Past Simple Regular Verbs

Activities

Click bellow to practice how to conjugate regular verbs.

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Title: How to Conjugate Regular Verbs in the Past Simple Tense

Introduction:

• Host: Hi and welcome to the English Magnet! Today’s video: Past Simple Regular Verbs Made Easy. By the way, a link to some free material to practice by yourselves can be found in the description below. Alright, let’s jump right into it!

Part 1: What is the Past Simple Tense

• Host: Let’s start with the basics. The past simple tense helps us talk about things that happened in the past such as telling a story or talking about your day for instance. Please note that the endings are all the same in the past simple, meaning I, you, he, she, it, we, they all share the same ending, so you only need to memorize one form for each verb. Except for ‘to be’ which yields was and were. In this video, we’re going to focus on regular verbs, which follow some simple rules.

Part 2: Conjugating Regular Verbs

• Rule 1: Most verbs just add “ed” to the base form. That’s true for thousands of verbs, many common ones but also unusual ones. So, when you encounter a new verb there’s a decent chance that it will follow this rule. 

He cleaned his room yesterday. (clean + ed = cleaned) 

Last week, the price of gasoline skyrocketed. (skyrocket + ed = skyrocketed)

• Rule 2: When the base verb ends with “e,” we add only a “d” 

Elaine danced like nobody was looking at her last night. (dance + d = danced)

The kids smiled all day at the zoo. (smile + d = smiled)

• Rule 3: If your verb ends with a vowel followed by a consonant, double the final consonant, then add “ed”. Quick tip: Many of these verbs are only one syllable long.  (vowel = a e i o u) (consonant = all other letters)

Two years ago, he stopped going to the park. (stop + p + ed = stopped)

I grabbed my lunch this morning. (grab + b + ed = grabbed) 

• Rule 4: Keep an eye out for verbs that end in “y”. Look at the letter before the “y”. If it’s a vowel, follow rule 1 (+ed). If it’s a consonant, bye bye  “y” and add “ied”. 

She played outside yesterday. (play + ed = played, vowel “a” is before “y”)

James  enjoyed his vacation. (enjoy + ed = enjoyed, vowel “o” is before “y”)

You tried very hard; we are proud of you! (try -y + ied = tried, consonant “r” before “y”)

My neighbor studied all night. (study -y + ied = studied, consonant “d” before “y”)

Part 3: Special Cases

• Host: Let’s quickly look at some exceptions.
  • Case 1: For verbs ending with “c” add “ked”

The parrot perfectly mimicked my voice. (mimic + ked = mimicked)

• Case 2: Verbs ending in “w” & “x” never double the final consonant, so they follow rule 1 (+ed) 

The chef mixed up salt and sugar, the cake tasted terrible. (mix + ed = mixed) 

Wrap up: 

• Focus on the 4 rules to have a broad understanding on adding “ed” to verbs. The special cases are just to give you an extra edge. If you’re in the mood, be sure to watch more of our videos! 

Closing:

• Host: Hopefully, this has been helpful. Keep practicing, and you’ll get the hang of it. Thank you for watching. Until next time!