be: past simple
affirmative
I/He/She/It
We/You/They
was
were
negative
I/He/She/It
We/You/They
wasn’t
weren’t
questions
Was
Were
I/he/she/it…?
we/you/they…?
short answers
Yes, I/ he / she / it was
No, we / you / they weren’t.
We use was / wasn’t with I, he, she and it. We use were / weren’t with you, we and they.
there was/there were
singular
There was / wasn’t a castle.
Was there a castle?
Yes, there was. / No, there wasn’t.
plural
There were / weren’t two castles.
Were there two castles?
Yes, there were. / No, there weren’t.
Past simple affirmative
We use the past simple to talk about events in the past.
All persons are the same.
I / You / He / She / It / We / They studied English last year.
spelling rules
most regular verbs: add -ed
regular verbs ending in -e, add -d
regular verbs ending in consonant + -y: change -y to -i and add -ed
regular verbs ending in consonant, vowel, consonant: double the final consonant
started -> started
like -> liked
carry -> carried
stop -> stopped
For irregular verbs, see Irregular verbs list, Student’s Book page 160.
The pronunciation of the past simple of regular verbs changes, depending on the spelling of the verb:
[t] when the verb ends in an unvoiced sound, the past simple is pronounced
[t]: watch -> watched
[d] when the verb ends in a voiced sound, the past simple is pronounced [d]: play -> played
[id] when the verb ends in t or d, the past simple is pronounced [id]: want -> wanted