Simple Past Tense

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DEFINITION OF SIMPLE PAST

Simple past tense is a verb tense that is used to talk about things that happened or existed before now. In other words, it started in the past and ended in the past.

Simple past tense shows that you are talking about something that has already happened. It emphasizes that the action is finished.

OBSERVING

Look at the pictures below.

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Picture 2

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Are you bored? Try to watch the following video and listen to the song.

GRAMMATICAL STRUCTURE OF SIMPLE PAST

The formula for simple past tense is:

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S means subject, it can be I, You, We, They, She, He, It, Person name, Place name, or Nouns. Look at the example sentences to better understand the structure of the simple past sentences.

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Try watching the following video. This video contains conversations using the simple past.

After you watched the video, did you find the following sentence?

"What did you do yesterday?"

"How was your summer vocation?"

Simple past tense is used to tell things that happened in the past such as yesterday, last night, last week, last month, last year, etc. It happened before the present or before the future. Look at this following picture.

In composing simple past sentences, you can use the following adverbs of time.

Adverb of Time
Yesterday	Kemarin
Yesterday morning	Kemarin pagi
Last night	Tadi malam
Last week	Minggu lalu
Last month	Bulan lalu
Last year	Tahun lalu
Last holiday	Liburan terakhir
Last meeting	Pertemuan terakhir
A few minutes ago	Beberapa menit yang lalu
An hour ago	Satu jam yang lalu
A few days ago	Beberapa hari yang lalu
Six month ago	Enam bulan yang lalu
Two days ago	Dua hari yang lalu
One week ago	Satu minggu yang lalu
Two months ago	Dua bulan yang lalu
Three years ago	Tiga tahun yang lalu
In 1990	Pada tahun 1990
The day before yesterday	Kemarin lusa
When I was there	Ketika saya di sana
When I was young	Ketika saya muda

THE FUNCTION OF SIMPLE PAST

Simple past tense has the following functions:

1. To express something happened in the past and finished in the past (completed action in the past).

Neil Armstrong became the first person to step onto the lunar surface on July 21, 1969.
I saw a movie last night.
Last year, I travelled to Japan.

2. To express something happened in order in the past and finished in the past.

Neil Armstrong became the first person to step onto the lunar surface on July 21, 1966 and Aldrin joined him 19 minutes later.\
I finished homework, walked to the beach, and found a nice place to swim.

She arrived from the airport at 8:00, went to my house at 9:00, and met my family at 10:00.

3. To express duration in the past.

I live in Bandung for two years.
They sat at the beach all day.
They spent about two hours together outside the spacecraft.

4. To express repeated action or habit in the past (adverb of frequency).

He often invited me when he held an exhibition.
I studied French when I was a kid.
Did you play a musical instrument when you were a kid?

5. To express single period activity with time expression.

She was shy as a child, but now she is very outgoing.
He didn't like tomatoes before.
Did you live in Jakarta when you were a kid?

