The grammar we will learn today is 'Past Simple'.

In the notes I made, there is actually only one line written down: "An action or situation that was already completed at a specific point in the past."

Even I feel that this is a bit too sparse, so I looked up various materials to put together this post. Shall we start studying together?

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1. The Core of Past Simple: No need to think about the present anymore.

When using the past tense, the word we must imprint in our minds is 'Disconnected'.

The past tense means that 'the event happened in the past and is completely finished there.' It carries the nuance that we don't know, and don't care, about the current state. It is also the strongest criterion for distinguishing it from the 'Present Perfect (have done)' that we will learn later, so it is a good idea to keep this in mind.

• I lived in Toronto for 3 years.
  • Meaning: I resided in Toronto for a duration of 3 years.
  • Explanation: I lived there for 3 years at a point in the past, and it is impossible to know, nor is it of any concern, whether I live in Toronto now or not.
• Tom lost his keys yesterday.
  • Meaning: Tom was unable to find his keys on the previous day.
  • Explanation: This is simply an event that happened yesterday. We cannot tell if he has found them or not just by looking at this sentence.

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2. Structure of Past Simple: Regular Verbs and Irregular Verbs

There are largely two ways to form the past tense.

① Regular Verbs: Just add ed at the end!

This is the most common method. You make it past tense by adding -ed to the base form of the verb.

• work ➔ worked
• clean ➔ cleaned
• start ➔ started

② Irregular Verbs: Verbs that change their form completely

These are verbs that have no rules, so they must be memorized unconditionally.

• go ➔ went (not goed)
• see ➔ saw
• buy ➔ bought
• eat ➔ ate

Sometimes, even native speakers carelessly add -ed to irregular verbs. However, that doesn't mean it's acceptable to do so, so let's memorize the important verbs.

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3. With 'Time Markers' that indicate the past

Because the past tense is used for 'work finished at a specific point in time', expressions that pinpoint a past time are frequently added to the end of sentences.

• yesterday
  • We went to the cinema yesterday.
• ago (used to show how far back in the past something happened)
  • I finished my work 10 minutes ago.
• last -
  • She bought a new car last week.

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Closing

As you study, as the number of tenses increases—such as present continuous, present simple, and past simple—it might feel like a jumbled mess in your head. But that's okay. Rather than trying to be perfect all at once, if you practice by speaking three or four sentences out loud after work every day and writing sentences yourself, you will get used to it with your fingers and tongue.

In the next Unit 6, we will summarize the Past Continuous. Good luck with your studies today!!