🔹 Introduction:
Why Simple Past Tense Is Important in Narrative Texts
In English grammar, Simple Past Tense plays a crucial role in writing and understanding narrative texts.
Narrative texts are used to tell stories, recount past experiences, or describe historical events. Because these events happened in the past, we use the simple past tense to express them clearly and accurately.
Example from a narrative:
One day, the boy went into the forest and found a strange bird.
In this example, "went" and "found" are in the simple past tense, showing that the actions happened in the past and are now completed.
📚 Basic Grammar: Simple Past Tense
1. Function
The simple past tense is used to:
Express completed actions in the past.
Tell a sequence of events in a story.
Report facts or situations that no longer exist.
2. Pola Kalimat (Sentence Patterns)
✅ Kalimat Positif (Affirmative)
S + Verb 2 (past form) + O
| Subject | Verb 2 | Object |
|---|---|---|
| I | visited | my grandmother yesterday. |
| She | played | the piano last night. |
Note: Verb 2 bisa berupa regular verb (tambahkan –ed), atau irregular verb (bentuk berbeda).
❌ Kalimat Negatif (Negative)
S + did not (didn’t) + Verb 1
| Subject | Auxiliary | Verb 1 | Object |
|---|---|---|---|
| He | didn’t | go | to school yesterday. |
| They | didn’t | eat | the cake. |
Gunakan Verb 1 (bentuk dasar) setelah didn't.
❓ Kalimat Tanya (Interrogative)
Did + S + Verb 1 + O?
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| Did you watch the movie? | Yes, I did. / No, I didn’t. |
| Did she call you last night? | Yes, she did. / No, she didn’t. |
🔹 3. Contoh Kata Kerja
| Base Verb | Past Tense (V2) | Type |
|---|---|---|
| walk | walked | regular |
| study | studied | regular |
| go | went | irregular |
| eat | ate | irregular |
| buy | bought | irregular |
🔹 4. Contoh Kalimat Lengkap
-
✅ I visited Bali last year.
-
❌ She didn’t eat breakfast this morning.
-
❓ Did they watch the football match last night?
🔹 5. Keterangan Waktu Umum (Time Expressions)
-
Yesterday
-
Last night / last week / last year
-
Two days ago
-
In 2019
-
When I was a child
📝 Latihan Singkat
A. Ubah kalimat berikut ke bentuk negatif dan tanya:
-
He studied English last night.
→ Negatif: _______________________
→ Tanya: _______________________ -
They went to the zoo yesterday.
→ Negatif: _______________________
→ Tanya: _______________________
3. Regular vs Irregular Verbs
Regular verbs: add -ed
play → played
clean → cleaned
Irregular verbs: change form
go → went
eat → ate
4. Common Time Expressions
yesterday
last night / week / month / year
two days ago
in 2020
Examples:
I watched a movie last night.
She met him two years ago.
🎨 Vocabulary Commonly Used in Narrative Texts (Simple Past Tense)
Here is a table of vocabulary often used in narrative texts written in the simple past tense:
| Base Verb | Past Form | Meaning (Indonesia) |
| go | went | pergi |
| see | saw | melihat |
| find | found | menemukan |
| take | took | mengambil |
| come | came | datang |
| run | ran | berlari |
| tell | told | menceritakan |
| give | gave | memberi |
| say | said | berkata |
| think | thought | berpikir |
🎮 Narrative Example Using Simple Past Tense
Once upon a time, there was a poor farmer who lived with his son. One day, they found a magic lamp in the garden. When they rubbed it, a genie appeared and offered them three wishes. They asked for food, money, and happiness. The genie granted their wishes, and they lived happily ever after.
💼 Summary:
The Simple Past Tense is essential for telling stories and recounting past events.
It is used heavily in narrative texts, where events are presented in sequence.
Mastering regular and irregular verb forms will help you write better past-tense stories.
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