412: Read, Listen & Watch: Simple Past Tense Verbs
OVERVIEW
On this page, you will read about simple past tense verbs.
- First, read the text and study the chart.
- Then, listen to audio of the text.
READ & LISTEN
Read:
You learned about present tense verbs. Now you will learn about past tense verbs. You use simple past tense to talk about things that happened and finished in the past at some time before now.
Add ed to a regular verb to make it past tense. There are different ways to add ed. Study the chart below for the spelling rules.
The ed can be pronounced different ways. It can sound like t, d, or ed. You will practice the pronunciation more in your face-to-face class.
Listen:
Study:
| Verb Ending | Add | Example | Sentence |
|
consonant or vowel + y |
ed |
work + ed = worked talk + ed = talked employ + ed = employed |
I worked at a factory for 10 years. |
| e | d |
hire + d = hired complete + d = completed move + d = moved |
Luis moved to Seattle for a job. |
| consonant + y | ied |
study + ied = studied copy + ied = copied try + ied = tried |
Larissa studied to be a nurse. |
REGULAR PAST TENSE VERBS CHART Links to an external site.
Read:
Some verbs are irregular. That means that you do not add ed at the end to make them past tense. Instead, they become different words. Study the chart to learn more about irregular verbs:
| Base Form of Verb | Past Tense Verb | Example |
| be | was / were |
I was a mechanic. They were nurses. |
| go | went | We went to work yesterday. |
| have | had | The store had positions open. |
| do | did | We did our work last night. |
| come | came | He came to work on Thursday. |
IRREGULAR PAST TENSE VERBS CHART Links to an external site.
Listen:
WATCH
Watch:
VERBS IN THE PAST TENSE
Links to an external site.