A verb tense tells us when the action happened - an action or past state of being (i.e. a to be verb).

There are 3 simple verb tenses we are going to learn about:
#1 - Present tense means something that is happening NOW!
#2 - Past tense means that something already happened.
#3 - Future tense means something is going to happen in the future.

HINT! What’s a to be verb? Here’s a reminder:

Past tense means something that already happened or a past state of being.

For most verbs, you add the ending -ED.

In general, you just add -ED to the root word to form the simple past tense.

Note: If the root word already ends in -E, then just add -D.

The exception to that is when you’re in the 3rd person singular (he, she, it), which is when you add -s to the end of the root word.

Here is a chart that helps you see the different person formats for different root words:

WALK

CLEAN

HATE

Yes! Sometimes the simple past tense of an irregular verb looks exactly like the root form, so you just use that.

Here’s a list of the most common words where the root word is the same as the simple past tense:

Sometimes the word has an irregular past tense, and you just have to know it. Here’s an example of the most commonly used ones:

IRREGULAR SIMPLE PAST TENSE

To make the simple past negative, you use:

     DID      +     NOT     +      root form of verb

Examples - You didn’t go to school when you were sick.
     It didn’t seem like we would win.

     DIDN’T      +      root form of verb

Examples - She didn’t like to sleep when she was a baby.
     I didn’t care for vanilla ice cream until I put sprinkles on it.

To make to be verb (see above) negative, it’s a bit more complicated - it depends on the subject of the sentence.

If the subject is SINGULAR use WAS NOT or WASN’T

Examples - I was not going to the museum.
     He wasn’t tired even after the long day.

If the subject is PLURAL use WERE NOT or WEREN’T

Examples - We were not doing our homework.
     We weren’t ready to leave the pool.

It’s easy! Just use:

     DID      +     subject (noun or pronoun)     +      root form of verb

Examples - Did you take the trash out to the curb?
     What did you say when you saw the bear?

When asking questions with a TO BE verb, however, the formula is:

      WAS/WERE      +      subject

Examples - When was I supposed to be there?
     I Were we going to visit the puppies at the pound?