PAST SIMPLE
Forms
With most verbs the past tense is formed by adding -ed:
call >> called; like >> liked; want >> wanted; work >> worked
But there are a lot of irregular past tenses in English. Her are the most common irregular verbs in English, with their past tenses:
infinitive
irregular past

be begin break bring buy build choose come cost cut do draw drive eat feel find get give go have hear hold keep know leave lead let lie lose make mean meet pay put run say sell send set sit speak spend stand take teach tell think understand wear win write
was/were began broke brought bought built chose came cost cut did drew drove ate felt found got gave went had heard held kept knew left led let lay lost made meant met paid put ran said sold sent set sat spoke spent stood took taught told thought understood wore won wrote

 
Use
We use the past tense to talk about:
something that happened once in the past:
I met my wife in 1983. We went to Spain for our holidays. They got home very late last night.
something that happened again and again in the past:
When I was a boy I walked a mile to school every day. We swam a lot while we were on holiday. They always enjoyed visiting their friends.
something that was true for some time in the past:
I lived abroad for ten years. He enjoyed being a student. She played a lot of tennis when she was younger.
we often use phrases with ago with the past tense:
I met my wife a long time ago.
Questions and negatives
We use did to make questions with the past tense:
When did you meet your wife? Where did you go for your holidays? Did she play tennis when she was younger? Did you live abroad?
But look at these questions:
Who discovered penicillin? Who wrote Don Quixote?
For more on these questions see question forms
We use didn’t (did not) to make negatives with the past tense:
They didn’t go to Spain this year. We didn’t get home until very late last night. I didn’t see you yesterday. 
A          Xem xét ví dụ sau:
 
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was an Austrian musician and composer. He lived from 1756 to 1791. He started composing at the age of five and wrote more than 600 pieces of music. He  was only 35 years old when he died.
 
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart là một nhạc sĩ và nhà soạn nhạc người Úc. Ông sống từ năm 1756 đến năm 1791. Ông bắt đầu soạn nhạc lúc năm tuổi và đã viết hơn 600 bản nhạc. Ông chết khi Ông chỉ mới 35 tuổi.
 
Lived/Started/wrote/was/died đều ở thì past simple.
 
B          Thường thì động từ thì past simple tận cùng bằng -ed (động từ có qui tắc - regular verbs):
 
I work in a travel agency now. Before that I worked in a shop.
           
Tôi hiện giờ đang làm ở một văn phòng du lịch. Trước đây tôi là việc ở một cửa hiệu.
 
We invite them to our party but they decided not to come.
 
            Chúng tôi đã mời họ dự tiệc với chúng tôi nhưng họ đã quyết định không đến.
 
The police stopped me on my way home last night.
 
She passed her examination because she studied very hard.
 
Nhưng có nhiều động từ bất qui tắc (irregular) khi ở thì past simple không tận cùng bằng -ed.
Ví dụ:
write - wrote      Mozart wrote more than 600 pieces of music.
see - saw          We saw Rose in town a few days ago.
go - went          I went to cinema three times last week.
shut - shut         It was cold, so I shut the window.
 
Xem bảng liệt kê các động từ bất qui tắc.
 
C          Trong các câu nghi vấn và các câu phủ định chúng ta dùng did/didn’t + infinitive (enjoy/see/go...)
            I enjoyed           Did you enjoy?  I didn`t enjoy
            She saw            Did she see?     She didn`t see
            They went         Did they go?    They didn`t go
 
A: Did you go out last night?
 
B: Yes, I went to the cinema but I didn’t enjoy the film much.