Four verbs with their own past forms
Most verbs form their simple past with -ed, but these four use different standard forms in an affirmative past statement.
Learn each base form together with its past form: see–saw, eat–ate, drink–drank and get–got. Learning saw on its own makes it harder to connect the past form to the verb you already know.
The Past Simple presents an event or state from a past viewpoint. It can describe a single occurrence or a past habit. The main verb takes its past form; a long duration does not rule out the Past Simple.
see → saw · eat → ate · drink → drank · get → got
I saw a red bus near the school.
I saw a red bus near the school.
Saw is the standard simple past of see. Do not add -ed to see.
We ate soup and bread at noon.
We ate soup and bread at noon.
Ate is the past form of eat. At noon identifies the time of day in this past account, although that phrase can also occur with other tenses.
They drank apple juice after the game.
They drank apple juice after the game.
Drank is the past form of drink. It does not change when the subject is they instead of he.
She got a small parcel on Friday.
She got a small parcel on Friday.
Got is the simple past of get. In this example, get means receive.
One form for every person
English uses the same past form of each of these four verbs for I, you, he, she, it, we and they. Unlike Ukrainian past forms, these English forms do not vary with the subject's gender or number.
The -s associated with he, she and it in the present does not appear in these past forms: he sees, but he saw; she gets, but she got.
I/you/he/she/it/we/they + saw/ate/drank/got
He saw the same film twice.
He saw the same film twice.
Use he saw without -s. Sees is the corresponding present form.
My sisters ate all the grapes.
My sisters ate all the grapes.
The plural subject my sisters still uses ate. The past form does not change with number.
The cat drank milk from my cup.
The cat drank milk from my cup.
The cat is an it subject, but drank takes no extra ending.
The verb, the time and the context
Yesterday, last night and two days ago establish past time. This morning, at seven and on Monday do not determine the tense on their own: the surrounding situation matters.
Saw already gives the event a past viewpoint even if no time expression appears. This does not mean the event had to be instantaneous or that it can have no lasting consequences.
Compare I drink tea every morning, a current habit, with Last year I drank tea every morning, a repeated past habit. Repetition is not an automatic instruction to use a present tense.
Two days ago I got a call from the bank.
Two days ago I got a call from the bank.
Two days ago gives a past frame. The corresponding past form of get is got.
Every morning I drink tea, but this morning I drank coffee.
Every morning I drink tea, but this morning I drank coffee.
The first clause describes a current habit; the second describes this morning's breakfast as a past event. This morning alone does not require a past tense in every sentence.
— You look happy. — Yes, I saw my old teacher in the street.
— You look happy. — Yes, I saw my old teacher in the street.
Saw places the encounter in the past even though the speaker does not name a particular hour or day.
Four common meanings of got
Get has several meanings, but its affirmative simple past is still got. Work out its meaning from the rest of the sentence.
Got can mean received a letter, message or mark; obtained or bought an item; reached a place; or became a certain way.
Distinguish I have got a bike, which can express possession, from I got a bike on Sunday, which reports receiving or obtaining a bike in the past. This comparison does not define every possible use of have got in other constructions.
I got a letter from my aunt.
I got a letter from my aunt.
Got means received something from another person.
We got a new lamp for the kitchen.
We got a new lamp for the kitchen.
Got means obtained or bought an item.
Kateryna got home just before the rain.
Kateryna got home just before the rain.
Got home means reached home. Home is a directional adverb here, so it needs no to. Got to my home is possible when my home is a noun phrase.
The room got cold in the evening.
The room got cold in the evening.
Got cold describes a change of state: the room became cold.
Common errors with the standard forms
Do not use seed, eated, drinked or getted as the simple past forms being taught here. Seed does exist as a separate noun and as a verb meaning to plant or supply seeds; that does not make it the past of see.
Do not replace the affirmative simple past with a past participle. Use saw, ate and drank in these statements; seen, eaten and drunk belong in other constructions.
For an ordinary past event yesterday, use got rather than the present form get.
Do not attach -s to any of these four simple past forms for he or she. The same forms work for every subject.
Last night I saw a very long queue at the door.
Last night I saw a very long queue at the door.
The simple past of see is saw, not seed or the participle seen.
