Past simple tense | English grammar rules

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• published: 12 Jul 2014
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Learn the past simple tense with this English grammar video lesson. The past simple tense has several uses. Its main use is to describe a completed action in the past. We also use it to describe a series of completed actions and to describe the duration of an action from the past. The grammar rules for spelling the past simple affirmative form are as follows: For regular verbs, we add -ed to the infinitive. For verbs which already end in a silent -e, we simply add -d (die - died for example). For regular verbs ending in a consonant and -y, we change the "y" to "i" and add -ed (hurry - hurried for example). For regular verbs ending in a consonant + vowel + consonant where the final syllable is stressed, we double the consonant and add -ed (stop - stopped and prefer - preferred for example) In British English, for regular verbs ending in -l, we always double the -l (cancel - cancelled for example). In American English, for verbs ending in -l, we follow the stressed syllable rule mentioned above. For irregular verbs, there are no rules for the past simple form. You simply have to learn them. Some examples of irregular verbs are: buy - bought, go - went, do - did. The question form of the past simple is: "Did" + the subject + the verb in the infinitive form ( "Did you close the door?" for example) The negative form is: The subject + "did not" (or "didn't" in the contracted form) + the verb in the infinitive form ( "I didn't like the film" for example) At the end of the lesson, you will find some grammar exercises to test your understanding. If you have any questions, please ask me in the comments section below the video lesson and I will answer. The accent in the video is a British English accent. Here are some other English lessons: Past perfect tense: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EZopcVLDCHg Past continuous: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TGwh9BvpE0o More grammar lessons: http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL6BDo90oiwpS4_AM1c0s0ozpROeE2A9ff Listening exercises: http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL6BDo90oiwpRdmnAzmYwdc0Az0ZOG2XNA Vocabulary videos: http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL6BDo90oiwpTlYAYSitjwWn29BEdCBi9j Private English lessons & speaking practice: http://goo.gl/fTlmee Andrew, Crown Academy of English http://www.crownacademyenglish.com http://www.youtube.com/user/CrownAcademyEnglish https://twitter.com/Crown_English Photo credits: "Teenager Girl With Opened Notebook" Image courtesy of imagerymajestic | FreeDigitalPhotos.net "Handsome Businessman Dragging Trolley Bag" Image courtesy of stockimages | FreeDigitalPhotos.net "Cute Guy Washing His Teeth" Image courtesy of artur84 | FreeDigitalPhotos.net "Job Interview" Image courtesy of franky242 | FreeDigitalPhotos.net "It's Time For Business" Image courtesy of stockimages | FreeDigitalPhotos.net "Yawning" Image courtesy of graur razvan ionut | FreeDigitalPhotos.net "Health-care" Image courtesy of graur razvan ionut | FreeDigitalPhotos.net