The Simple Past Tense in TOEIC®: The Clear Guide to Avoiding 90% of Traps

The simple past (or preterite) refers to an action completed in the past at a specific time.
In the TOEIC®, it appears in a large portion of Part 5 questions concerning verb tenses. For example:

• "The manager approved the budget yesterday"

The most common trap? Confusing the simple past with the present perfect when a specific time marker is present in the sentence.

How to Form the Simple Past in English

The simple past follows simple rules, but irregular verbs require special attention for the TOEIC®.

Regular Verbs: Adding -ed

For the majority of verbs, you add -ed to the base form. This form remains the same for all subjects (I, you, he, she, it, we, they):

• "She worked late on the project last Monday."
• They launched the new product in June."

Watch out for spelling changes:

• Verb ending in -e → add only -d: close → closed
• One-syllable verb (consonant-vowel-consonant) → double the final consonant: stop → stopped
• Verb ending in -y preceded by a consonant → change to -ied: study → studied

Irregular Verbs: A List to Memorize

About 200 English verbs have an irregular form in the simple past. And guess what? These are exactly the verbs often found in professional TOEIC® contexts.

• "The CEO went to Singapore for the conference."
• "We sent the documents to all stakeholders."

The most frequently tested irregular verbs in the TOEIC®: go/went, send/sent, make/made, take/took, have/had, come/came, see/saw, write/wrote, get/got, give/gave.

You can find the full list of irregular verbs right here.

Negative and Interrogative Forms

To construct the negative or interrogative, you use did (auxiliary) + base form of the verb (without -ed).

• "The supplier did not deliver the order on time."
• "Did the team meet the deadline?"

A recurring TOEIC® trap in Part 5: candidates choose "didn't delivered" instead of "didn't deliver." The auxiliary 'did' already carries the past tense marker, so the main verb remains in the base form.

Simple Past Time Markers

The simple past is always accompanied by time indicators that fix the action to a bygone moment in the past. These keywords are decisive signals in Part 5.

• "The sales team exceeded targets last quarter."
• "He joined the company three years ago."

According to our experience with the candidates we coach, confusion between "ago" and "for/since" comes up constantly.
'Ago' requires the simple past, while 'for/since' requires the present perfect. Yet, this distinction is tested in almost every official test.

Simple Past vs. Present Perfect: TOEIC® Traps

Many candidates get tripped up here. The difference hinges on one criterion: connection to the present or a complete break.

When to choose the Simple Past?

You use the simple past when the action is completely finished, with no connection to the present.

The time is specified (or clearly implied).

• "The director announced the restructuring plan yesterday."

Here, "yesterday" marks a clear break with the present. The announcement took place in the completed past.

When to choose the Present Perfect?

You use the present perfect (have/has + past participle) when the action has a connection to the present or when the specific time is not mentioned.

• "The director has announced several changes this year."

"This year" is a period that includes the present (we are still in 2026), so the present perfect is required.

Comparison Table: Frequent Errors

Simple Past in Part 6 and 7: Recognizing Narrative Context

In Part 6 (fill-in-the-blanks) and Part 7 (reading comprehension), the simple past structures narratives of past events. Identify the overall time frame of the text.

Typical Part 6 Example

• "Last month, our company launched a new training program. The HR department organized three sessions. More than 50 employees participated in the workshops."

All verbs are in the simple past because the text recounts a completed event (last month). If a sentence in the text mentions a current consequence, it will shift to the present perfect.

Trap: Mixing Tenses in the Same Text

Even among candidates who already have access to a preparation platform through their school, confusion between the simple past and present perfect comes up very often in Part 5.

The reason is simple: these tools emphasize the rule but rarely instill the reflex needed under pressure.

• "The company hired 20 new employees in March. Since then, productivity has increased by 15%."

First sentence: simple past (specific time: March).

Second sentence: present perfect ('since' = starting point in the past with an effect up to now).

Decision Checklist: Simple Past or Another Tense?

Ask yourself these 3 questions in order to never hesitate again.

• "When the phone rang, I was preparing the report."

'Rang' → simple past (brief, completed action).

'Was preparing' → past continuous (action in progress at that time).

Typical TOEIC® Errors

Candidates' native languages sometimes use the *passé composé* in contexts where English requires the simple past. And we see this constantly with candidates.

We don't systematically translate "J'ai fait" as "I have done"

For example, in some languages, "J'ai envoyé le mail hier" (I sent the email yesterday) is correct.

In English, "I have sent the email yesterday" is wrong.

The presence of "yesterday" requires the simple past."

• I sent the email yesterday."

Simple Past is Sufficient to Express a Simple Past Action

You don't need the present perfect if you mention a specific time.

• "The conference took place last Friday."

No need for "has taken place" here. The simple past is more natural and correct.

Watch Out for Irregular Verbs Hidden in Common Expressions

Verbs like "meet" (to encounter), "deal with" (to handle), "hold" (to organize) are irregular and very frequent in TOEIC® contexts.

• "The manager held a meeting to address the issue."

Not "holded", but "held".

Ready to Practice?

The simple past is the most tested verb tense in TOEIC Part 5, often mixed with the present perfect or past continuous to create traps.

If you master the distinction between these tenses well, you can easily secure 20 to 30 points.

On Flow Exam, you can practice directly on the Past Tenses theme in Part 5, with thousands of questions formatted exactly like those on the official TOEIC®. So if you struggle with this topic, you will never make the same mistakes again.

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