The boys drank all the lemonade.
The boys drank all the lemonade.
Standard modern English uses drank as the simple past of drink. Past drunk occurs in some dialects, but it is not the target form here.
My sister got a good mark on Monday.
My sister got a good mark on Monday.
My sister uses got, without an additional -s.
The scope of this lesson
This lesson practises affirmative past statements. Questions and negatives with did use the base forms of these verbs and are taught separately. Any already supplied dialogue text provides context; it does not expand the target form.
Seen, eaten and drunk are participles used in other constructions. The participle of get is got in British English and often gotten in American English. This difference does not change the simple past got.
Saw is also a separate verb meaning to cut with a saw; its simple past is sawed. That verb is different from see with the past form saw.
Drunk can be an adjective meaning intoxicated. Some dialects also use drunk as a past form of drink, but this lesson targets the standard simple past drank and distinguishes it from the participle drunk.
Yesterday I got two emails and answered both.
Yesterday I got two emails and answered both.
Got appears directly after the subject in this affirmative past statement.
In the morning I saw the list, and at lunch I ate with Roman.
In the morning I saw the list, and at lunch I ate with Roman.
The account uses two past forms. An affirmative Past Simple clause does not need an extra auxiliary.
Use the forms in your own speech
Practise a short account of a past day: what you saw, ate or drank, and what you received or obtained. This is a way to practise the four verbs, not a claim that every conversation must contain all four.
Build an affirmative statement with the subject, the past verb and the rest of the message. A time phrase can go at the beginning or end: Yesterday I saw a friend; I saw a friend yesterday.
Invent details when the task allows free production. In a translation or a task with fixed facts, preserve the original content. If you forget a verb form, check the form rather than replacing the event with a different one.
subject + saw/ate/drank/got + rest of the message; time phrase at the beginning or end
- subject / S —
- The grammatical subject: who or what the clause is about; the verb agrees with it. In The book was written, the book is the subject, although someone else does the action.
Yesterday I saw an old friend, and we drank coffee for an hour.
Yesterday I saw an old friend, and we drank coffee for an hour.
Saw and drank both fit the same past account.
On Saturday my family ate outside and got home before dark.
On Saturday my family ate outside and got home before dark.
The subject performs two actions. Both verbs take their past forms.
Common mistakes
Incorrect:I seed a great film last night.
Correct:I saw a great film last night.
The standard simple past of see is saw. Seed is a separate word, not this verb's past form.
Incorrect:She eated breakfast at seven.
Correct:She ate breakfast at seven.
Eat is irregular: its simple past is ate, not eated.
Incorrect:We drinked cold water after the run.
Correct:We drank cold water after the run.
The simple past of drink is drank, not the regularised form drinked.
Incorrect:He getted my message an hour ago.
Correct:He got my message an hour ago.
The simple past of get is got, not getted.
Incorrect:I seen your sister at the shop.
Correct:I saw your sister at the shop.
Use saw in an affirmative Past Simple statement. Seen is a participle for another construction.
Incorrect:They drunk all the juice.
Correct:They drank all the juice.
The target standard simple past is drank. Dialectal past drunk does not make it the target form for this task.
Incorrect:Yesterday I get a letter from my aunt.
Correct:Yesterday I got a letter from my aunt.
Yesterday frames an ordinary past event here, so use got. Present get does not express that event in the target Past Simple form.
Incorrect:She ates a sandwich at eleven.
Correct:She ate a sandwich at eleven.
Use ate without -s, including with she. These past forms do not vary by person.
Incorrect:Last night I got home late and eat a sandwich.
Correct:Last night I got home late and ate a sandwich.
Last night frames both actions in the past account: got home and ate. Do not leave the second verb in its base form.
Sources
- British Council — Past simple: reference for affirmative past forms, past-time context and irregular verbs.
- Merriam-Webster — Seed: reference distinguishing this separate word from the past form of see.
- Merriam-Webster — Drink, Usage of Drink: reference for standard past drank, participle drunk and usage variation.
- Merriam-Webster — Get: reference for got, the participles got/gotten and the verb's meanings.
- Merriam-Webster — Saw: reference distinguishing the cutting verb saw from the past form of see.