Quando si usa Il Simple Past è il tempo verbale inglese che esprime il concetto generale di un’azione che si è svolta nel passato e non ha più nessun rapporto con il presente.
Per poter mettere un verbo al Simple Past
L’azione deve essersi svolta nel passato ed essere finita nel momento in cui si parla.
Use of the Simple Past
Actions finished in the past
I visited London last week.
Series of completed actions in the past
I got up on Friday June 24, 2016 and watched the tragic results of Brexit.
Signal words
- yesterday
- last week
- a month ago
- in 1492 Columbus sailed the ocean blue.
- on Thursday June 23 the UK voted to leave the EU.
Affirmative sentences in the Simple Past – regular verbs
| Long forms | Contracted forms |
| I cleaned my Ferrari. | not possible |
| You cleaned your Ferrari. | |
| He cleaned his Ferrari. |
Affirmative sentences in the Simple Past – irregular verbs
| Long forms | Contracted forms |
| I went to Rome. | not possible |
| You went to Rome. | |
| He went to Rome. |
Negative sentences in the Simple Past
Do not negate a main verb in English. Always use the auxiliary did (Simple Past of to do) and the infinitive of the verb for negations.
There is no difference between regular and irregular verbs in negative sentences.
| Long forms | Contracted forms |
| I did not go to Rome. | I didn’t go to Rome. |
| You did not go the Rome. | You didn’t go to Rome. |
| He did not go to Rome. | He didn’t go to Rome. |
Questions in the Simple Past
You need the auxiliary did and the infinitive of the verb.
| Long forms | Contracted forms |
| Did I play the Stock Market? | not possible |
| Did you play the Stock Market? | |
| Did he play the Stock Market? |
Regular verbs
vote- voted
work – worked
walk-walked
play – played
watch – watched
Irregular verbs
go – went
see –saw
have–had
eat – ate
drink –drank
say- said
Britain voted to leave the EU on Thursday June 23, 2016.
