The Simple Past Tense

THE SIMPLE PAST TENSE

by D.A. Satriadi

4. The Simple Past Tense             

The Simple Past Tense secara umum dapat Anda gunakan untuk kegiatan yang dilakukan di waktu lampau atau peristiwa yang selesai di waktu lalu dan tidak ada hubungan dengan waktu sekarang. Dalam tenses ini juga terdapat dua struktur kalimat seperti halnya The Simple Present Tense, pertama menggunakan linking verb atau verb be (kata kerja penghubung), yaitu was dan were. Kata kerja ini dapat berarti ada, berada, adalah, tapi padanannya tersebut sering kali tidak diterjemahkan ke dalam Bahasa Indonesia sama sekali. 

Bentuk negative (peniadaan) dibuat dengan menambahkan kata not setelah kata kerja tersebut: was not, dan were not. Sedangkan bentuk interrogative (pertanyaan) dibuat dengan menempatkan kata kerja sebelum subyek: was I….?, was he…..?, was she….?,  was it….?, were you….?, were we…..?, were they……?, dan seterusnya.  

Di dalam kalimat linking verb menghubungkan subyek dengan noun, adjective, adverb atau prepositionial phrase of place sebagai complement (pelengkap penderita, penyerta, pelaku). Perhatikan perbedaannya di bawah ini: I was a student. (a student adalah jenis kata benda) She was not stupid. (stupid adalah jenis kata sifat) Were you still there? (there adalah jenis kata keterangan) They were in the living room. (in the living room adalah frase kata kata depan menerangkan tempat)  

Struktur kalimat lainnya menggunakan kata kerja utama kedua (Verb 2 atau Simple Past) yang memiliki arti masing-masing, seperti: ate (makan), went (pergi), played (bermain / memainkan), spoke (berbicara), dan sebagainya. 

Dalam kalimat positive setelah subyek I, you, we, they, he, she, dan it diikuti kata kerja kedua tersebut: I ate, you ate, we ate, they ate, Toni and Teni ate, the teachers ate, he ate, she ate, it ate, Jane ate, the rabbit ate, dan seterusnya.  

Kata bantu did berlaku untuk semua subyek: I, you, we, they, he, she, dan it dalam kalimat negative atau interrogative. Namun, kata kerja kedua (Simple Past) berubah menjadi kata kerja kesatu (infinitive). Contracted forms (= bentuk-bentuk penyingkatan) did not adalah didn't. Di dalam kalimat tertulis seperti berikut: I didn't, you didn't, we didn't, they didn't, he didn't, she didn't, it didn't, did I ….?, did you ….?, did we ….?, did they ….?, did Dony and Kemal …..?, did Ita and her friends …..?, did he ….?, did she ….?, did it….?, did Devi …..?, did the crocodile ……?, dan seterusnya.   

Dalam tenses ini seringkali digunakan kata keterangan waktu, seperti: last week/year/night/etc.* (= minggu/tahun/malam lalu/dan seterusnya), yesterday (= kemarin), two minutes/three days/four weeks/five years ago (= dua menit/tiga hari/empat minggu/lima tahun lalu), in 1987 (= pada tahun 1987), when I was a child (= ketika aku kecil), yang acapkali terdapat kalimat ini.

Pola Kalimat dengan linking verbs (be):  
(+)    S + linking verb (be: was / were) + O/Adv. 
(-)    S + linking verb (be: was / were) + not + O/Adv. 
(?)    Be (was / were) + S + O/Adv.  


Pola Kalimat dengan main verbs (kata kerja utama): 
(+)    S + V2 + O/Adv. 
(-)    S + did + not + V1 + O/Adv. 
(?)    Did + S + V1 + O/Adv.                 

Penggunaan kata bantu (have / has) terhadap subyeknya dan contracted forms dapat Anda lihat penjelasannya pada The Present Perfect Tense.  


Fungsi dan Contoh:  
i. The Simple Past Tense untuk menyatakan perbuatan selesai di waktu lampau yang tidak ada hubungannya dengan saat ini.

• She made a cake yesterday.
• He did not watch television last night.
• Did you get up so late?
• Michael Jackson was a great singer
• John did his homework after dinner.
• I was in California. I am in Jakarta now.

 
ii. untuk menyatakan suatu kebiasaan lama yang sudah lewat.

• I used to swim in that river.
• He used to smoke three packs of cigarettes a day.
• She always took care of me when I was very young.

 

EXERCISES  

I. Choose A, B, C, D, or E as the best answer by crossing (X) it. (Pililah A,     B, C, D, atau E jawaban yang paling benar dengan memberi tanda silang.)     

