Past Indefinite Tense

Hello everybody, today we are going to learn the past indefinite tense which is one of the most daily using tenses. As it is a human nature that we either prefer talking about our past memories or make plans and discuss them in the future tense.

The past indefinite tense has a unique recognition and extremely significance in the English language just like the present indefinite tense as per academic as well as competitive exam’s point of views. Let’s learn it with examples, formation, uses in a detailed.

Past Indefinite Tense

Formation it is very important to know how to form correct sentences with the grammatical formations then you can use it in your daily life to make sentences.

Affirmative : All the subjects + V2 + according to sentence.

We always use second form of verb (V2) with all the subjects in the past indefinite tense affirmative sentence whether it is a singular subject or a plural subject.

Everybody played games during school days.

Here is a table given below with the different forms of the verbs. You will be surprised to know the names of verbs in the English grammar. The second form of the verbs is known as the past form in the grammar hence always used in the past tense.

 

Present V1	Past V2	Past Participle V3
Go	Went	Gone
Study	Studied	Studied
Explicate	Explicated	Explicated
Buy	Brought	Brought
Proliferate	Proliferated	Proliferated

 

You must have a doubt why we always use the V2 in the past indefinite tense, here is the answer to match with your expectations and is enough satisfactory to eradicate your queries. Past form of verb that we usually call V2 but when its name is past hence it is used in the past tense only.

Negative      : All the subjects + Did not + V1 + according to sentence.

In the negative sentences we use a past indefinite tense helping verb which is ‘DID’ and add not after it. After the combination of Did + Not we always use first form of the verbs because Did itself is the second form the verb hence after it we always use V1 only.

I did not like waking up early in the morning.

Interrogative        : W.H.F word+ Did + Subject + according to sentence?

When it comes to asking questions about the past events, you need to form questions but the interrogative sentences are quite different from others hence it differ from other’s formations too.

        ·       Simple interrogative sentences

[ Did + Subject + V1 + According to sentences +? ]

This type of questions are generally asked to know the answer in either No or Yes when there is no need for the explanations.

Question: Did you watch End Game movie?

Answer : Yes or No.

        ·       Advanced Interrogative sentences

[W.H.F. word + did + Subject + V1 + according to sentence+?]

Why did the people want to deceive their dear ones just for money?

Identities of past indefinite tense

Past habitual actions

When you talk about your past habits you use past indefinite tense to represent it.

Examples

        1.    I went to school.    

        2.    We played football at morning in the childhood.

        3.    My father dropped me at the school entrance.

        4.    She did not cheat in the exams ever.

        5.    Rahul often missed the class.

Past actions

In this use you can describe the past historical actions that took place long ago but were inscribed in. Golden words. I have shared a few examples from there.

1) India celebrated the Independence Day for the very first time on 15th August in 1947.

2) The people of India elected Narendra Modi as the prime minister of India in 2014 with a huge majority in the election.

3) The SLV -3 launch headed by A.P.J. Abdul Kalam took place in 1983 successfully.

Past Tense: indicate an action that completed in the past long before.

You may use some adverbs in the sentences only for the past tense.

These include any past dates 2017/1999/2014,

Days yesterday and day before yesterday,

Adverbs  ago, before, last time/ year/ week/ month / night, the other day, the other morning

        1.    All the students performed very well in the last test.

        2.    Mr. Batra with his family members visited Singapore in 2017.

        3.    Mrs. Oberoi hung out with his husband in the Japanese park yesterday.

        4.    I met my old students long ago.

        5.    My classmates and I enjoyed our lives during college days.

 To indicate a past completed action:

        1.    I completed my content writing course from the University of Leeds last month.

        2.    My brother returned from the USA yesterday.

        3.    They applied for an education loan for their son 2 days before.

Without adverb of time

We sometimes use the facts that don’t need adverbs of time they themselves imply the time.

        1.     Lord Rama killed the Ravana in the Ramleela.

        2.    Mrs. Indira Gandha was brutally assassinated.

        3.    The Mahabharta battle killed a great number of people.

Unreal Past

        1.    She denied as if she knew her father’s decision.

        2.    They spoke to about the universe as if they had been there.

        3.    He showed his possession as if I were his son.

Exercise

1.    I ____ ( visit ) the India gate and the Red fort last Sunday.

2.    They did not _____ (complete) h.w. timely.

3.    She _____ (leave) school long ago.

4.    The Dehli Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) _______ (announce) the major decisions for upcoming festivals Diwali and Chhat puja.

5.    People _____ (live) without marks freely before Coronavirus.

These were some uses of this tense I hope that the past indefinite tense examples helped you understand it better if still there is any bout left, please let us know in the comment box. I assure you of replying to your queries.