Past Tense - Regular

Conversation 1

Man: So what did you do yesterday?
Woman: Nothing much. Just chores. I washed the dishes, vacuumed, and mopped the floors.
Man: Yeah, me too.
Woman: Really, are you a clean freak?
Man: Not so much, but my place needed a good cleaning.
Woman: Was your place pretty dirty?
Man: Yeah, it was pretty bad. But I cleaned the bathroom, picked up my dirty clothes, washed them, and emptied the rubbish so now it looks respectable.
Woman: Yeah, you can only put things off for so long.
Man: That's right.

Conversation 2

Man: What are you reading?
Woman: A history book about the Mayans. I just started it, though.
Man: Oh cool. I just watched a documentary about them. It was fascinating.
Woman: Yeah, I learned about them in college so this book piqued my interest.
Man: Is it any good?
Woman: So far so good. I already learned a few things I didn’t know.
Man: Well, can I borrow it when you are finished?
Woman: I would, but I borrowed it from the library.
Man: Ah, got it. I’ll try to check it out then.

Conversation 3

Man: I missed class yesterday. What did you do in class?
Woman: Not much. The teacher just reviewed past lessons.
Man: Oh yeah? What did she go over?
Woman: She mainly talked about the essay assignment and how to write the paper.
Man: Did she give any homework?
Woman: Yes, but she posted it on the class website.
Man: OK, I’ll check it out then. Thanks.

Conversation 4

Man: What did you do last night?
Woman: I just stayed home and talked with my friends on Zoom.
Man: Friends from work?
Woman: No, friends I studied with in college.
Man: Oh, that’s so cool that you are still friends.
Woman: Well, we kind of lost touch with each other, but we recently reunited on Facebook.
Man: I should do that with my old army buddies.
Woman: You should. It’s a lot of fun. We all enjoyed seeing each other again.

Past Tense

Past tense verbs usually end with an -ed ending but only for affirmative sentences. For questions and negative statements we use did to express the past. See below.

(Q) Where did you work?
(A) I worked in an office.
(N) I did not work in the city.

There are three ways to pronounce the -ed ending.

-ed = /t/ Verbs ending with non-voiced sound such as: -sh, -ch, -p, -k, -s, -t.

I washed the dishes.
I walked to work.
I worked at my desk.
I talked to my friend.

-ed = /d/ Verbs ending with voiced sounds such as: -n, -y, -v, -m.

I cleaned my room.
I enjoyed the movie.
I mowed the lawn.

-ed = /id/ Verbs ending with -d or -t.

I wanted to go.
I decided to stay.
I needed to sleep.

Negative

I did not work.
I didn’t sleep much.

(did not = didn’t)