SIMPLE PAST

A seconda delle situazioni, il simple past rende l'indicativo passato remoto, passato prossimo, imperfetto.

TO BE

Forma affermativa	Forma negativa	Forma interrogativa
I was you were he-she-it was we were you were they were	I was not you were not he-she-it was not we were not you were not they were not	was I ? were you? was he-she-it? were we? were you? were they?

Nella forma negativa si utilizzano frequentemente le seguenti contrazioni:

WAS NOT ® WASN'T WERE NOT ® WEREN'T

TO HAVE

Forma affermativa	Forma negativa	Forma interrogativa
I had you had he-she-it had we had you had they had	I had not you had not he-she-it had not we had not you had not they had not	had I ? had you? had he-she-it? had we? had you? had they?

Al passato di to have non si mette più got

I verbi regolari inglesi formano il passato aggiungendo generalmente (ci sono particolarità ortografiche) il suffisso -ed.

Forma affermativa	Forma negativa	Forma interrogativa
I talked you talked he-she-it talked we talked you talked they talked	I did not (didn't) talk you did not (didn't) talk he-she-it did not (didn't) talk we did not (didn't) talk you did not (didn't) talk they did not (didn't) talk	Did I talk? Did you talk? Did he-she-it talk? Did we talk? Did you talk? Did they talk?

I verbi irregolari non seguono la regola generale. I loro simple past devono essere imparati a memoria.

QUANDO SI USA

Il simple past corrisponde al passato remoto o al passato prossimo quando è usato per riferirsi ad azioni avvenute e concluse in un momento preciso del passato che viene specificato:

She arrived yesterday. 

È arrivata ieri

Il simple past corrisponde al passato remoto o al passato prossimo quando è usato in una narrazione, quando si racconta una storia:

David got up early as usual. He had a substantial breakfast and then went to work.

Davide si alzò presto come al solito. Fece una colazione abbondante e poi andò al lavoro.

Il simple past corrisponde al passato remoto o al passato prossimo quando è usato dopo when nelle frasi interrogative che si riferiscono al passato:

When did they phone? 

Quando hanno telefonato?

Il simple past si usa anche per rendere l'idea di un'azione ripetuta nel passato, di un'abitudine del passato (corrisponde all'imperfetto italiano):

I lived in England when I was a child.

Vivevo in Inghilterra quando ero bambino.