GRAMMAR POINT:

THE PAST SIMPLE

The PAST SIMPLE with REGULAR verbs

AFFIRMATIVE

I wash

You wash

He / She wash

We wash

You wash

They wash

ed

ed

ed

ed

ed

ed

NEGATIVE

I

(DID NOT) wash

You

wash

He / She

wash

We

wash

You

wash

They

wash

DIDN’T

DIDN’T

DIDN’T

DIDN’T

DIDN’T

DIDN’T

Example with

INTERROGATIVE

I wash …?
you wash …?
he / she wash …?
we wash …?
you wash …?
they wash …?

DID
DID
DID
DID
DID
DID

A FEW REMARKS

•

Verbs ending with ‘e’:

→ add only –

ex:

live

→ live .

•

Verbs ending with a consonant + ‘y’:

→ ‘y’ becomes ‘i’ + add –

ex: carry

→ carr

d

d

ed

ied

ed

ed

ed

.

•

Verbs ending with a vowel + ‘y’:
→ add only –

ex:

stay

→ stay .

•

If the verb ends in a consonant, a vowel, and a consonant (except ‘w’, ‘x’, ‘y’)
double the consonant and add –

.

ex: stop

→ stop

ped

ed

.

•

If a two-syllable verb ends in a consonant, a vowel, and a consonant and the last
syllable is stressed, double the last consonant and add –

.

ex: prefer

→ prefer

red

.

HOW TO PRONOUNCE –

/ –

ed

d

•

3 pronunciations:

/d/

/t/

/id/

•

Classify the following verbs according to the final sound you are likely to hear.

watch

/ play

/ invent

/ preferr

/ stopp

/ direct

/ fascinat

/ discover

/ help

/ brush

/ cal

/ want

/ walk

/ paint

.

/d/ /t/ /id/

ed

ed

ed

ed

ed

ed

ed

ed

ed

ed

l

ed

ed

ed

ed

WASH

WHEN TO USE THE PAST SIMPLE

We use the

to talk about …

•

an action that

and

at a specific time in the past

Past Simple

started

finished

.

Ex:

I watched a nice movie yesterday.
Last year, I wrote a book.

•

A series of

in the past

completed actions

.

Ex:

He woke up, got up immediately, had a quick shower and went to work.

•

a

which

and

in the past

duration

started

stopped

.

Ex:

They lived in Paris for 2 years. Now they live in London.

•

a

which

in the past

habit

stopped

.

Ex:

Did you play the piano when you were a kid?

•

past facts or generalizations which are

.

Ex:

She was very shy when she was younger.

(Also: She used to be very shy when she was younger.)

no longer true

The PAST SIMPLE with IRREGULAR verbs

•

You have to learn the

forms used in

sentences.

•

In negative and interrogative sentences, you need the auxiliary

and the

.

irregular

AFFIRMATIVE

DID

base

form of the verb

AFFIRMATIVE

I

You

He / She

We

You

They

went

went

went

went

went

went

NEGATIVE

I

(DID NOT) go

You

go

He / She

go

We

go

You

go

They

go

DIDN’T

DIDN’T

DIDN’T

DIDN’T

DIDN’T

DIDN’T

Example with

GO

INTERROGATIVE

I go …?
you go …?
he / she go …?
we go …?
you go …?
they go …?

DID
DID
DID
DID
DID
DID

•

See the

of the most common irregular verbs.

list

COMMON PAST TIME EXPRESSIONS

•

They didn’t go to the cinema yesterday.

•

He called two hours ago.

•

He found a job last week.

•

(+ year)

She died in 1992.

•

…

I studied German when I was younger.

yesterday
ago
last
in
when

TIME TO PRACTISE!

Exercise 1: Choose the right answer.

1.

Where ___________________ last winter?
… do you go

… did you go

… went you

2.

He ___________________ his car 3 weeks ago.
… bought

… did buy

… buy

3.

My mother ___________________ in the country when she was younger.
… live

… did live

… lived

4.

I think I ___________________ my glasses in the library.
… losed

… lost

… didn’t lose

5.

We ___________________ last month.
… moved in

… move in

… did move in

6.

How ___________________ you finger?
… cut you

… you cut

… did you cut

Exercise 2: Some information in the following paragraph is missing. Write the

questions you are going to ask to know the missing information.

Yesterday, ___

1

___ had a very rough day. She got up early to ___

2

___, but as soon as she

stepped out of the door, it began to rain, so she had to go back to the apartment and get her
umbrella. The elevator was out, so she had to climb ___

3

___ flights of stairs to get to her

place. When she got back downstairs, she was so exhausted that she had to sit down on a
___

4

___ to rest. By that time, it had stopped raining, but the ground was still wet. A brown

dog came to where she was sitting and begged for something to eat. She tried to ignore him,
but he splashed water all over her brand new shoes. Finally, the bus came, and she was on
her way to the supermarket.

