Past SimpleActive Voice / Passive Voice

We use the Past Simple Tense:

• to describe actions that startedin the past and were completedat a specific time in the past.

We moved to a new house last year.

TIME EXPRESSIONS:

Yesterday, a week ago, last month, inAugust, in 2010, before work, afteruniversity, etc.

• for habitual or repeated actionsin the past (often with adverbsof frequency).

We always went camping by the

lake in the summer.

• for completed actions that took place one after the other in the past.

Ann had breakfast, listened to the

news and went straight to work.

• to describe permanent situationsin the past.

She lived in the country when she

was a child.

We form the Past Simple Tense:

• Affirmative

S + V₂/ed

I went (an irregular verb) to thecinema yesterday.

She visited (a regular verb) herrelatives last month.

• Negative

S + did not + V₀ (the infinitive without the particle “to”)

I did not (= didn’t) go to the cinema yesterday.

She did not(= didn’t) visit her relatives last month.

• Interrogative

did + S + V₀?

Did you visit your relatives last month?

Didn’t you visit your relatives last month?

Why didn’t you visit your relatives last month?

Who visited your relatives last month?

The Active Voice

The Active Voice indicates

that the subject of the verb

carries out an action.

Alf Donovan decorated the

new hotel.

The Passive Voice

With the Passive Voice the

action is more important

than the person who did it.

The new hotel was

decorated by Alf Donovan.

Past Simple Passive

Form the Past Simple

Passive with the subject +

was/were + past participle.

The building was designed by

Wren.

Sanitary conditions weren’t

organized.

When was that bridge built?

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