Past simple

Il past simple o simple past (in italiano passato semplice) è un tempo verbale della lingua inglese.

Si usa per descrivere un'azione, una situazione o un evento concluso in maniera definitiva e permanente, sia che essa sia avvenuta in un passato recente che distante.

Past simple del verbo essere

Per il verbo to be ci sono due forme di past simple (was e were).

Forma affermativa

La forma affermativa del verbo to be si forma con il soggetto seguito dal verbo al passato:

I was

You were

He/she/it was

We were

You were

They were

Forma negativa

La forma negativa del verbo to be si forma con il verbo al passato seguito dalla negazione not:

I was not

You were not

He/she/it was not

We were not

You were not

They were not

Forma interrogativa

La forma interrogativa del verbo to be si forma anteponendo il verbo al soggetto:

Was I?

Were you?

Was he/she/it?

Were we?

Were you?

Were they?

Risposte brevi

Per le risposte brevi, in inglese non è sufficiente rispondere con un semplice "sì" o "no" come si fa in italiano. Bisogna aggiungere il verbo essere declinato correttamente:

Yes, I was - No, I wasn't

Yes, you were - No, you weren't

Yes, he/she/it was - No, he/she/it wasn't

Yes, we were - No, we weren't

Yes, you were - No, you weren't

Yes, they were - No, they weren't

Formazione dei verbi regolari

Forma affermativa

Per formare la forma affermativa del past simple dei verbi regolari, si aggiunge la desinenza -ed alla forma base del verbo (che si ottiene prendendo l'infinito del verbo e togliendo il to che vi è anteposto). Non varia in base alla persona. Prendendo, ad esempio, il verbo to work, si avrà quindi:

I worked

You worked

He/She/It worked

We worked

You worked

They worked

Variazioni ortografiche

La regola base di formazione del past simple è che bisogna aggiungere la desinenza -ed alla forma base del verbo. Ci sono tuttavia delle variazioni ortografiche; quando la forma base del verbo termina in:

• -e → si aggiunge soltanto la "d"
  • hope/hoped
  • situate/situated
  • change/changed
  • die/died
• consonante preceduta da una sola vocale → si raddoppia la consonante e si aggiunge ed
  • stop/stopped
  • travel/travelled
• -y preceduta da una consonante → la "y" si toglie e si aggiunge ied
  • study/studied
  • marry/married

Forma negativa

Per la forma negativa del past simple, bisognerà aggiungere il verbo to do (declinato al past simple) seguito da not dopo il soggetto e prima del verbo principale posto nella sua forma base.

I did not work - I didn't work

You did not work - You didn't work

He/She/It did not work - He/She/It didn't work

We did not work - We didn't work

You did not work - You didn't work

They did not work - They didn't work

Forma interrogativa

La forma interrogativa del past simple si forma ponendo did all'inizio della frase, seguito dal soggetto e infine dal verbo nella sua forma base:

Did I work?

Did you work?

Did he/she/it work?

Did we work?

Did you work?

Did they work?

Risposte brevi

Per formare le risposte brevi, in inglese bisognerà far seguire l'ausiliare did al "si" o al "no":

Yes, I did - No, I didn't

Yes, you did - No, you didn't

Yes, he/she/it did - No, he/she/it didn't

Yes, we did - No, we didn't

Yes, you did - No, you didn't

Yes, they did - No, they didn't

Formazione dei verbi irregolari

In inglese esistono i verbi irregolari che, al past simple, hanno una forma separata e non deducibile dalla regola generale.

to be → was to become → became to begin → began to blow → blew to bring → brought to build → built to burn → burned/burnt to buy → bought to can → could to catch → caught to come → came to cost → cost to do → did to draw → drew to dream → dreamed/dreamt to drink → drank to drive → drove to eat → ate to feel → felt to find → found to fly → flew to forget → forgot to get → got to give → gave to go → went to grow → grew	to have → had to hear → heard to hide → hid to hit → hit to hold → held to hurt → hurt to keep → kept to know → knew to learn → learned/learnt to leave → left to lend → lent to let → let to lose → lost to make → made to mean → meant to meet → met to pay → paid to put → put to read → read to ride → rode to run → ran to say → said to see → saw to seek → sought to sell → sold to send → sent	to set → set to shine → shone to show → showed to shut → shut to sing → sang to sit → sat to sleep → slept to smell → smelled/smelt to speak → spoke to spend → spent to steal → stole to sting → stung to strike → struck to swim → swam to take → took to teach → taught to tell → told to think → thought to understand → understood to wake → woke to wear → wore to win → won to wind → wound to write → wrote

Voci correlate

• Grammatica inglese
• Lingua inglese
• Tempi verbali inglesi

Collegamenti esterni

• Grammatica inglese: Grammatica inglese di base con esercizi interattivi
• Tavola dei verbi irregolari inglesi: Tavola dei verbi irregolari inglesi

Portale Lingua inglese

Portale Linguistica