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Simple past: regular verbs — Foreign languages, 7–10

Learn how English shows that a finished action happened before now. Foreign languages, 7–10 years.

A finished action in the past

When something happened and finished before now, English often adds -ed to the verb. We say “I played,” “you cleaned” or “she jumped.” The time word can tell you when: yesterday, last week or two days ago.

Why do we need it?

Without this form, “I play” could mean now or regularly, not a finished game yesterday. English needed a quick way to place ordinary actions before now. The ending -ed does that, while a time word makes the message even clearer.

Build a past sentence

Start with the subject: “Maya.” Add the verb: play becomes played. Add the object and time: “Maya played chess yesterday.” To make a question, use did: “Did Maya play chess?” Notice that the main verb returns to play after did.

The missing -ed

A common mistake is saying “Yesterday I play football,” because the action word feels familiar and the time word already says “past.” That idea is reasonable, but English normally marks the past on the verb too: “Yesterday I played football.” After did, however, use play, not played.

Tell what happened

You use the simple past to tell a friend about yesterday, write a diary entry or explain what happened in a game. A museum label might say, “People painted this cave 10,000 years ago.” It helps listeners follow events that are already over.

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