Simple past tense verbs show actions that took place in the past.
The children playednear the park.
The pretty horse galloped across the field.
Remember that tense means time. So, think of these verbs as past time verbs. They name verbs that were completed in the past.
Principal Parts of Verbs
All verbs can be broken down into what are called four principal parts.
The Four Principle Parts
1. Present
2. Present Participle
3. Past
The pastcategory refers to simple past tense verbs. They show actions that took place in the past.
| Present | Present Participle | Past | Past Participle |
| come | (is) coming | came | (have) come |
| fall | (is) falling | fell | (have) fallen |
| go | (is) going | went | (have) gone |
| graduate | (is) graduating | graduated | (have) graduated |
| know | (is) knowing | knew | (have) known |
| walk | (is) walking | walked | (have) walked |
| write | (is) writing | wrote | (have) written |
Forming the Past Tense
Regular & Irregular
There are two types of past simple verbs: regular and irregular. Let's learn about these two!
Regular Past Tense Verbs
Regularpast simple verbs are those that add either a -dor -edto the present tense form to create the past tense form.
The children skippedpast the door.
We walkedalong the beach.
Theseregular verbsare so nice and predictable. It's easy to remember how to create the past tense of these verbs because they follow a pattern. (They add either -dor -ed to the present tense form to make the past tense form.) Check it out!
| Present Tense | + -d or -ed |  | Past Tense |
| walk | + -ed | | walked |
| pick | + -ed | | picked |
| move | + -d | | moved |
| push | + -ed | | pushed |
Irregular Past Tense Verbs
Irregular past simple verbs are those that don't add -dor-edto the present tense form to create the past tense form.They arenot regular.
The children wroteto their grandmother.
My sister drankall of the milk.
As you know, theseirregular verbsdon't end in -dor -edin their past tense. In fact, they don't end in anything in particular. That can make it hard to remember how to form their past tense. When in doubt, look it up in the dictionary!
| Present Tense | + ? | | Past Tense |
| drive | + ? | | drove |
| eat | + ? | | ate |
| have | + ? | | had |
| begin | + ? | | began |
| break | + ? | | broke |
| steal | + ? | | stole |
| cost | + ? | | cost |
What Are the Other Verb Tenses?
English verbs have six different verb tenses, and they are broken up into two different groups.
Simple Tenses
- There are three simple tenses. These are your basic, run-of-the-mill tenses.
1. PresentSimple My brother knows theanswer.
2. Past Simple My brother knew the answer.
3. Future SimpleMy brother will knowthe answer.
Perfect Tenses
- There are three perfect tenses. These three tenses are all formed using the helping verbs have, has, had, will, and shallalong with the past participle of the verb.
1. Present PerfectMy brother has knownthe answer.
2. Past PerfectMy brother had knownthe answer.
3. Future PerfectMy brother will have knownthe answer.
