EF

The preterit

As a general rule, the preterit is formed by adding the ending "--ed" to the infinitive (dropping any unpronounced "e" in final position, and changing any final "y" to "i"):

to walk --> walked
to answer --> answered
to want --> wanted
to smile --> smiled
to cry --> cried

The preterit forms of many common verbs are irregular:

to be --> was (singular), were (plural)
to have --> had
to do --> did
to make --> made
to eat --> ate
to go --> went
to drink --> drank
to think --> thought
to bring --> brought
to drive --> drove
to write --> wrote
to sing --> sang
to build --> built

(For a complete list of this irregular forms, see Irregular preterits and past participles).

Usage

The preterit expresses actions which were completed in the past. Unlike those described by the present perfect, these actions do not continue in the present. Unlike the past progressive, the preterit does not describe the process or duration of actions: it states them only as completed actions:

She went to the store this afternoon.
They called the police.
He came, he saw, he conquered.

The duration of the action is of no importance: the preterit may describe an action lasting an instant or many years. Thus verbs indicating belief, emotion, possession, location, etc. will often be expressed in the preterit:

I lived in London for three years.
She owned three dogs throughout her childhood.
I never trusted what they told me.

In the negative and interrogative, the auxiliary verb "to do" -- conjugated in the preterit -- will be used with the infinitive to express the past:

Did you arrive in time?
Didn't you eat yet?
We didn't go to the movies after all.

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