Trecutul simplu exprimă o acţiune care s-a început şi s-a terminat în trecut.
De exemplu:
I ate too much at Jake’s birthday party yesterday.
You didn’t study for the test last week.
Structura propoziţiei afirmative:
subiect | verb (trecutul simplu) | complement indirect/direct | complement circumstanţial
I | watched | a film | last Sunday.
Kate | played | tennis | a week ago.
Structura propoziţiei negative:
subiect | verbul auxiliar (did + not) | verbul de bază | complement indirect/direct | complement circumstanţial
John | did not | eat | breakfast | this morning.
Jane | did not | go | to the beach | last weekend.
Structura propoziţiei interogative:
generale: verbul auxiliar (did) | subiect | verbul de bază | complement indirect/direct | complement
Did | you | finish | the report | last night?
speciale: pronumele interogativ (Wh-) | verbul auxiliar (did) | subiect | verbul de bază | complement indirect/direct | complement
What | did | you | eat | for supper | last night?
When did you eat supper last night?
Where…?
Why…?
Who did you eat supper with last night?
Adverbele cu care se foloseşte trecutul simplu sunt:
yesterday,
last week,
last month,
two days ago,
two months ago,
two years ago,
last night,
last year,
the day before yesterday
Trecutul simplu poate fi folosit cu verbele care exprimă acţiunile de lungă şi de scurtă durată:
acţiuni scurte: I woke up at 6:30 this morning.
acţiuni lungi: I lived in France for 4 years.
