Past Tense for Class 5: Examples, Exercises and Worksheets

The Simple Past Tense is usually formed by adding -d or -ed to the base form of regular verbs. For irregular verbs, the past tense form is different and needs to be memorized.

Regular Verbs:

• Most verbs: Add -ed (e.g., walk -> walked, play -> played, talk -> talked)
• Verbs ending in -e: Add -d (e.g., like -> liked, move -> moved, bake -> baked)
• Verbs ending in a consonant + y: Change -y to -ied (e.g., study -> studied, cry -> cried, try -> tried)
• Verbs ending in a vowel + y: Add -ed (e.g., play -> played, enjoy -> enjoyed)
• Verbs ending in a single consonant preceded by a single vowel (CVC): Double the final consonant and add -ed (e.g., stop -> stopped, plan -> planned, hop -> hopped) (This rule has exceptions, especially if the last syllable is not stressed).

Irregular Verbs: These verbs have special past tense forms.

Base Form (Present)	Simple Past Form
go	went
eat	ate
see	saw
come	came
take	took
give	gave
make	made
run	ran
sing	sang
drink	drank

(Many more irregular verbs exist!)

Negative Sentences: Use did not (didn't) + base form of the verb.

• I did not play yesterday.
• She didn't go to the party.

Questions: Use Did + subject + base form of the verb?

• Did you watch the movie?
• Did he finish his homework?

• Completed actions in the past (often with a specific time reference):
  • We visited the zoo yesterday.
  • She baked a cake last night.
  • They played football in the morning.
• Past habits or repeated actions in the past:
  • He always carried an umbrella. (Implies he doesn't anymore or the context is past)
  • When I was a child, I walked to school.
• Events in a story (sequence of past actions):
  • The prince rode his horse, found the castle, and rescued the princess.

Words often used with Simple Past Tense: yesterday, last night, last week, last month, last year, ago (e.g., two days ago), in 2010, then.

We form the Past Continuous Tense using:

Subject + was/were + base verb + -ing

• Use was with I, He, She, It, and other singular subjects (e.g., I was playing. He was reading.)
• Use were with You, We, They, and other plural subjects (e.g., You were singing. The children were laughing.)

(The rules for adding -ing are the same as for Present Continuous Tense.)

Negative Sentences: Subject + was/were + not + base verb + -ing.

• I was not (wasn't) sleeping.
• They were not (weren't) watching TV.

Questions: Was/Were + subject + base verb + -ing?

• Were you listening?
• Was he playing outside?

• Actions in progress at a specific time in the past:
  • I was watching television at 8 PM last night.
  • What were you doing yesterday afternoon?
• Two or more actions happening at the same time in the past:
  • While I was reading, my brother was playing video games.
• An ongoing past action interrupted by another shorter past action (the shorter action is usually in Simple Past):
  • She was cooking dinner when the phone rang.
  • They were playing in the park when it started to rain.
• To describe the background or setting in a story:
  • The sun was shining, and the birds were singing.

Words often used with Past Continuous Tense: while, when, as, at that moment, at (specific time in past).

We form the Past Perfect Tense using:

Subject + had + past participle (3rd form) of the verb

('had' is used with all subjects - singular and plural)

• Example: I had finished my work. She had eaten lunch. They had gone home.

(The past participle is the third form of the verb, e.g., write - wrote - written).

Negative Sentences: Subject + had + not + past participle.

• I had not (hadn't) seen him before.
• She had not (hasn't) completed her assignment.

Questions: Had + subject + past participle?

• Had you visited that place before?
• Had he finished his meal when you arrived?

• To describe an action completed before another past action:
  • The train had left when I reached the station. (First action: train left. Second action: I reached.)
  • She told me that she had met him before.
  • After they had eaten dinner, they went for a walk.
• To describe an action completed before a specific point in the past:
  • By 8 o'clock, I had finished all my chores.
  • He had never seen such a beautiful beach before his trip last year.

Words often used with Past Perfect Tense: before, after, when, already, just, until, by the time.