Simple Past - Regular Verbs

The past simple

Affirmative: I looked. He looked. 

Negative:  I did not look (didn’t look). He did not look (didn’t look).
Question: Did I look?  Did he look?

 

Rules

When the verb ends in -e, the past simple is formed by adding -d.             
Example: care – cared.

When the verb ends in a consonant + -y, the past simple is formed by removing the -y and adding -ied.                                                           
Example:  study – studied

When the verb ends in one stressed vowel and one consonant (except w or y), the past simple is usually formed by doubling the consonant and adding -ed.                                                                                          
Example:  refer – referred

When the verb ends in -l it is doubled in British English even if the vowel is not stressed . (Exceptions to these rules are shown at the verb entries.)
Exemple: travel – travelled (BrE)/ traveled (AmE)

When the verb ends in -c, the past simple is formed by adding -ked.
Example: picnic – picnicked