Ls 11. The Past Tense
Lesson Twelve. The Past Tense
There are two types of past tense verbs: regular verbs: add "ed" to the simple form irregular verbs: don't add "ed"
| Regular Verbs | Irregular Verbs | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Simple | past | simple | past |
| work | worked | be | was/were |
| live | lived | get | got |
| move | moved | go | went |
| walk | walked | put | put |
| open | opened | eat | ate |
| wait | waited | have | had |
| Regular verbs add ed to make the past tense (work/worked) and irregular verbs change their form entirely (go/went), or they dont change at all (put/put). The most important verb to learn first in the past tense is "be". |
Be - Past Tense
| Singular | Plural |
|---|---|
| I was | We were |
| You were | You were |
| He was | |
| She was | They were |
| It was | |
| I was at school yesterday | |
| We were in New York last week | |
| It was cold this morning |
Only the verb "be" changes its form for the singular or plural. All the other verbs, regular and irregular, use one form in the past tense, which makes the past tense a little easier to use when making statements.