TENSES - Simple Past

The simple past expresses an action in the past taking place once, never, several times. It can also be used for actions taking place one after another or in the middle of another action.

Form of Simple Past:
no differences
- Positive "I spoke"
- Negative "I did not speak"
- Question "Did I speak?"

For irregular verbs, use the past form. For regular verbs, just add “ed”.


Exceptions in Spelling when Adding ‘ed’:
- after a final e only add 'd': 'love – loved'
- final consonant after a short, stressed vowel or l as final consonant after a vowel is doubled: 'admit – admitted; travel – travelled'
- final 'y' after a consonant becomes 'i': 'hurry – hurried'


Use of Simple Past:
- action in the past taking place once, never or several times
Example: "He visited his parents every weekend."

- actions in the past taking place one after the other
Example: "He came in, took off his coat and sat down."

- action in the past taking place in the middle of another action
Example: "When I was having breakfast, the phone suddenly rang."

- if sentences type II (If I talked, …)
Example: "If I had a lot of money, I would share it with you."


Signal Words of Simple Past:
- 'yesterday', '2 minutes ago', 'in 1990', 'the other day', 'last Friday'
- If-Satz Typ II ('If I talked', …)


http://www.ego4u.com/en/cram-up/grammar/simple-past

Verbs describing actions that took place in the past are said to be in the past tense. The simple past tense is used to describe a completed activity that happened in the past. In other words, it started in the past and ended in the past.

Examples:
"The Martians landed near the aqueduct."
"The burglar considered using the fire escape."


Of course, you can also have the negative version, which is formed "did not" + "[verb in base form]":
"The Martians did not land near the aqueduct."
(We could have used "didn't" instead of "did not".)
"The burglar did not consider using the fire escape."

And, the question versions:
"Did the Martians land near the aqueduct?"
"Why didn't the burglar consider using the fire escape?"


SPELLING RULES
+ Regular Verbs:
If it's a regular verb, the simple past tense is formed like this:

- Add "ed" to most verbs:
jump > jumped
paint > painted

- If a verb of one syllable ends [consonant-vowel-consonant], double the final consonant and add "ed":
chat > chatted
stop > stopped

- If the final consonant is w, x or y, don't double it:
sew > sewed
play > played
fix > fixed

- If last syllable of a longer verb is stressed and ends [consonant-vowel-consonant], double the last consonant and add "ed":
incur > incurred
prefer > preferred

- If the first syllable of a longer verb is stressed and the verb ends [consonant-vowel-consonant], just add "ed":
open > opened
enter > entered
swallow > swallowed

- If the verb ends "e", just add "d":
thrive > thrived
guzzle > guzzled

- If the verb ends [consonant + "y"], change the "y" to an "i" and add "ed":
cry > cried
fry > fried

+ Irregular Verbs:
If it's an irregular verb, the simple past tense is formed in all sorts of different ways. Here are some examples:
break > broke
catch > caught
find > found
see > saw

You just have to learn them.


+ The Simple Past Tense with Time Expressions:
The simple past tense is often seen with a time expression explaining when the activity took place or how long it lasted.

- Examples of "when an activity took place":
"On Tuesday last week, the Martians landed near the aqueduct."
("On Tuesday last week" tells you when it happened. It's called an adverbial phrase of time. Other examples are: "Yesterday," "Last year," "Before breakfast,". They are really common. When any adverb appears at the front of a sentence, it is usual to use a comma afterwards. A comma is not usually used when the adverbial phrase appears at the back of a sentence. NB: This is not a strict rule. Use a comma if it helps your reader.)
"The Martians landed near the aqueduct on Tuesday last week."
(Note: No comma)
"Just before he was caught, the burglar considered using the fire escape."
("Just before he was caught" tells you when the activity took place.)


- Examples of "how long an activity took":
"Last week, the council inspected the drains."
("Last week" tells you when it happened and for how long.)
"Her daughter hid under the bed for three hours."
(Using "for" is a common way of describing how long an activity lasted.)


The simple past tense is one of four past tenses. They are:
The 4 Past Tenses with examples:

- simple past tense, ex: "I went"
- past progressive tense, ex: "I was going"
- past perfect tense, ex: "I had gone"
- past perfect progressive tense, ex: "I had been going"

http://www.grammar-monster.com/glossary/simple_past_tense.htm