Simple Past Tense

Lesson 2. Simple Past Tense

I bought a camera
She studied We visited our They worked until
last week.
Math last night. uncle last week. eleven last night.
More examples:

• Mom opened the door for us.

• Sally petted the dog.
• Dad tried to fix the light.
• Jack and Jill went up the hill.
• The plane landed a few minutes ago.
• We drove to the safari park last weekend.
• The children decided to visit their grandmother.
• William told his son to finish eating the spaghetti.

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Lesson 2. Simple Past Tense
We use the Past Simple tense to talk about an action or a situation - an
event - in the past. The event can be short or long.
Here are some short events with the Past Simple:
The car exploded at 9.30am yesterday.
She went to the door.
We did not hear the telephone.

past present future

The action is in the past.

Here are some long events with the Past Simple tense:
I lived in Bangkok for 10 years.
The Jurassic period lasted about 62 million years.
We did not sing at the concert.
Did you watch TV last night?

past present future

The action is in the past.

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Lesson 2. Simple Past Tense
Notice that it does not matter how long ago the event is: it can be a few
minutes or seconds in the past, or millions of years in the past. Also it does
not matter how long the event is. It can be a few milliseconds (car explosion)
or millions of years (Jurassic period). We use the Past Simple tense when:

 the event is in the past

 the event is completely finished
 we say (or understand) the time and/or place of the event

In general, if we say the past time or place of the event, we must use the Past
Simple tense; we cannot use the present perfect.

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Lesson 2. Simple Past Tense

The structure of the Past Simple with the main verb be is:

subject + main verb be

conjugated in Past Simple
was, were

Look at these examples with the main verb be:

subject main verb be

I, he/she/it was here.
+
You, we, they were in London
I, he/she/it was not there.
-
You, we, they were not happy.
Was I, he/she/it right?
?
Were You, we, they late?

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Lesson 2. Simple Past Tense

Fill in the blanks with was or were.

11. Tom ______ in Spain last weekend.

1. I ______ happy. 12. Frank and Jim ______ at the party last night.
2. You ______ angry. 13. Who ______ at the cinema last Monday?
3. She ______ in London last week. 14. The children ______ quiet when their parents
4. He ______ on holiday. came home.
5. It ______ cold. 15. She ______ a nice person.
6. We ______ at school. 16. He ______ usually not at home at the
7. Jessica ______ at the cinema. weekend.
8. The children ______ at home. 17. They ______ good at English.
9. The cat ______ on the roof. 18. We ______ in Lower Austria last summer.
10. The plants ______ in the garden. 19. My brother ______ in China some weeks ago.
20. I ______ in Copenhagen when my friends
went there.

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Lesson 2. Simple Past Tense
Complete each question in the past tense with the verb "be."

1. ________ the store employees helpful?

2. ________ I helpful?
3. ________ she here last February?
4. ________ it a bad accident?
5. ________ there anything to eat at the party?
6. ________ a doctor available?
7. ________ they good apples?
8. ________ there a lot of people at the beach?
9. ________ we here before?
10. ________ the woman interested in the movie?
11. ________ very tired last night?
12. ________ there many people at the rally yesterday?
13. ________ restaurant busy on the weekend?
14. ________ the offices closed?
15. ________ you a good soccer player ten years ago?

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Lesson 2. Simple Past Tense

There are two kinds of verbs; the regular and irregular verbs

1. Regular verbs make their past tense by adding - d, - ed, or (if the verb ends in
a consonant + y), changing the y to i and then adding - ed.
Add - d Add - ed Change –y to –i and add - ed
 baked  asked  cry - cried
 cared  filled  fry - fried
 typed  washed  marry - married

2. Irregular verbs do not make their past tense by adding - d or - ed or by

changing y to i and adding ed. Instead, they make their past forms in several
ways such not changing the form, changing vowels, different endings and
changing the form completely.
 hit - hit  rise – rose  lend – lent
 go - went
 set - set  drive – drove  lose - lost
 cut - cut  ride - rode  think - thought

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Lesson 2. Simple Past Tense

Complete the tables below.

Base Form Past Tense Base Form Past Tense Base Form Past Tense
beat hung read
become hated rang
beg hold send
bought hurt shone
carry led shoot
dealt leave show
enjoyed know tear
fought meant threw
gained paid wore
grow quit write

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Lesson 2. Simple Past Tense

Subject + Main verb

Past simple

The main rule is that for every verb in English, there is only one form of it in
the past tense.
For example: The past tense of the verb want is wanted.
Wanted is used as the past tense for all subjects/pronouns.