When she got to the supermarket, she realized ___

5

___, so she couldn't remember

everything she wanted to buy. The cashier was too busy to help her, so she gathered up a
few items and carried them to the counter. After the cashier finished ringing up her purchase,
he gave her the wrong change and stuffed her groceries into her small shopping cart. She
was not in a good mood when she left the supermarket.
If that wasn't bad enough, she had a terrible time on the bus ride home. First, the bus driver
yelled at her because ___

6

___. Couldn't he see that she had a cart full of groceries? Then,

there were not any seats. She was sure that someone on the bus could have offered her a
place to sit, but everyone was so rude. They pretended not to see her. She just stood there,
leaned against one of the poles in the aisles, put her head down, and sighed.

(Adapted from http://www.eslgold.com/writing/sample_past.html)

1.

_______________________________________________________________________

2.

_______________________________________________________________________

3.

_______________________________________________________________________

4.

_______________________________________________________________________

5.

_______________________________________________________________________

6.

_______________________________________________________________________

LIST OF THE MOST COMMON IRREGULAR VERBS

Infinitive Past

Simple

Past

Participle

Meaning

Infinitive Past

Simple

Past

Participle

Meaning

be was/were

been

lose lost lost

beat beat

beaten

make made made

become became become

meet met met

begin began begun

pay paid paid

bend bent bent

put put put

bet bet bet

read read read

bite bit bitten

ride rode ridden

blow blew blown

ring rang rung

break broke broken

rise rose risen

bring brought

brought

run ran run

build built built

say said said

burst burst burst

see saw seen

buy bought

bought

seek sought sought

catch caught caught

sell sold sold

choose chose chosen

send sent sent

come came come

set set set

cost cost cost

sew sewed

sewn/sewed

cut cut cut

shake shook shaken

deal dealt dealt

shine shone shone

dig dug dug

shoot shot shot

do did

done

show showed shown

draw drew drawn

shrink shrank shrunk

drink drank drunk

shut shut shut

eat ate

eaten

sing sang sung

fall fell

fallen

sink sank sunk

feed fed fed

sit sat sat

feel felt felt

sleep slept slept

fight fought fought

speak spoke spoken

find found found

spend spent spent

fly flew

flown

split split split

forbid forbade

forbidden

spread spread spread

forget forgot

forgotten

spring sprang sprung

freeze froze frozen

stand stood stood

get got got

steal stole stolen

give gave given

stick stuck stuck

go went

gone

sting stung stung

grow grew grown

stink stank stunk

hang hung hung

strike struck struck

have had had

swear swore sworn

hear heard heard

sweep swept swept

hide hid

hidden

swim swam swum

hit hit hit

swing swung swung

hold held held

take took taken

hurt hurt hurt

teach taught taught

keep kept kept

tear tore torn

know knew known

tell told told

lay laid laid

think thought thought

lead led led

thrown threw thrown

leave left left

understand

understood

understood

lend lent lent

wake woke woken

let let let

wear wore worn

lie lay lain

win won won

light lit lit

write wrote written

SOLUTIONS

/d/ /t/ /id/

play

ed

/ preferr

ed

/

discover

ed

/ call

ed

/

watch

ed

/ stopp

ed

/ help

ed

/

brush

ed

/ walk

ed

/

invent

ed

/ direct

ed

/

fascinat

ed

/ want

ed

/

paint

ed

Exercise 1:

1.

Where

did you

go

last winter?

2.

He

bought

his car 3 weeks ago.

3.

My mother

lived

in the country when she was younger.

4.

I think I

lost

my glasses in the library.

5.

We

moved in

last month.

6.

How

did you cut

you finger?

Exercise 2:

1. Who

had a very rough day yesterday?

2. Why

did she get up early? /

What

did she get up early

for

?

3. How many

flights of stairs did she (have to) climb to get to her place?

4. Where

did she (have to) sit down to rest?

5. What

did she realize?

6. Why

did the bus driver yell at her?

Sites used to make this worksheet:

http://www.englishpage.com/verbpage/simplepast.html
http://esl.about.com/library/grammar/blpastsimple.htm
http://www.eslgold.com/grammar/simple_past.html
http://esl.about.com/library/grammar/blpastsimple.htm

Download this audio file to listen to the pronunciation of some of these irregular verbs:

http://www.eslpodcards.com/irregular-verbs.php