LIST OF PAST TENSE VERB

⏩ Regular Verbs

Base form	Past tense	Translation
accept	accepted	menerima
act	acted	bertindak
achieve	achieved	meraih
add	added	menambahkan
admire	admired	mengagumi
admit	admitted	mengakui
adopt	adopted	mengambil
advise	advised	menasihati
agree	agreed	setuju
allow	allowed	mengizinkan
announce	announced	mengumumkan
appreciate	appreciated	menghargai
approve	approved	menyetujui
argue	argued	membantah
arrive	arrived	tiba
ask	asked	bertanya
assist	assisted	membantu
attack	attacked	menyerang
bake	baked	memanggang
beg	begged	meminta
behave	behaved	berperilaku baik
boil	boiled	mendidihkan
borrow	borrowed	meminjam
brush	brushed	menyikat
bury	buried	mengubur
call	called	panggilan
challenge	challenged	tantangan
change	changed	mengubah
chase	chased	mengejar
cheat	cheated	curang
cheer	cheered	bersorak
chew	chewed	mengunyah
clap	clapped	tepuk
clean	cleaned	membersihkan
collect	collected	mengumpulkan
compare	compared	membandingkan
complain	complained	mengeluh
confess	confessed	mengakui
construct	constructed	membangun
control	controlled	kontrol
copy	copied	menyalin
count	counted	menghitung
create	created	membuat
cry	cried	menangis
cycle	cycled	siklus
damage	damaged	merusak
dance	danced	menari
deliver	delivered	mengirim
destroy	destroyed	menghancurkan
divide	divided	membagi
drag	dragged	menyeret
earn	earned	menghasilkan
employ	employed	mempekerjakan
encourage	encouraged	mendorong
enjoy	enjoyed	menikmati
establish	established	mendirikan
estimate	estimated	memperkirakan
exercise	exercised	latihan
expand	expanded	mengembangkan
explain	explained	menjelaskan
fry	fried	menggoreng
gather	gathered	mengumpulkan
greet	greeted	menyapa
guess	guessed	menebak
harass	harassed	mengganggu
hate	hated	membenci
help	helped	membantu
hope	hoped	berharap
identify	identified	mengenali
interrupt	interrupted	mengganggu
introduce	introduced	memperkenalkan
irritate	irritated	mengganggu
joke	joked	bergurau
jump	jumped	melompat
kick	kicked	menendang
kill	killed	membunuh
laugh	laughed	tertawa
lie	lied	berbohong
like	liked	suka
listen	listened	mendengarkan
love	loved	menyayangi
marry	married	menikah
measure	measured	mengukur
move	moved	bergerak
murder	murdered	pembunuhan
need	needed	membutuhkan
obey	obeyed	mematuhi
offend	offended	menyinggung
offer	offered	menawarkan
open	opened	membuka
paint	painted	melukis, mengecat
park	parked	memarkir
phone	phoned	menelepon
pick	picked	memilih
play	played	bermain
pray	prayed	berdoa
print	printed	mencetak
pull	pulled	menarik
punch	punched	memukul
punish	punished	menghukum
purchase	purchased	membeli
push	pushed	mendorong
question	questioned	menanyai
race	raced	balapan
relax	relaxed	bersantai
remember	remembered	mengingat
reply	replied	membalas
retire	retired	pensiun
return	returned	kembali
rub	rubbed	menggosok
scold	scolded	memarahi
select	selected	memilih
smoke	smoked	merokok
snore	snored	mendengkur
stare	stared	menatap
start	started	memulai
study	studied	belajar
talk	talked	bicara
thank	thanked	berterima kasih
travel	travelled	bepergian
trouble	troubled	masalah
type	typed	mengetik
use	used	menggunakan
visit	visited	mengunjungi
wait	waited	menunggu
walk	walked	berjalan
want	wanted	mau
warn	warned	memperingatkan
wink	winked	mengedip
worry	worried	khawatir
yell	yelled	berteriak

⏩ Irregular Verbs

Base form	Past tense	Translation
arise	arose	bangun
awake	awoke	menyadari
be	was/were	ada
bear	bore	melahirkan
beat	beat	memukul
become	became	menjadi
begin	began	mulai
bend	bent	membengkokkan
bet	bet	bertaruh
bite	bit	menggigit
bleed	bled	berdarah
blow	blew	meniup
break	broke	merusak
bring	brought	membawa
build	built	membangun
buy	bought	membeli
burn	burnt/burned	membakar
catch	caught	menangkap
choose	chose	memilih
come	came	datang
cost	cost	seharga
cut	cut	memotong
dig	dug	menggali
do	did	melakukan
draw	drew	menggambar
dream	dreamed/dreamt	mimpi
drink	drank	minum
drive	drove	menyetir
eat	ate	makan
fall	fell	jatuh
feed	fed	memberi makan
feel	felt	merasa
fight	fought	berkelahi
find	found	menemukan
fly	flew	terbang
forbid	forbade	melarang
forget	forgot	lupa
forgive	forgave	memaafkan
freeze	froze	membeku
get	got	mendapat
give	gave	memberi
go	went	pergi
grow	grew	tumbuh
have	had	memiliki
hang	hung	menggantung
hear	heard	mendengar
hide	hid	bersembunyi
hit	hit	memukul
hold	held	memegang
hurt	hurt	melukai
keep	kept	menyimpan
know	knew	tahu
lay	laid	meletakkan
leave	left	meninggalkan
lead	led	memimpin
learn	learnt	belajar
leave	left	meninggalkan
lend	lent	meminjami
let	let	membiarkan
lie	lay	berbohong
lose	lost	kehilangan
make	made	membuat
mean	meant	bermaksud, berarti
meet	met	bertemu
pay	paid	membayar
put	put	menaruh
read	read	membaca
ride	rode	mengendarai
ring	rang	berdering
run	ran	lari
say	said	mengatakan
see	saw	melihat
sell	sold	menjual
send	sent	mengirim
shoot	shot	menembak
show	showed	menunjukkan
shut	shut	menutup
sing	sang	menyanyi
set	set	menata, mengatur
sit	sat	duduk
sleep	slept	tidur
speak	spoke	berbicara
spend	spent	membelanjakan
stand	stood	berdiri
steal	stole	mencuri
swim	swam	berenang
sweep	swept	menyapu
take	took	mengambil
teach	taught	mengajar
tear	tore	merobek
tell	told	memberi tahu
think	thought	berpikir
throw	threw	melempar
understand	understood	memahami
wake	woke	bangun
wear	wore	memakai
win	won	menang
write	wrote	menulis

EXAMPLE OF PAST TENSE SENTENCES

The following are examples of sentences using the simple past.

