Past simple: regular verbs

Regular verbs are the easy part of the past simple. To form the past simple of a regular verb, you add -ed to the base form — and that one ending works for every subject: work → worked, play → played, finish → finished.

The only things to watch are a few spelling rules and how the -ed ending is pronounced. Let's go through both.

Forming the past simple: add -ed

For most regular verbs, just add -ed to the base form:

• work → worked — I worked late yesterday.
• play → played — We played football.
• start → started — The film started at eight.

And here's the good news: the form is the same for every subject. Unlike the present simple, there's no extra -s for he / she / it.

• I worked. · She worked. · They worked.

Spelling rules for -ed

There are four patterns. Most verbs follow the first one:

A few things to keep in mind:

• After a vowel + y, just add -ed: play → played, enjoy → enjoyed (the y only changes after a consonant).
• Don't double w, x or y: snow → snowed, fix → fixed.
• Some longer verbs also double the final consonant — but only when the stress is on the last syllable: prefer → preferred, admit → admitted (compare open → opened, where the stress is at the front).

How to pronounce -ed

The -ed ending is always spelled the same, but it has three possible sounds. You don't need to memorise every detail right away, but recognising these three patterns will help your pronunciation:

• /ɪd/ — an extra syllable — after the sounds /t/ or /d/: wanted, needed, started.
• /t/ — after other voiceless sounds (p, k, f, s, sh, ch): worked, stopped, watched.
• /d/ — after vowels and other voiced sounds: played, lived, cleaned.

Only the wanted / needed / started type (after /t/ or /d/) adds a real extra syllable.

Negatives and questions

For negatives and questions in the past simple, we use did — and the main verb goes back to its base form (no -ed):

• Negative: I didn't work yesterday. (not didn't worked)
• Question: Did you work yesterday? — Yes, I did. / No, I didn't.

Notice the -ed disappears once did / didn't does the work. (We look at past questions and negatives more closely in their own lesson.)

When do we use the past simple?

Use it for finished actions and states at a definite time in the past — the time is often stated or understood:

• I visited my grandmother last weekend.
• They moved to Spain in 2019.
• She lived in Spain for two years. (a finished state)
• We watched a film and then cooked dinner. (a sequence of finished actions)

It often appears with past time expressions: yesterday, last night, last week, in 2010, two days ago, when I was young.

Common mistakes

• ❌ I didn't worked. → ✅ I didn't work. (after didn't, use the base form)
• ❌ She studyed. → ✅ She studied. (consonant + y → -ied)
• ❌ He stoped. → ✅ He stopped. (one-syllable consonant–vowel–consonant verb → double the final consonant)
• ❌ Did you watched it? → ✅ Did you watch it? (after did, use the base form)

Quick check

Put the verb in the past simple:

1. They ____ (live) in London for a year before moving to Paris.
2. I ____ (study) all weekend.
3. We ____ (not / play) tennis yesterday.
4. ____ you ____ (watch) the match?

Key takeaways

• Regular verbs form the past simple by adding -ed, and it's the same for every subject.
• Spelling: -e → -d; consonant + y → -ied; short consonant–vowel–consonant → double the consonant.
• -ed has three sounds: /ɪd/ (wanted), /t/ (worked), /d/ (played).
• Negatives and questions use did / didn't + base verb — the -ed disappears.