How can you remember to make the simple past?

Question

Since not all languages are obsessed with tense, many people learning English have trouble remembering to use the past tense. Sometimes people remember to use it, and they still have trouble forming it correctly.

I came up with something that helps get rid of a bit of this confusion, and I call it the one "d" rule. This rule is simple: in any past tense sentence (assuming there's no irregular verb) will either end in "ed", as in the sentence "I studied yesterday" or it will have the first "d" before the verb: "I didn't study yesterday". However, no sentence can have both of these.

One thing many students will have problems with is the negative, saying something like "I didn't studied yesterday."

The one did rule makes the first "d" in the sentence "didn't" and so the one "d" rule states that it must be "I didn't study". Or, even if you like, "I did study yesterday".

Try using this one "d" rule until your sentences become more natural.

Answer 1

The past simple is a tense in English that we use to talk about an event happened and finished in the past. example: McDonaldʻs opened its first restaurant in 1940. The girl started crying. Suddenly, she stopped and listened. These are all regular verbs. We make past simple by adding -ed to regular verbs. note: sometimes the -ed at the end sounds like a -t, such as in the pronunciation of stopped.

The past simple for irregular verbs are not so simple. example: I went to the beach yesterday and got bit by a fish. Harry made some great tacos. For these irregular verbs, th simple past of go is went, get is got, and make is made. You have to learn irregular verbs. There is no simple rule for them.