📌 simple past tense positive:

👉Abdul went to Bali for holiday last Sunday (Minggu kemarin, Abdul pergi ke Bali untuk berlibur.)

👉She joined the English club class at school yesterday. (Kemarin, dia bergabung dalam klub Bahasa Inggris di sekolah.)

👉Last Monday, Joni got in an accident at the office (Senin lalu, Joni terkena musibah di kantor.)

👉Dani bought new laptops last night. (Dani membeli laptop baru kemarin malam.)

👉They watched “Dilan”, the newest movie at the cinema yesterday. (Kemarin, mereka menonton film “Dilan”, film terbaru di bioskop.)

👉Ade went to school with his new car this morning. (Ade pergi ke sekolah menggunakan mobil barunya pagi ini.)

👉Dewi applied for manager position at Wall Street English. (Dewi melamar pekerjaan sebagai posisi manager di Wall Street English.)

👉Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono was the president of Indonesia. (Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono dulu adalah presiden Republik Indonesia.)

👉I was born in Surabaya. (Saya lahir di Surabaya.)

👉My mother cooked grilled fish for my birthday party. (Ibuku dulu memasak ikan bakar untuk pesta ulang tahunku.)

📌 simple past tense negative:

👉I did not sleep well last night. (Aku tidak bisa tidur dengan nyenyak tadi malam.)

👉Rani did not come to the office yesterday. (Rani tidak datang ke kantor kemarin.)

👉Adi did not win the English debate competition last month. (Adi tidak memenangkan kompetisi debat berbahasa inggris bulan lalu.)

👉Arif was not the smartest students in the class. (Dulu Arif bukan murid yang paling pintar di kelas.)

👉She did not complete her task. (Dia tidak menyelesaikan tugasnya.)

👉Many kids did not like the horror movie. (Banyak anak-anak yang tidak menyukai film horror.)

👉Dodi did not eat the vegetables. (Dodi tidak makan sayuran.)

👉John did not buy a car. (John tidak membeli sebuah mobil.)

👉Thomas did not come to my party yesterday. (Thomas tidak pergi ke pesta saya, kemarin.)

👉George did not go to the dentist because he was afraid. (George tidak pergi ke dokter gigi karena dia sangat takut.)

📌 simple past tense interrogative

👉Did you see my bag on the table? (Apakah kamu melihat tasku di atas meja?)

👉Did the student come to school? (Apakah para murid datang ke sekolah?)

👉Did you sleep enough last night? (Apakah kamu tidur dengan nyenyak kemarin malam?)

👉Did she deliver the pizza on time? (Apakah dia mengantar pizza tepat waktu?)

👉Did they allow you to join their English club? (Apakah mereka mengizinkan kamu bergabung ke dalam klub Bahasa Inggris?)

👉Were you late to come to the office at 11 am yesterday? (Apakah kamu datang terlambat ke kantor jam sebelas kemarin?)

👉Was he so busy? (Apakah dia sangat sibuk?)

👉Was the movie so fantastic? Tell me. (Apakah filmnya sangat berkesan? Ceritakan kepadaku.)

👉Did he clean your room yesterday? (Apakah dia membersihkan ruanganmu kemarin?)

👉Was Lily happy to work here? (Apakah Lily senang bekerja disini?)

Watch the following video and you can practice through the pattern chants in the video.

Do you like the animated movie "Kung Fu Panda" or have you watched it? Well, you can also learn about the use of the simple past tense through the animated film "Kung Fu Panda".

From the video, the simple past is useful for telling events in the past. Po's father tells how he found Po as a baby and raised little Po. The story happened in the past. There are many sentences that use the past tense. Can you tell the sentences?

For more reference, here are some recommended videos for you to watch.

Simple Past by ESL Library

Simple Past Tense - Pengertian dan Contoh kalimatnya by VK's Project