The Past Tense of Plan in English

Past Tense of Plan

Simple Past Tense

Past Continuous Tense

The past continuous tense of the verb “plan” is “was planning” or “were planning.” It is used to describe an ongoing or continuous action of planning that was taking place at a specific point in the past.

Examples:

• At 8 PM last night, I was planning my presentation for the meeting.
• While they were on vacation, the team was planning the new project.

Past Perfect Tense

The past perfect tense of the verb “plan” is “had planned.” It is used to describe an action of planning that occurred before another action in the past.

Examples:

• By the time we arrived at the airport, we had planned our entire itinerary.
• She had planned the event meticulously before the unexpected changes occurred.

Past Perfect Continuous Tense

The past perfect continuous tense of the verb “plan” is “had been planning.” It is used to describe a continuous or ongoing action of planning that was happening over a period of time before a certain point in the past.

Examples:

• She was exhausted because she had been planning the project for weeks before the deadline.
• By the time they announced the decision, we had been planning the event for months.

Here’s the conjugation table:

Positive Sentences

To form a positive sentence in the past simple tense of “plan,” we use the subject followed by the past tense “planned”. For example:

• We planned a trip to Europe last summer.
• John planned a surprise party for his wife’s birthday.
• The company planned to launch a new product next year.

Negative Sentences

To form a negative sentence in the past simple tense of “plan,” we use the subject followed by “did not” (or “didn’t”) and the base form of the verb “plan.” For example:

• We did not plan to go to the beach yesterday.
• John didn’t plan anything special for Valentine’s Day.
• The company didn’t plan to cut jobs this year.

Interrogative Sentences

To form an interrogative sentence in the past simple tense of “plan,” we use “did” followed by the subject and the base form of the verb “plan.” For example:

• Did we plan the meeting for next week?
• Did John plan the menu for the party?
• Did the company plan to expand its business overseas?

Regular Verbs and Irregular Verbs

Regular Verbs

Regular verbs follow a predictable pattern when forming their past tense. In the case of “plan,” we simply add “-ed” to the base form of the verb to form the past tense. For example:

• Walk – walked – walked
• Talk – talked – talked
• Play – played – played
• Clean – cleaned – cleaned
• Jump – jumped – jumped
• Watch – watched – watched
• Call – called – called
• Like – liked – liked
• Smile – smiled – smiled
• Bake – baked – baked
• Help – helped – helped
• Carry – carried – carried
• Open – opened – opened
• Listen – listened – listened
• Enjoy – enjoyed – enjoyed
• Dance – danced – danced
• Visit – visited – visited
• End – ended – ended
• Need – needed – needed
• Agree – agreed – agreed

Irregular Verbs

As we know, English has a fair share of irregular verbs that do not follow the standard rules of adding ‘-ed’ to the base form to form the past tense. Here, we have compiled a list of some of the most common irregular verbs that you should know:

Tips to Remember Past Tense of Verbs

1. Regular Verbs: For regular verbs, simply add “-ed” to the end of the base verb to make it past tense. For example, “walk” becomes “walked.”
2. Irregular Verbs: Irregular verbs do not follow the same pattern as regular verbs, so they must be memorized. Some common examples include “go” becoming “went,” “eat” becoming “ate,” and “see” becoming “saw.”
3. Double Consonants: If a verb ends in a consonant followed by a vowel, and the stress is on the last syllable, then the final consonant is doubled before adding “-ed.” For example, “stop” becomes “stopped.”

The simple past tense is used to describe actions that happened in the past and are now completed. Here are some examples:

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• I walked to the store yesterday.

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• She ate breakfast at 8 am this morning.

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• They watched a movie last night.

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"}},{"@type":"Question","name":"How do you form the past tense of regular verbs?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"

To form the past tense of regular verbs, you simply add -ed to the base form of the verb. For example:

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• Walk becomes walked

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• Talk becomes talked

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• Play becomes played

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"}},{"@type":"Question","name":"What is the difference between the past simple and past continuous tense?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"

The past simple tense is used to describe a completed action in the past, while the past continuous tense is used to describe an action that was ongoing in the past. For example:

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• Past simple: I walked to the store yesterday.

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• Past continuous: I was walking to the store when it started raining.

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"}},{"@type":"Question","name":"Can you give me some exercises to practice the past tense?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"

Sure! Here are some exercises you can do to practice the past tense:

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• Fill in the blanks with the correct form of the verb in parentheses: Yesterday, I (walk) to the park and (play) with my friends.

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• Rewrite the following sentences in the past tense: She eats breakfast at 8 am. They watch a movie every Friday.

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• Write a short story using at least five different past tense verbs.

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"}},{"@type":"Question","name":"What are some common irregular verbs in the past tense?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"

Some common irregular verbs in the past tense include:

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• Go becomes went

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• Eat becomes ate

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• Drink becomes drank

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"}},{"@type":"Question","name":"How can I teach the past tense in an effective way?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"

One effective way to teach the past tense is to use real-life examples and activities. You can have students share stories about their weekends or ask them to write about a past vacation. You can also use games and exercises to make learning the past tense more fun and engaging.

"}}]}