Rules for Verbs in Simple Past
Cuando hablamos del Pasado Simple vamos a encontrar Reglas de Pronunciación que puededes encontrar AQUÍ y Reglas de Escritura.
En esta clase nos enfocaremos en las Reglas de Escritura para conjugar los verbos en pasado.
In General, we use the Verbs in the Past only in Affirmative sentences and the same form for all Personal/Subject Pronouns. We will see 6 rules to learn better how the verbs change according to their final syllable or sound.
Rule # 1
Most verbs add “ed” to form the past.
- to brush - brushed
- to open - opened
I brushed my teeth in the morning
Rule # 2
For verbs ending in “e,” we normally add a “d”
- to shave - shaved
- to like - liked
I liked to play basketball when I was in High School.
Verbs ending in “vowel + y” add “ed”
- to pray - prayed
- to play - played
He played chess for four years.
Rule # 4
Verbs ending in “consonant + y” change “y to i” and add “ed”
- To study - studied
- To cry - cried
She cried because she received yellow flowers.
For one-syllable verbs ending in a stressed syllable with “consonant + vowel + consonant,” we double the last consonant and add “ed”
- to nod - nodded
- to stop - stopped
The car stopped at the red traffic light.
Rule # 6
For two-syllable verbs ending in a stressed syllable with “consonant + vowel + consonant” we double the last consonant and add “ed”
- To prefer - preferred
For this rule is important to pay attention to the final sound since there are verbs that might have "consonant + vowel + consonant" but not stressed. For example the verb "viajar"
In American English, we pronounce "to travel" the stressed syllable is the first one and because of that we only add "ed"
- To travel - traveled
It is also important to mention that in British English the pronunciation of this particular verb (to travel) is different, having the last syllable stressed, and following the rule, we can find the written form with a double "L"
BR - To travel - travelled
They travelled to Xela on vacation
Find more explanations and Exercises using Simple Past HERE
CONCLUSION
- In General, to form the verbs in the past, we only need to add "d" or "ed" to the verbs.
- Doubling letters will depend on the pronunciation and as stated in the examples, you have to be careful if you are writing to a British or American audience.
