Simple Past Tense

The simple past expresses an action in the past taking place once, never, several times. It can also be used for actions taking place one after another or in the middle of another action.

To Be - Affirmative

Subject	To Be	Examples
I	was	I was tired this morning.
You	were	You were very good.
He	was	He was the best in his class.
She	was	She was late for work.
It	was	It was a sunny day.
We	were	We were at home.
You	were	You were on holiday.
They	were	They were happy with their test results.

To Be - Negative Sentences

The negative of To Be can be made by adding not after the verb (was or were).

Subject	To Be	Examples
I	was not	I was not tired this morning.
You	were not	You were not crazy.
He	was not	He was not married.
She	was not	She was not famous.
It	was not	It was not hot yesterday.
We	were not	We were not invited.
You	were not	You were not at the party.
They	were not	They were not friends.

To Be - Negative Contractions

The can make negative contractions of the verb To Be in the Past tense by joining the verb (was or were) and n't(e.g. were not = weren't). We don't make a contraction of the subject and the verb (e.g. I was).

I was not tired this morning.	OR	I wasn't tired this morning.
You were not crazy.	OR	You weren't crazy.
He was not married.	OR	He wasn't married.
She was not famous.	OR	She wasn't famous.
It was not hot yesterday.	OR	It wasn't hot yesterday.
We were not invited.	OR	We weren't invited.
You were not at the party.	OR	You weren't at the party.
They were not friends.	OR	They weren't friends.

* Notice that we don't have contractions for To Be in Past Tense affirmative sentences.

To Be - Questions

To create questions with To Be, you put the Verb before the Subject.

Affirmative	You	were	happy.
	Subject	Verb
Question	Were	you	happy?
	Verb	Subject

Affirmative	Question
I was late	Was I late?
You were sick.	Were you sick?
He was surprised.	Was he surprised?
She was from Italy.	Was she from Italy?
It was a big house.	Was it a big house?
We were ready.	Were we ready?
You were early.	Were you early?
They were busy.	Were they busy?

To Be - Short Answers

In spoken English, we usually give short answers in response to questions.

Was he from Japan? - Yes, he was (from Japan). The last part (from Japan) is not necessary. We use shorts answers to avoid repetition, when the meaning is clear.

Question	Short Answers**	Short Answers
Was I late?	Yes, you were.	No, you weren't.
Were you sick?	Yes, I was.	No, I wasn't.
Was he surprised?	Yes, he was.	No, he wasn't.
Was she from Italy?	Yes, she was.	No, she wasn't.
Was it a big house?	Yes, it was.	No, it wasn't.
Were we ready?	Yes, we were.	No, we weren't.
Were you early?	Yes, we were.	No, we weren't.
Were they busy?	Yes, they were.	No, they weren't.

** With To Be, We don't use contractions in affirmative short answers.

http://www.grammar.cl/Past/To_Be.htm

Form of Simple Past

	Positive	Negative	Question
no differences	I spoke.	I did not speak.	Did I speak?

For irregular verbs, use the past form (see list of irregular verbs, 2nd column). For regular verbs, just add“ed”.

Exceptions in Spelling when Adding ‘ed’

Exceptions in spelling when adding ed	Example
after a final e only add d	love – loved
final consonant after a short, stressed vowel or l as final consonant after a vowel is doubled	admit – admitted travel – travelled
final y after a consonant becomes i	hurry – hurried

Use of Simple Past

• 
  action in the past taking place once, never or several times
  Example: He visited his parents every weekend.
• actions in the past taking place one after the other
  Example: He came in, took off his coat andsat down.
• action in the past taking place in the middle of another action
  Example: When I was having breakfast, the phone suddenly rang.
• if sentences type II (If I talked, …)
  Example: If I had a lot of money, I would share it with you.

https://www.ego4u.com/en/cram-up/grammar/simple-past