1.6: Grammar: Past Tense Verbs

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Simple Past and Past Continuous

Compare these sentences. What are the verbs? How is the past tense formed in each sentence?

• Cody Gibson studied photography in Oregon and Colorado.
• Cody was studying photography when he decided to change his major.

Answers

• In the first sentence, the verb is "studied," simple past regular verb.
• In the second sentence, the verbs are "was studying" (past continuous) and "decided" (simple past)

Simple Past Form

Regular verbs use base verb + -ed

• EX: Decide--decided

Irregular verbs do not follow one rule

• EX: Find--found
• EX: Eat--eaten

Past Tense Spelling for Regular Verbs (Adding -ed)

• Most regular verbs add -ed to the infinitive form
  • EX: Walk--walked
• Regular verbs ending in -e just add -d
  • EX: Like--liked
  • EX: Receive--received
• CVC Rule: Regular verbs ending in one stressed vowel + one consonant (except w, x, or y) double the consonant and add -ed
  • EX: Plan--planned
  • EX: Stop--stopped
  • EX: Refer--referred
  • EX: Control--controlled
• Regular verbs ending in consonant + y change the y to i and add -ed
  • EX: Carry--carried
  • EX: Study--studied
  • EX: Try--tried
• Regular verbs ending in -c add -ked
  • EX: Picnic--picnicked
  • EX: Traffic--trafficked
• Default: All other regular verbs add -ed
  • Ending in one or more vowels (except final e)
    • EX: Moo--mooed
    • EX: Ski--skied
  • Ending in two or more consonants
    • EX: Depend--depended
    • EX: Push--pushed
    • EX: Start--started
  • Ending in unstressed syllable and one consonant
    • EX: Market--marketed
    • EX: Number--numbered
    • EX: Question--questioned
  • Ending in two or more vowels + one consonant
    • EX: Explain--explained
    • EX: Rain--rained
  • Ending in vowel + y
    • EX: Enjoy--enjoyed
    • EX: Play--played
  • Ending in w or x
    • EX: Show--showed
    • EX: Tax--taxed

Ninety Common Irregular Verbs

Be--was/were--been

Beat--beat--beaten

Become--became--become

Begin--began--begun

Blow--blew--blown

Break--broke--broken

Bring--brought--brought

Build--built--built

Burst--burst--burst

Buy--bought--bought

Catch--caught--caught

Choose--chose--chosen

Come--came--come

Cost--cost--cost

Cut--cut--cut

Deal--dealt--dealt

Do--did--done

Drink--drank--drunk

Drive--drove--driven

Eat--ate--eaten

Forgive--forgave--forgiven

Freeze--froze--frozen

Get--got--got/gotten

Give--gave--given

Go--went--gone

Grow--grew--grown

Have--had--had

Fall--fell--fallen

Feed--fed--fed

Feel--felt--felt

Fight--fought--fought

Find--found--found

Fly--flew--flown

Forbid--forbade--forbidden

Forget--forgot--forgotten

Hear--heard--heard

Hide--hid--hidden

Hit--hit--hit

Hold--held--held

Hurt--hurt--hurt

Keep--kept--kept

Know--knew--known

Lay--laid--laid

Lead--led--led

Leave--left--left

Let--let--let

Lie--lay--lain (be in horizontal position) ("lie" is regular when it means not to tell the truth)

Lose--lost--lost

Make--made--made

Meet--met--met

Pay--paid--paid

Put--put--put

Quit--quit--quit

Read--read--read

Ride--rode--ridden

Ring--rang--rung

Rise--rose--risen

Run--ran--run

Say--said--said

See--saw--seen

Seek--sought--sought

Sell--sold--sold

Send--sent--sent

Shake--shook--shaken

Shine--shone--shone

Sing--sang--sung

Sit--sat--sat

Sleep--slept--slept

Speak--spoke--spoken

Spend--spent--spent

Spring--sprang--sprung

Stand--stood--stood

Steal--stole--stolen

Swim--swam--swum

Swing--swung--swung

Take--took--taken

Teach--taught--taught

Tear--tore--torn

Tell--told--told

Think--thought--thought

Throw--threw--thrown

Understand--understood--understood

Wake--woke--woken

Wear--wore--worn

Win--won--won

Write--wrote--written

More Irregular Verbs

A complete list of irregular verbs may be found here.

Suggested lists for learning irregular verbs may be found here.

Irregular verb flashcards for practice may be found here.

Using Simple Past

Simple past is used for any completed action(s) in the past. The action may be in the recent or distant past. It may be a single or repeated action.

• When he was a child, Cody attended 17 different schools.
• Last week, he got a job with his dream company.

Which sentence talks about an action in the recent past? Which sentence talks about an action in the distant past? Which sentence talks about a repeated action? Which sentence talks about a single action?

Answers

• The second sentence talks about an action in the recent past.
• The first sentence talks about an action in the distant past.
• The first sentence talks about a repeated action.
• The second sentence talks about a single action.

Past Continuous Form

Two ways to describe the form:

• "Be" (past tense) + base verb + -ing
• "Was/were" + present participle

EX: While we were writing a thank you letter, she was sleeping.

Spelling Rules for Adding -ing to a Verb

No change	Most verbs: Add -ing	Read--reading Talk--talking Say--saying Want--wanting
No change	Verbs that end in -y: Add -ing	Study--studying Carry--carrying Play--playing
Change	Verbs that end in -e: Drop the -e and add -ing	Wake--waking Make--making Tape--taping
Change	Verbs that end in -ie: Change the -ie to -y	Die--dying Lie--lying
Change	Verbs that end in CVC (consonant, vowel, consonant), one syllable: Double the last letter	Stop--stopping Sit--sitting Ban--banning
Change	Verbs that end in CVC, two syllables: If the stress is on the last syllable, double the last letter	Begin--beginning Refer--referring BUT Listen--listening Cancel--canceling

Using Past Continuous

There are two common uses for past continuous form.

Use 1: An action in progress is interrupted by another event or time

• EX: When you arrived, we were writing you a letter
• EX: At 10:00 AM, she was walking around her neighborhood

In the first sentence, which action takes longer? Which action interrupts? In the second sentence, what action was she doing when the clock said 10:00 AM?

Answers

In the first sentence, it takes longer to write. Your arrival interrupted the writing. The interruption is in simple present, the longer action is in past continuous. In the second sentence, she was walking (past continuous) when the clock changed to 10:00 AM (simple past).

Use 2: Two actions in progress at the same time.

• EX: We were reading while the instructor was writing on the board.
• EX: While she was walking around the neighborhood, she was getting fresh air and exercise.

In the first sentence, which action took longer, reading or writing? In the second sentence, which action took longer, walking or getting?

Answers

In the first sentence, reading and writing happened at the same time. We don't know which one took longer. In the second sentence, walking and getting fresh air happened at the same time. They both started and ended at the same time.

Videos

Watch this video to learn about the simple past tense.

Watch this video to learn about the difference between simple and continuous past.

Watch this video and this video to learn more about the past continuous form.

Practice the Past Tenses

An achievement is the act of reaching a goal. Examples of achievements include:

• Completing a difficult class
• Earning a degree
• Getting a job
• Finding an apartment
• Saving enough money to buy a house or car
• Raising a healthy family
• Learning to cook a special dish

Think of two more examples with your classmates.

When we achieve a goal, we feel proud. Write a list of three achievements that make you feel proud.

Choose one achievement and write a paragraph about it. Describe all the steps you took to achieve your goal. What was difficult about achieving your goal?