Simple past
The simple past or past simple, sometimes called the preterite, is the basic form of the past tense in Modern English. It is used principally to describe events in the past, although it also has some other uses. Regular English verbs form the simple past in -ed; however there are a few hundred irregular verbs with different forms.
The term "simple" is used to distinguish the syntactical construction whose basic form uses the plain past tense alone, from other past tense constructions which use auxiliaries in combination with participles, such as the past perfect and past progressive.
Formation
Regular verbs form the simple past in -ed; however there are a few hundred irregular verbs with different forms. For details see English verbs: Past tense.
Most verbs have a single form of the simple past, independent of the person or number of the subject (there is no addition of -s for the third person singular as in the simple present). However, the copula verb be has two past tense forms: was for the first and third persons singular, and were in other instances. The form were can also be used in place of was in conditional clauses and the like; for information on this, see English subjunctive. This is the only case in modern English where a distinction in form is made between the indicative and subjunctive moods in the past tense.
Podcasts:
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by Link 80
Past Tense
by: Link 80we once owned the way that we thought. i hate the fact that it all had to end. the best times of my life that i can recall, are the times when you were my best friend. can't even label how the whole thing began to break. or how it escalated beyond control. i just wish there was a way to get it through to you. we were invincible and immune to pain. the predicaments we find ourselves in now, were nothing then because we had no shame. and when i think about what stands between us today. i can't seem to understand why both of us remain so stubborn and proud. i think we each need to act like a man. now i think about what comes next. and i sincerely hope that we don't lose track of what used to make our lives so enjoyable. i hope that we can get that back. i'm through living in the past tense.