Simple Past Tense Voice: Know Meaning, Structure, Usage & More

Do you what is simple past tense voice and how it can be implemented in English vocabulary? To explain in short, it is a verb tense which talks about things or events that happened or existed as some point of time. It talks about an action that occurred at a certain time and was then eventually completed. If you are a grammar nazi, then you might know about all the tenses but do you still confused between all of them? Well, continue reading this blog post to know more about simple past tense, its structure, examples and exercises. 

Must Read: All About Voices

What is Simple Past Tense Voice?

The simple past tense is used in sentences to indicate an action that happened in the past and is referred to as events that have been completed. The term ‘voice’ added after this tense refers to whether the subject in the sentence is the doer of the action (active voice) or the receiver of the action (passive voice). 

Also Read: Active and Passive Voice: Rules, Examples & Exercise

Structure of Simple Past Test Voice

By learning the structure of simple past test voice, you will be able to differentiate how positive, negative and interrogative and negative interrogative formats are used. Below is the structure of how simple past tense voice can be used in sentences for your better understanding. 

Rules for Simple Past Tense Voice

To form simple past tense in English, here are some basic rules which you should keep in mind.

Regular Verbs

Add ‘-ed’ at the end of the verb.

Example: ‘walk’ will change to ‘walked’, ‘talk’ will change to ‘talked’ and ‘play’ will change to ‘played’.

Irregular verbs

Irregular verbs have their own unique past tense forms.

Example: ‘Go’ will change to ‘went’, ‘eat’ will change to ‘ate’ and ‘buy’ will change to ‘bought’.

Negative and Questions

• Use ‘did’  + not + base form for negatives.

Example: She did not go.

• Use “did” + subject + base form for questions.

Example: Did she go?

Regular Formation in Passive Voice

• Use were/was + past participle

Example: The book was read by her.

Irregular Formation in Passive Voice

• The past participle form of the verb is used with ‘was/were.’

Example: The cake was eaten by them.

Simple Past Tense Voice Examples

Here are some examples of simple past tense voice which will help you with your understanding. 

Active Voice

She baked a delicious cake for her friend’s birthday.

They visited Paris last summer.

He completed his homework before dinner.

The team won the championship last year.

I finished reading the book yesterday.

Passive Voice 

A delicious cake was baked for her friend’s birthday.

Paris was visited by them last summer.

His homework was completed before dinner.

The championship was won by the team last year.

The book was finished by me yesterday.

Simple Past Tense Voice Exercises

Rewrite the following sentences in the Simple Past Tense.

1. She sings beautifully.
2. They eat pizza every Friday.
3. He writes novels in his free time.

Check Your Answers

1. She sang beautifully.
2. They ate pizza every Friday.
3. He wrote novels in his free time.

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FAQs

What is simple past tense?

Simple past tense is used in sentences to describe an action that has happened before the present tense and is no longer taking place.

What is a simple past tense example?

Here is an example of simple past tense: He worked till late at night yesterday.

What are the two types of voices?

There are two types of voices: Active Voice and Passive Voice

We hope this blog gave you all the necessary information on simple past tense voice. To advance your grammar knowledge and read more informative blogs, check out our Learn English page and don’t forget to follow Leverage Edu.