Past Indefinite Tense: Definition, Rules & Examples

Past Indefinite Tense: Definition, Rules & Examples

Here we will define "Past Indefinite Tense" Definition, Formula / Rules, Examples, Helping Verb, Exercises and worksheets.

The Past Indefinite Tense is also known as name of the Simple Past Tense in English Grammar.

Past Indefinite Tense Definition:

The Past Indefinite Tense is used to indicate actions that happened in the past and are no longer ongoing. It represents actions that occurred and were completed at a specific time in the past.

The Past Indefinite Tense is used to describe past habits, repeated actions, or events that are finished and no longer happening. It can also be used to denote a succession of actions in the past or a simple action with a specific time reference.

The Past Indefinite Tense, also known as the Simple Past Tense, is used to describe actions that occurred in the past. It represents actions that happened a while ago or on a regular basis in the past. In positive sentences, the structure is Subject + 2nd form of the verb (past form) + object. 

For example, "He ate an apple." In negative sentences, 'did not' is used with the 1st form of the verb. For instance, "He did not go to school." Interrogative sentences use 'did' before the subject and the base form of the verb. An example is "Did they bring their breakfast with them?".

Past Indefinite Tense Rules | Past Indefinite Tense Formula

Past Indefinite is formed by using the 2nd form of the verb, which is created by adding "-ed" to regular verbs. In irregular verbs, the past tense forms are unique and do not follow a standard pattern.

Past Indefinite Tense Structure

In the Simple Past Tense, the structure is Subject + Verb + ed / verb in the past tense + the rest of the sentence. For example, "Nathan met me at the park." Understanding the structure of past tenses in English helps in forming sentences correctly in positive, negative, interrogative, and negative interrogative formats.

Positive Sentence using the Past Indefinite Tense could be structured like this which is given below

Subject + 2nd verb + Object

Affirmative Sentences of Present Indefinite Tense

1. She watched television yesterday.
2. He sang a melodious song.
3. She prepared tea for guests.
4. He watched movies on weekends.
5. We listened to music in the car.
6. He went to Lahore on Monday.

Negative Sentences of Present Indefinite Tense

1. I did not go to school.
2. He did not go to Lahore.
3. We did not read in class eight.
4. They did not take exercise.
5. Birds did not fly in the air.
6. Khalid and Sumaira did not get up early in the morning.

Interrogative Sentences of Present Indefinite Tense

1. Did I go to school daily?
2. Did he learn his lesson?
3. Did you offer prayers daily?
4. When did the sun rise?
5. Where did you live?
6. Did the hens lay eggs?

Affirmative Sentences

An Affirmative or Assertive sentence using the Past Indefinite Tense could be structured like this which is given below

Past Indefinite Tense Affirmative Sentence Structure

Subject + V2 + Object.

Affirmative Sentences of Past Indefinite Tenses

1. I went to college.
2. We read in class seven.
3. Birds flew in the air.
4. She got up early in the morning.
5. She prepared tea for me.
6. Aslam went for a walk.
7. The washer man washed our clothes.
8. He teased me for nothing.
9. I climbed up the tree.

Negative Sentence

In the negative sentence form, "did not" (didn’t) is used for these subjects (I, We, You, They, He, She, It and plural Subjects) followed by the 2nd form of the verb.

A Negative sentence using the Past Indefinite Tense could be structured like this:

Negative Sentence Structure

“Subject + did not + 2nd form + Object."

Negative Sentences of Past Indefinite Tense

Sania and Mah Noordid not get up early in the morning.

1. She did not prepare tea.
2. Aslam did not go for walk.
3. He did not tease me for nothing.
4. He did not catch the fish.
5. The cats did not eat meat.
6. Najma did not watch TV.
7. He did not write a letter.
8. She did not wash her face.

Interrogative Sentence

These sentences are used to ask questions about current actions or habits, and they follow the structure of auxiliary verb + subject + base form of the verb.

Interrogative sentence using the Past Indefinite Tense could be structured like this which is given below

Interrogative Sentence Structure

“Did + Subject + 1st form + Object?"

To form an interrogative sentence in the Past Indefinite Tense, we use the auxiliary verbs "did" before the subject, followed by the base form of the verb. "Did" is used for all subjects including first-person (I, We), second-person (you), and third person (he, she, they and It).

Interrogative Sentences of Past Indefinite Tense

1. Did it rain a lot in this city?
2. Did you know how to swim?
3. Did the bus arrive on time?
4. Did he go to Lahore daily?
5. Did we read in class eight?
6. Did they take exercise daily?
7. Did birds fly in the air?
8. Did he get up early in the morning?
9. Did He tease me for nothing?

Interrogative & Negative Sentence

Interrogative Negative Sentence of Past Indefinite Tense

Interrogative and Negative Sentence Structure

“Did + Subject + not + base form + Object?"

Interrogative Negative Sentence of Present Indefinite Tense

1. Did I not know swimming?
2. Did he take part in games?
3. Did we not take exercise daily?
4. Did I not obey my parents?
5. Did you not make a noise?
6. Did they go to school in time?
7. Did Naila not wash clothes?
8. Did they not go to school on foot?
9. Did Irfan not say prayers?

Questions with Wh Family Words

Wh Words List

What, When, Where, Why and Who

Wh Family Words with Meaning

Wh Family Interrogative Sentence Structure

Wh + did + Subject + Base form + Object

Wh Family Words Sentences

1. What did you do?
2. Why did you late?
3. When did you come?