🇬🇧 Learn English · A2 Grammar

⏳ Talking About the Past: Regular Verbs

Learn how to talk about things that happened yesterday or last year. You will use easy spelling rules for regular verbs.

What is the Past Simple?

We use the past simple to talk about finished actions in the past. For regular verbs, we make the past form very easily. We just add '-ed' to the end of the action word. It is the same for 'I', 'you', 'he', 'she', 'we', and 'they'.

I walked to the store yesterday.I went to the store on foot in the past.

They played football last weekend.They played a game of football in the past.

Spelling Rules: Verbs Ending in 'E'

Some action words already end with the letter 'e'. For these verbs, you do not need to add '-ed'. You only need to add a letter 'd' to the end. This makes writing and spelling much faster and easier for you.

She liked the new movie.She enjoyed the movie in the past.

We lived in London in 2020.Our home was in London during the year 2020.

Spelling Rules: Verbs Ending in Consonant + 'Y'

When a verb ends with a consonant letter and the letter 'y', we change the 'y' to 'i'. Then, we add '-ed'. For example, 'study' becomes 'studied'. But if there is a vowel before the 'y', like in 'play', just add '-ed'.

He studied English last night.He learned English yesterday evening.

She cried when she was sad.Tears came from her eyes in the past.

📝 Key words

past simplegrammar for finished actions

regular verbverb that uses -ed

yesterdaythe day before today

last nightthe evening before today

playedpast of play

walkedpast of walk

studiedpast of study

livedpast of live

💡 Look for words like 'yesterday' or 'last week'. When you see them, remember to change your verb to the past simple form!

✅ Practice quiz

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