The Rest of the

Subject Verb
Sentence
I / You / We / They
wanted some food.
He / She / It

• I lived in New York.

• I studied English last night.
• John drove a taxi.
• I went to work by bus.
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Lesson 2. Simple Past Tense

Subject + Auxiliary do Main verb

conjugated in Present Simple
did not base

Notice the following points:

•The auxiliary is conjugated in the Past Simple, invariable: did
•The main verb is invariable in base form: base
•For negative sentences, we insert not between the auxiliary verb and main
verb.
Subject Verb The Rest of the Sentence
I / You / We / They did not want
some food.
He / She / It (didn’t want)

• I didn’t live in New York.

• I didn’t study English last night.
• John didn’t drive a taxi.
• I didn’t go to work by bus.

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Lesson 2. Simple Past Tense
positive past simple sentences. negative past simple sentences.

1. I _________ my teeth. (brush) 16. She _________ to bed at 10 o'clock

2. Tom _________ tennis with his friends. (play) yesterday. (go)
3. They _________ for their exam. (study) 17. Jenny _________ very late as well. (sleep)
4. Susan _________ to me quietly. (talk) 18. They _________ a lot of calories in that
5. Thomas _________ me with my homework. marathon. (burn)
(help) 19. Benny _________ about a year ago. (quit)
6. Daniel _________ his car. (wash) 20. Todd _________ 10 pounds when he was
7. The baby _________ a lot. (cry) born. (is)
8. The man _________ so fast. (walk) 21. Dan _________ his car to car wash. (take)
9. The mechanic _________ the car. (fix) 22. The boy _________ off the couch in the
10. My mother _________ the flowers. (water) morning. (fall)
11. The policeman _________ the bus. (stop) 23. The bride _________ after the groom.
12. Alicia _________ her bag. (carry) (run)
13. She _________ the door. (open) 24. The hot air balloon at the
14. Sonia _________ the train. (miss) field _________ a lot of attention in
15. I _________ my teacher. (like) yesterday's game. (draw)
25. My mother _________ the birds before we
left for vacation. (feed)

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Lesson 2. Simple Past Tense

Auxiliary do + Subject Main verb

conjugated in Past Simple
did base

To make a question in English we normally use Do or Does. It has no

translation in Spanish though it is essential to show we are making a question.
It is normally put at the beginning of the question.

Affirmative: We went to London Affirmative: She worked at home.

Question: Did we go to London? Question: Did she work at home?

Auxiliary Subject Verb The Rest of the

Sentence
Did I / You / We / They want some food?
He / She / It

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Lesson 2. Simple Past Tense

Make a YES/NO Question

1. Andy bought a new shirt.
2. They went shopping last Friday.
3. She had a bath in the morning.
4. We felt like a big ice cream.
5. The students sat down.
6. Marie ran home.
7. The managers shook hands on the deal.
8. William rode a horse.
9. The nurse took Peter's temperature.
10.I understood what the teacher said.
11.Susan waited in the kitchen.
12. Her friends got new computers.
13. You built a house.
14.They cleaned the classroom.
15.She asked a lot of questions.
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Lesson 2. Simple Past Tense
WH Auxiliary Subject The Rest of the
Question Sentence
What did he/she/it eat for lunch?
I / you / we / they

Look at the following examples:

WH Questions Auxiliary Subject The Rest of the

Sentence
What did he do at school?
When did you go swimming?
Who did I visit the gym?
Where did she go shopping?
Why did he shout at you?
How did you go to work?

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Lesson 2. Simple Past Tense
Make WH Questions. Make sure that they
are answerable by the underlined words.
1. The girls asked easy questions.
2. Manit went shopping last Sunday.
3. The boys stood at their desk.
4. My aunt ate fish this morning.
5. That man drove a car yesterday.
6. Jane sat there this morning.
7. The mangoes fell down on the floor.
8. She was lazy last week because she was ill.
9. Tom put his pen in his pocket.
10.Joanna delivered a baby girl yesterday.
11.Mr. Thomson died in 2005.
12.Anthony ate hamburgers for snacks.
13.Shakespeare write Romeo and Juliet.
14.Sandra and Charles travelled to Rome last year.
15.Sylvia sang pop song beautifully.
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The End