Referring to the several definitions above, simple past tense is a form that indicates an activity or situation that happened in the past and also the use of the
past tense only locates the situation in the past, without saying anything about whether that situation continues to the present and future, we also use the simple
past tense to describe the events that move story forward.
2. The Forms of Simple Past Tense
According to John Eastwood in his book Oxford Practice Grammars with Answers Second Edition, he declared that “in the simple past tense, a regular
past form end in ed, some verbs have an irregular past form … we use did and also were and was in negatives and questions.”
5
Moreover, in
English Grammar in Use, Raymond Murphy said that “very often the past simple ends in –ed regular verb. Example: the police stopped me
on my way home last night. But many verbs are irregular. The past simple does not end in –ed.”
6
For example: get
got I got up early this morning.
go went
My younger
sister went to my party last
night. It means that regular verbs of past form is formed by adding –d or –ed to
the basic verbs. Here are some spelling rules for regular verbs as follow:
Table 2.1 Spelling Rules for Regular Verb
No Rules Examples
1. Verbs that end in –e: add –ed
hope hoped 2.
Verbs that end in two consonants: just add the ending start started 3.
Verbs that end in –y: change –y to –i, add -ed enjoy enjoyed
4. Verbs that end in –ie: add -d
die died
7
5
John Eastwood, Oxford Practice Grammars with Answers, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999, Second Edition, p.18.
6
Raymond Murphy, English Grammar in Use, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1994, p. 10.
7
Betty Schrampfer Azar, Understanding and Using English Grammar …, p. 9.
There are some formulas in the simple past tense:
a. Affirmative statements
To make an affirmative statements, the verb other than be, we use the following formula:
Example: I went to Jakarta yesterday
S + V
2
+ OAdv
b. Negative statements
To make a negative statements, the verb other than be, we use the following formula:
Example: I didn’t watch TV yesterday He didn’t study English language last night
S + DID + NOT + V
1
+ OAdv
c. Interrogative statements
1 To make the interrogative statement of verb other than be, we put did before the subject, the formula is:
2 To make interrogative negative form of verb other than be based on this formula:
Example: Didn’t you study English lesson last night? Didn’t she bring the umbrella?
8
DID + S + V
1
+ OAdv
8
A. Faidlal Rahman Ali, Cara Cepat Belajar 16 Tenses, Yogyakarta: Pustaka Widyatama, 2007, p. 73-74.
3. The Use of Simple Past Tense
