Past Indefinite is the past indefinite time, which is also called Past Simple (past simple). It is used to express past or past actions. Time is used in narrative sentences outlining past events and conditions.
The formation of the past simple time requires students to know about three main forms of the verb: the Infinitive (an infinitive verb form that is easily recognizable by the to particle), Past Indefinite (the past tense) and Past Participle (past participle).
Regular and irregular verbs
Depending on how the verbs form Past Indefinite and Past Participle, they are divided into two groups: regular and irregular. Since English tends to be simplified, most verbs belong to the correct group. There are also verbs that both have regular and irregular forms Past Simple and Past Participle:
to spell - spelled - spelled (correct) or to spell - spelt - spelt (wrong)
to wake - waked - waked (correct) or to wake - woke - woken (wrong)
Frequently used irregular verbs are in special tables, they must be memorized. And when meeting with a new verb, one should check in the dictionary the translation, transcription and which group of verbs it belongs to: correct or incorrect.
Past Indefinite Tense. Rules for the formation of the affirmative form for regular verbs
Most verbs in English belong to the correct group and form the past tense according to general principles. To form the affirmative form Past Indefinite Tense of regular verbs, -ed is added to the infinitive form without the particle to.
- to smoke - He smoked last year (He smoked last year).
- to kiss - Mary kissed her doll and closed little door in dollhouse (The girl kissed the doll and closed the small door of the dollhouse).
- to open - We opened the window yesterday.
- to clean - Students cleaned the rooms last week (Students cleaned the rooms last week).
Pronunciation - ed
- after deaf sounds, -ed is pronounced as [t] - worked, cooked, finished;
- after the sounds t, d - as [id] - ended, started;
- after the remaining sounds (voiced and vowels), as [d] - changed, cleaned, arrived.
When -ed is added to the infinitive form of a verb, the following rules apply:
- If the verb ends in mute -e, only -d is added.
to close - closed
to love - loved
- The ending -y changes to -i if -y is before the consonant.
to try - tried (try, try)
to cry - cried (cry)
- If there is a vowel before -y, then -ed is added unchanged.
to play - played
to obey - obeyed (obey)
- Monosyllabic verbs with a short vowel double the consonant.
to stop - stopped
to rob - robbed (rob)
- If the stress in the two-syllable verb falls on the second syllable with a short vowel, the consonant is also doubled.
to permit - permitted
to prefer - preferred
- The ending -l doubles in British spelling rules, and in this case the stress does not matter.
to travel - travelled
to cancel - cancelled
Education Rules for the Affirmative Form of Irregular Verbs
There are no specific rules for the formation of Past Indefinite irregular verbs, since they preserved the historical features of the formation. To make it easier to remember irregular verbs, they are divided into several groups, depending on how they form these two forms.
- Changes to the root vowels (to dig - dug - dug, to meet - met - met, to drink - drank - drunk).
Children met their friend yesterday. The children met their friend yesterday.
- Infinitive endings (to bend - bent - bent, build - built - built).
My father built that house in 1980. Father built this house in 1980.
- Adding other endings (not –ed) and changing root vowels (to fall - fell - fallen).
Massive meteorite fell last night. A huge meteorite fell last week.
- Some verbs do not change, they remain the same in all three forms (to put - put - put).
I put the book on the shelf yesterday. I put the book on the shelf yesterday.
Interrogative Formation
The interrogative form is formed using the verb to do (in Past Indefinite - did), which is put before the subject.
- Did you play tennis last summer? Did you play tennis last summer?
- Did she graduate from the University in 2000? She graduated from university in 2000?
- Did we meet two years ago? We met two years ago?
Using the auxiliary verb did no longer requires any action with the semantic verb. We do not add - ed to regular verbs and do not refer to the table of irregular verbs. The did form is used in the singular and plural for all persons.
Negative form
The auxiliary verb did with the particle not is used to form the negative form of Past Indefinite tense.
- Our teacher did not explain the spelling of adjectives. Our teacher did not explain the spelling rules of adjectives.
- She did not drink coffee yesterday. She did not drink coffee yesterday.
