Simple Past

Purpose           : It is used to say, tell, state, write vent(s) or activity(ies) happen in the past.

1 1. Nominal Sentence

Formula :

              Subject + tobe (was/were) +Adjective/ Noun/ Adverb

Pronoun:

I, She, He, It   : was

You, We, They    : were

Simple Past Tense commonly uses the following adverbs of time:

-          Just now   (baru saja)

-          Yesterday             (kemarin)

-          Two days ago (2 hari yang lalu)

-          Last week (minggu lalu)

-          Two weeks ago (2 minggu yang lalu)

-          Last month           (bulan lalu)

-          Last year (tahun lalu)

-          Two years ago (dua tahun lalu)

Examples:

a.       Mira was very pretty yesterday

b.      Dea and Gerry were active in school communities two years ago

c.       We were in the hospital last week

d.      I was a student 10 years ago

e.       Rina was a lazy student two years ago

22. Verbal Sentence

Remember that in verbal sentence, the sentence uses the verb other than the verb tobe. 

Formula:

                Subject + Verb II + Complement

Verb 1                        Verb II

Study              studied

Walk                walked

Work               worked

Speak              spoke

Do                   did

See                  saw

Throw              threw

Examples:

a.       I           did       my homework             yesterday

S          V                     Complement

b.      She did her homework yesterday

c.       They did their homework yesterday

d.      We spoke Spanish two years ago

If you want to change the past tense sentence into negative or interrogative, here is the way:

(+) She spoke Spanish two years ago

(-) She did not speak Spanish two years ago

(?) Did she speak Spanish two years ago?

            Yes, she did

            No, she did not/ No, she didn’t

Another example:

(+) I saw him yesterday in the park

(-) I did not see him yesterday in the park

(?) Did you see him yesterday in the park?

Yes, I did

No, I did not/ No,I didn’t