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Past Indefinite Tense Rules With Examples
Hello friends ! We have fully understood Present Tense in the previous notes. Today we are going to talk about Past Indefinite Tense. What is Past Indefinite Tense and what are the important rules to use it? Along with example, we are going to teach it in detail. So let’s start : Past Indefinite Tense Rules with Examples.
What is Past Indefinite Tense
Simple Past Tense : Friends! Before proceeding further, we need to know what is Past Indefinite Tense? Let me tell you when a task or action has finished in the past. But the exact time of its starting and ending is not known. Hence it is called Past indefinite Tense. Let us take some examples to understand :
| He wrote a letter. | She did not wash clothers. |
| Did I sing a song? | Did We not play cricket ? |
Friends! All these are examples of past indefinite tenses. What do you understand after reading all these examples ?
- You see that IInd Form of the Main verb is used in Sentence – I. While Sentence – II uses the Ist Form of the Main verb with the Helping Verb – Did.
- Helping Verb – Did and Ist Form of the Main verb are used in Sentence – III and IV.
One thing would be understood from these examples is that Past Indefinite uses the Helping Verb – Did + Ist Form of the Main verb and Where the auxiliary verb – “did” is not used, the IInd Form of the main verb is used in the past indefinite.
Important Rules of Past Indefinite Tense :
To understand the past indefinite tense properly, you should understand the following rules better :
- In this, the same helping verb – did is used in both the subject whether singular or plural. Just understand that in the past indefinite tense there is only one helping verb and that is did.
- Friends! Now the thing to note is that whenever the helping verb – did is used in the sentence, then the Ist Form of the Main verb is used and when the helping verb – did is not used then the IInd form of the Main verb is used.
To understand all these rules better, read the table given below :
| Helping Verb : | did |
| Main Verb : | Ist Form of Verb |
| Subjects | Helping Verb | |
|---|---|---|
| Singular | He, She, It and Single Names | did |
| Plural | I, We, You, They and Plural Names. | did |
Only after knowing these rules well, you will be able to understand past indefinite tense.
Types of Past Indefinite Tense :
Friends! You all know that four types of sentences are made of each tense, which is also the same for the Past Indefinite tense. It goes like this:
- Affirmative or Simple Sentence
- Negative sentence
- Interrogative Sentence
- Interrogative Negative Sentence
Affirmative Sentences | Simple Sentence :
Carefully understand the structure given below to create a simple Sentence of Past Indefinite Tense :
- Structure for Affirmative sentence of Past Indefinite Tense.
| Subject | + IInd Form of the Main Verb | + Object | + Others. |
— Always keep in mind that in the simple sentence of the present indefinite only the IInd form of the verb is always used.
For Example :
| Singular | Plural |
|---|---|
| He read a lesson. | I sang a song. |
| She ate Food. | We purchased a car. |
| It ran away. | You watched a movie. |
| Radha wrote a letter. | They went to School. |
Negative Sentence :
When making negative sentences of past indefinite tense, the not is used with helping verb – did. You can understand it through the following structure :
- Structure for Negative Sentence of Past Indefinite Tense.
| Subject | + did | + not | + Ist Form of the Main Verb | + Object | + Others. |
For Example:
| Singular | Plural |
|---|---|
| He did not read a lesson. | I did not sing a song. |
| She did not eat Food. | We did not purchase a car. |
| It did not run away. | You did not watch a movie. |
| Radha did not write a letter. | They did not go to School. |
Interrogative Sentence :
In interrogative sentence, the helping verb – did is used before the subject and immediately after the subject Ist form of the main verb is used. To understand, follow the structure as mentioned below :
- Structure for Interrogative Sentence of Past Indefinite Tense.
| Did | + subject | + Ist Form of the Main Verb | + Object | + Others ? |
For Example:
| Singular | Plural |
|---|---|
| Did He read a lesson ? | Did I sing a song ? |
| Did She eat Food ? | Did We purchase a car ? |
| Did It run away ? | Did You watch a movie ? |
| Did Radha write a letter ? | Did They go to School ? |
Interrogative Negative Sentence :
In interrogative negative, the helping verb – did is used before the subject and immediately after the subject not + Ist form of the main verb is used. Look at the structure below :
- Structure for Interrogative Negative Sentence of Past Indefinite Tense.
| Did | + subject | + not | + Ist Form of the Main Verb | + Object | + Others ? |
For Example:
| Singular | Plural |
|---|---|
| Did He not read a lesson ? | Did I not sing a song ? |
| Did She not eat Food ? | Did We not purchase a car ? |
| Did It not run away ? | Did You not watch a movie ? |
| Did Radha not write a letter ? | Did They not go to School ? |
Golden Structure For Past Indefinite Tense :
Friends! Always remember a golden structure to learn past indefinite. Which you can easily change according to sentence keeping in mind some rules :
- Golden Structure For Past Indefinite Tense :
| Subject + | H.V. (did) | M.V. (Ist Form) + | Object + | Others. |
- In simple sentence, “Did” is not used. Hence the IInd form of the main verb is used without helping verb.
- In negative sentence, “Not” is always used after Helping verb – “did“. the Ist form of the main verb is always used because of Helping verb – “did“.
- In interrogative, Sentence always begins with helping verb (did). and because of Helping verb – “did“, the Ist form of the main verb is always used.
- If the interrogative is negative, the interrogative starts with the helping verb – did and because of negative, not is always used before Ist form of the main verb.
Thus friends! Past indefinite tense is very easy to understand. Its structure is also very simple to remember. Hopefully now you have understood well the rules of past indefinite tense and the structure of making all types of sentences.
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