- They did not study last winter. They did not study last winter.
In colloquial speech, a short negative form didn’t.
I didn't watch TV yesterday. Yesterday I did not watch TV.
Short answers to questions for all singular and plural persons use the affirmative form - Yes, I did and the negative - No, I didn't.
Did you go to school yesterday? Yes, I did./No, I didn't. Did you go to school yesterday? Well no.
Verb to be in the past tense
The verb to be is an auxiliary verb and a linking verb in its role in the sentence and in meaning. It serves for the formation of temporary forms of semantic verbs and for the formation of a compound nominal predicate.
The auxiliary verb to do is not used to form the interrogative and negative forms of the verb to be.
- Was she in an office yesterday? Was she in the office yesterday?
- Was your mother in bank two days ago? Your mother was in the bank two days ago?
- She was not at the party last week. She was not at the party last week.
The verb to be also has the plural in Past Indefinite. The rules for its use are as follows: were used with the first, second and third person plural (we - we, you - you, they - they).
- Were they at work last Sunday? Were they at work last Sunday?
- We were not in an office last week. We were not in the office last week.
In colloquial speech, short forms of the past tense are used: weren't and weren't.
When is Past Indefinite used? Rules and examples
- Past Simple is used to express past actions with time indicators: yesterday, last Monday, three weeks ago, a year ago, in 2001.
We visited his grandmother yesterday. We went to his grandmother yesterday.
- We also use Past Simple when we pose the time question with the when question.
When did you visit his grandmother? When were you with his grandmother?
- Past Indefinite is used when the time is not specified, but it is assumed that it has already expired.
My husband once saw Amy Winehouse. My husband once saw Amy Winehouse (Since the singer died and her husband can no longer see her, we use Past Indefinite Active).
- In addition, the past simple tense is used in the main sentences with direct speech. And when indirect speech is formed in the subordinate clause, the future tense cannot be used, respectively, it goes into Future Indefinite in the Past or other tenses of the Future-in-the-Past group, depending on what future tense was used in the initial sentence.
She told: "Mr Smith will send a letter."
She told Mr Smith would send a letter. She said Mr. Brown would send a letter.
- When we talk about past habitual or regularly recurring activities, we use Past Indefinite. The rules for using equivalents used to and would be described below.
Her sister always carried a little umbrella. Her sister always carried a small umbrella with her.
But more often used in these cases is used to.
Her sister used to carry a little umbrella. Her sister carried a small umbrella with her.
When is used to used in English?
To express familiar and repetitive actions or events in the past, the used to turn is used along with the elapsed time. This design is used in colloquial and literary language. The used to phrase expresses both states and repetitive actions in the past, unlike another equivalent of past tense, the verb would, which can only be used to express actions in the past and is never used to express states.
My friend used to drink 3 cups of coffee and smoke 20 cigarettes a day. My friend once drank three cups of coffee and smoked twenty cigarettes a day.
My grandmother used to walk ten kilometers when she was younger (Past Tense). My grandmother walked ten kilometers when she was younger.
My grandmother would walk ten kilimeters when she was younger (Past Tense). My grandmother walked ten kilometers when she was younger.
My teacher used to live in London. My teacher lived in London.
It should be noted that would + Infinitive without a to particle is often used with phrases indicating the time of the action.
Affirmative, negative, and interrogative forms of turnover used to
The verb use in the past tense with the particle to and the infinitive form of the semantic verb are used to form the affirmative form of the turnover.
My son used to play chess on Sundays. My son played chess on Sundays (Now he does not play chess on Sundays, but goes to football or has a barbecue).
The negative form is formed using the verb do in the past tense and the particle not. The verb use is in the present tense, because the did form already signals the past. In colloquial speech, a short form of denial is more often used.
Our teacher did not use to give us a lot of homework / Our teacher didn't use to give us a lot of homework. Our teacher did not ask us a lot of homework.
The verb to do in the past tense is also used to form the interrogative form.
Did she use to embroider in the evening? Did she embroider in the evenings?
The study of the temporary form of Past Indefinite and its equivalents must be given due attention, since they are widely used in colloquial and written speech of general and business English.