year.
• We didn't see the film.
• He studied hard for the exam.
• Did you enjoy the trip?

Common mistakes

• ❌ She goed to the shop. → ✅ She went to the shop. Go is irregular; it never adds -ed.
• ❌ We stoped at the shop. → ✅ We stopped at the shop. Short verbs like stop double the last letter before -ed.
• ❌ She didn't went to the party. → ✅ She didn't go to the party. After didn't, the verb returns to the plain form.
• ❌ Did she saw the letter? → ✅ Did she see the letter? After Did, the verb returns to the plain form too.