Past Indefinite/Simple Tense in English – Structure, Rules & Examples

Back to: Tenses in English Grammar with Examples

In the previous unit, we have discussed the Present Perfect Continuous Tense in detail. We assume that you have learned the forms of verbs and their meanings in this unit and are also aware of What is Tense. if not, please click these links and learn them first.

In this unit, we will learn Past Indefinite Tense. Note that this is the easiest tense in the Grammar. This tense tells about an action that has recently happened in the past. e.g. We went to school, He took tea, We played GTA 5 etc.

Here are some examples in Hindi/Urdu – hum gye, wo ae, ap ne khana khaya etc

Table of Contents

Rule 1

We use the second form of the verb (past form) with all the pronouns (He, She, It, I, We, You, They) and Nouns (Names). Also, remember that Past Indefinite is the only tense in which we use the 2nd form of the verb.

These examples will help you understand this.

  1. I watched movies on Netflix. (Mein ne Netflix par movies dekhi)
  2. They listened to music on Amazon Prime. (Unho ne Amazon Prime par gaane sune)
  3. We slept in the day. (Hum din ko soye)
  4. You failed in exams. (Ap exams mein fail hoe)
  5. I earned money from my website. (Mein ne apni website se pese kamae)
  6. We hated them very much. (Hum ne un se bhut nafrat ki)
  7. They talked to each other in the class. (Unho ne class mein apas mein baatein ki)
  8. You did your work very well. (Ap ne apna kaam bhut ache se kiya)
  9. I fought with my sister. (Mein ne apni behen se ladai ki)
  10. We ran very fast. (Hum bhut tez bhage)

Rule 2

Now that we have understood the basics, let us learn how to make questions of a sentence which is in Present Past Tense.

We use Did with He, She, It, I, We, You, They and Name in the beginning. And the main verb (which is in the past form) changes into the first form.

  1. Did he watch videos on Youtube?
  2. Did she upload selfies on Instagram?
  3. Did it rain every day?
  4. Did Athar play PUBG at night?
  5. Did Rahat Fateh Ali Khan sing Qawallis?

Note that we put Did at the beginning and the verb (watched, uploaded, rained, etc) changes in the first form.

Recap

Now that we have understood the basics of Past Indefinite Tense, let us memorize what we have learned.

  1. In Past Indefinite Tense, we use just 2nd form of Verb with He, She, It, I, We, You, They and Name/Names.
  2. While forming the question in Past Indefinite Tense, we insert Did in the beginning.
  3. When we insert Did in the beginning, the verb (which is in 2nd form) changes into the first form.

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