Simple Past Tense Examples

As we know, tense tells us about the time of an action, whether it happens in the present, or in the past, or in the future. Simple past tense expresses the action that took place in past time or a completed action in the past. Let us see the examples of simple past tense in different kinds of sentences as well as in other different ways.

Examples of simple past tense in the affirmative sentence

• Samira lost her key yesterday, and she couldn't get into the house.
• Alok lived in Scotland for ten years, and now he lives in London.
• I tried to phone Aruna this morning, but there was no answer.
• Last year we went to Rishikesh, and we took part in a river rafting competition at Rishikesh.
• She wrote many letters to Sunil, but he never replied to any of them.

Examples of simple past tense in a negative sentence

• Samira did not lose her key yesterday, and she could get into the house.
• Alok did not live in Scotland for ten years, and now he lives in London.
• I did not try to phone Aruna this morning, but there was an answer.
• Last year we did not go to Rishikesh, and we also did not take part in a river rafting competition at Rishikesh.
• She did not write many letters to Sunil, but he always replied to her.

Examples of simple past tense in interrogative sentence

• Did Samira lose her key yesterday, and she couldn't get into the house?
• Did Alok live in Scotland for ten years and now he lives in London?
• Did I try to phone Aruna this morning, but there was no answer?
• Did last year we go to Rishikesh and did we take part in a river rafting competition at Rishikesh?
• Did she write many letters to Sunil, but he never replied to her?

Examples of simple past tense in negative interrogative sentences

• Did Samira not lose her key yesterday, and she could get into the house?
• Did Alok not live in Scotland for ten years, and now he lives in London?
• Did I not try to phone Aruna this morning, but there was an answer?
• Did we not go to Rishikesh last year, and did we not take part in a river rafting competition at Rishikesh?
• Did she not write many letters to Sunil, but he always replied to her?

Some examples in direct and indirect speech

• When direct speech is in the simple present tense, simple past tense is used in indirect speech.
  Examples:
  • Direct speech: John said, "He is intelligent."
  • Indirect speech: John said that he was intelligent.
  • Direct speech: Geeta said, "she works hard."
  • Indirect speech: Geeta said that she worked hard.
  • Direct speech: I said, "I want to leave."
  • Indirect speech: I said that I wanted to leave.

Some examples with words like 'if', 'as if', 'I wish', 'it is high time', etc.

• We used simple past tense after above mention words. However, through that sentence in the simple past tense, the present time or future time is expressed.
  Examples:
  • He speaks as if he were my boss.
  • I wish I were the superhero.
  • It is high time we called him for his performance.
  • If I were the Prime Minister of India, I would remove the problem of unemployment.

Some examples of simple past tense to show habitual action or past habits

• We used 'used to' or 'would' to show past habits. We can also use simple past tense as an alternative, especially if something happened only one time; in that case, a simple past is more suitable. For that, we can use the words like, generally, every day, often, usually, always,
  Examples:
  • We often went to Shimla during summer vacation.
  • I visited the temple every day.
  • Generally, I liked English speaking.
  • They liked to help poor people.
  • I went to America in
  • Every morning we went on a bike ride.
  • As usual, we had our lunch at 1:30m.

Some more examples of simple past tense

1. He wrote.
2. He did not write.
3. Did he write?
4. Did he not write?
5. Mohan gave a book to Sohan.
6. I saw a movie yesterday night.
7. He met me at four o'clock.
8. We didn't appear at the examination.
9. I wanted to talk to you for a minute.
10. My father drove us to Nanital, and we stayed there for a week.
11. The lake froze during the cold winter, and people skated on it.
12. Did I not wait for you at the bus stop?
13. Did I look for you at the bus stop?
14. He took two rounds of the park yesterday morning.
15. Did john purchase a smartwatch for his father?
16. Yes, john purchased a smartwatch for his father.
17. My father worked till late last night and slept at 3 a.m.
18. Abhinav swam across the river and went to another side.
19. He mistook Rima for Seema as both have the same dress and hairstyle and look similar from behind.
20. Kartik shook the branches of the tree till some guavas fell down.