1. Was the weather nice on Monday? No, it … .         
A. isn’t      B. were      C. was      D. weren’t     E. wasn’t     

2. We … on vacation last week.         
A. are              B. were            C. wasn’t      D. is                   E. be        

3. … you and Yukiko home last night?         
A. Are             B. Were           C. Wasn’t     D. Is                   E. Was     

4. I … in Montreal last night?         
A. was             B. am               C. were         D. are                 E. do     

5. Yesterday I … lunch with a friend.         
A. eat               B. have            C. ate            D. take               E. do        

6. I … to my sister on the telephone last   night .         
A. talking        B. to talk         C. talk           D. talk                  E. talked     

7. I … a good time yesterday.         
A. have           B. takes           C. had            D. were                  E. spend     

8. They … two books at the bookstore.         
A. bought        B. went            C. has            D. ate                  E. drank     

9. We … in class yesterday.         
A. be               B. wasn’t        C. was          D. are                     E. weren’t        

10. I … sick last week.           
A. am             B. are             C. was           D. were                   E. weren’t     

11. Yesterday we … lunch at a restaurant.            
A. ate             B. have          C. eat             D. has                   E. were     

12. I … a new dress yesterday.           
A. have          B. buy            C. bought       D. has                   E. buying     

13. We … for an hour on the phone.            
A. talked        B. have           C. talking       D. is                   E. were     

14. … you at home last night ?            
A. Were         B. Are            C. Is                D. Was                  E. Did     

15. What time did the movie ….?            
A. begun      B. began    C. beginning     D. begins      E. begin       

16. I drove my car to work … .           
A. now      B. at the moment     C. tomorrow     D. tonight     E. a few days ago     

17. My friend … not order any more coffe last hour.            
A. did               B. done             C. do              D. does                 E. was        

18. Dody gave you a present for your birthday.            
A. Who gave you a present for your birthday?            
B. What did Dody give you for your birthday?            
C. How did Dody give you a present for your birthday?            
D. Whom did Dody give you a present for?            
E. Where did Dody give you a present for your birthday?     

19. The correct sentence is …            
A. Did she watched television yesterday morning?            
B. Did you tell me the truth last night?            
C. Did they play chess now?            
D. Does he notice nouncement a few months ago?            
E. Does we knew the accident at this moment?     

20. The correct sentence is …            
A. Pierce Brosnan didn’t came up in this world a few years ago.            
B. Broke Shields wasn’t come up in this world a few years ago.            
C. Dea didn’t do any terrible mistakes yesterday.            
D. Debie doesn’t did any terrible mistakes yesterday.            
E. Richard Gere didn’t does any terrible mistakes a few years ago.   


II. Supply the correct form of the verbs in parentheses into The Simple Past Tense. (Berikan bentuk The Simple Past Tense yang tepat dari kata kerja di dalam kurung.)
 
                1. Where ….. you yesterday, Joan? (go) I ……… to a big outdoor market. (go)            2. What …… you ……there? (do) I ……. to a lot of people. (talk)             3. Who …… with you? (go) Charles …….. with me? (go)            4. ………. you ………. to a lot of peple? ((talk) Yes, we …….. (do).           5. …… you ….. some good food? (eat) Yes, we .... . (do) We..... some fruit. (eat)           6. When ……… you …….? (return) We …….. at 9:30.     
7. What …….. you ……..? (buy) I ……… a lamp and a dresser.     
8. ………. You ……… fun? (have) Yes, I ………. a great time.    


III. Change the sentences below into The Simple Past Tense by substituting the words marked. (Rubahlah kalimat-kalimat di bawah ini ke dalam The Simple Past Tense dengan mengganti kata-kata yang telah diberi tanda.)   
  
1. They are on the way to the office.         ……………………………………………… .     
2.They go to the offices by car.         ……………………………………………… .     
3. We are officers of the firm.         ……………………………………………… .     
4. He types letters at full speed.         ……………………………………………… .     
5. She is an interesting girl.         ……………………………………………… .    
6. My sisters take a bath every day.         ……………………………………………… .     
7. I am twenty years old.         ……………………………………………… .     
8. The girl sends a package to her friend.         ……………………………………………… . 
9. It is the calculator you are looking for.         ……………………………………………… .     
10. You eat rice three times a day.            ……………………………………………… .


IV. Rewrite the paragraph below into the The Simple Past Tense. (Tulis kembali paragraf di bawah ini ke dalam The Simple Past Tense.) 
 

               Raoul goes to college. He studies government. He learns about different kinds of governments and about the machinery of government. His classes are interesting. They give him insights into politics. They make him critical. He may work in government. He may enter politics. He may only be a better voter. He will surely be a better citizen.

                    ………………………………………………………………………………             ……………………………………………………………………………………             ……………………………………………………………………………………             ……………………………………………………………………………………             ……………………………………………………………………………………             ……………………………………………………………………………………             ……………………………………………………………………………………             ……………………………………………………………………………………             ……………………………………………………………………………………             ……………………………………………………………………………………             

(Catatan: bentuk lampau may = might, will = would)      
      

This is the end of The Simple Past Tense tutorial. Good luck.