LM -1001 BOOKLET IC-2024

SIMPLE PAST
FORM
Affirmative Statements Negative Statements
Base Form of Base
Did +
Subject Verb + -d/-ed or Subject Form of
Not
Irregular Form Verb
I I
You You
He He
arrived arrive
She She did not
worked yesterday. work yesterday.
It It /didn’t
came come
We We
You You
They They

Yes/No Questions Short Answers

Base
Did +
Did Subject Form Yes Subject Did No Subject
Not
of Verb
you arrive I I
Did he work yesterday? Yes, he did. No, he didn’t.
they come they they

Affirmative Information Questions

WH-Word Did Subject Base form of verb
Who/ Whom you call?
What he do?
When
did
Where
they travel?
Why
How

Negative Information Questions*

WH-Word Did + not/ Subject Base form of verb Complement
Who want ice cream?
What happen?
Why you do the dishes?
How didn’t you know?
When*
he go?
Where*

Notes
● To form the simple past of most regular verbs, add –ed to the base form.
● If the base form of a regular verb ends in e, add –d.
• Do not use did in information questions when who or what is the subject.

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What happened yesterday? What did happen yesterday? (INCORRECT)

*NEGATIVE QUESTIONS ARE USUALLY USED IN INFORMAL INTERACTIONS.

FORM WITH VERB BE

Affirmative Statements Negative Statements
Was / Was + not /
Subject complement Subject complement
Were were + not
I I
He He was not /
was happy. happy.
She She wasn’t
It It
We We
You You were not /
were here yesterday. here yesterday.
They They weren’t

Yes/No Questions with Verb be Short Answers

Was / Was/ wasn’t/
Subject complement Yes Subject No Subject
were were weren’t
Was I/ he/ she/ it late? I/ he/ I/ he/
was. wasn’t.
she/ it she/ it
Yes, No,
here
Were we/ you/ they we/ you / we/ you/
yesterday? were. weren’t.
they they

Affirmative Information Questions with Verb be

WH-Word Was/ were Subject Complement
Who for you?
What I/ he/ she/ it called for?
When ready?
Where was /were at 7 pm?
you/ they/
Why tired?
we
How ever on time?

Negative Information Questions with Verb Be*

WH-Word Was + not/ were + Subject
Complement
not
Who wasn’t present?
What done?
Why weren’t you ready?
How wasn´t I aware of this?
When wasn´t she prepared for an exam?
Where weren´t they?

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Note
• Do not use did in negative statements or questions with was/were.
I wasn’t there. Why was she late?
We weren’t angry. Were you at the concert?
● Some verbs are irregular in the simple past. For example, the verb be has two
irregular simple past forms: was and were.
I was at the concert. You were at the mall.
He was a musician. They were home.
You will find a list of irregular verbs at the end of this booklet.
SPELLING OF VERBS ENDING IN –(E)D
1. To form the simple past and past participle of most regular verbs, add –ed to the base
form.
Ex. brush – brushed play – played

2. If the base verb ends with e, just add –d.

Ex. close – closed live – lived

3. If the base form ends with a consonant + y, change the y to i and add –ed. (Compare
vowel + y: play – played; enjoy – enjoyed.)
Ex. study – studied dry – dried

4. If the base form of a one-syllable verb ends with a single vowel + consonant, double the
final consonant and add -ed.
Ex. plan – planned shop – shopped

5. If the base form of a verb with two or more syllables ends with a single vowel +
consonant, double the final consonant and add –ed only when the stress is on the final
syllable. Do not double the final consonant if the stress is not on the final syllable.

Ex. prefer – preferred enter – entered

6. Do not double the final consonants x, w, and y.

Ex. coax – coaxed snow – snowed stay – stayed

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PRONUNCIATION OF VERBS ENDING IN –ED

The regular past tense ending -ed is pronounced in three different ways, depending on the final
sound of the base form of the verb:
1. The -ed is pronounced /t/ if the verb ends with the sound /p/, /k/, /tʃ/, /f/, /s/, /ʃ/ or /ks/.

work – worked wash – washed watch – watched

2. The -ed is pronounced /d/ if the verb ends with the sound /b/, /g/, /dʒ/, /v/, /ð/, /z/, /ʒ/, /m/,
/n/, /ŋ/, /l/ or /r/.

plan – planned judge – judged bang – banged

bathe – bathed massage – massaged rub – rubbed

3. The -ed is also pronounced /d/ if the verb ends with a vowel sound.

play – played sigh – sighed row – rowed

bow – bowed sue – sued free – freed

4. The -ed is pronounced as an extra syllable, /ɪd/, if the verb ends with the sound /d/ or /t/.

guide – guided remind – reminded invite – invited

USES
Actions or States Completed in the Past
1. Use the simple past for actions or states that started and ended in the past. Use time expressions
to describe the time period.
I lived in New York in 2000. We went shopping last week.

They played soccer on Fridays. The weather was great yesterday.

2. The actions or states can happen in the recent past (a short time ago) or the distant past (a long
time ago).
Recent Past Distant past
He called half an hour ago. They moved in 1980.
She felt bad last night. He was in college ten years ago.
3. The actions or states can last for a long or short period of time.
Long Period of Time Short Period of Time
I lived in Mexico for 20 years. It rained hard for five minutes.
She was away for 10 months. He stayed in bed all afternoon.
4. The actions or states can happen once or repeatedly.
Happened Once Happened Repeatedly
I met my best friend in elementary We often did many things together.
school.

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Time Expressions with the Simple Past

Time expressions are commonly used with the simple past. These words and phrases
often refer to an exact point in time in the past or to a past time period. Time expressions
can occur at the beginning or end of a sentence.

yesterday I called mom yesterday.

the day before yesterday We had a party the day before
yesterday.
this morning/afternoon They didn’t get up early this
morning.
last night/ week/ month/ year Where were you last night?
recently Did you visit your mom recently?
a few/ several/ many years ago Pam graduated a few years ago.
a long time ago/ a while ago They got married a long time ago.

Simple Past Exercises

1. Complete the paragraph. Use the simple past form of each regular verb in
parentheses.

A strange thing 1. happened (happen) at our salon today. At about 10:00, the door
2. _______________(open) and a young man 3. _______________ (walk) in. He
said he 4. _______________ (not want) a normal haircut. He 5.
_______________ (want) a new hairstyle. He 6. _______________ (ask) me to
cut only one side! I

7._______________ (lift) my scissors and 8. _______________ (start) cutting. I 9.

_______________ (finish) one side, and I 10. _______________ (stop). He 11.
_______________ (look) in the mirror and 12. _______________ (smile). “It’s
perfect!” he 13. _______________ (exclaim). Then he 14. _______________
(hand) me $10 and said happily, “A normal haircut is $20, so $10 should be fine!”

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2. Complete this paragraph with the simple past form of the verbs below.

carry listen live talk study support

want

I was a college student in the 1960s. I 1. studied history at a university in

Chicago. I 2._______________ in an apartment near the university with four

classmates. Like many other students, we 3. _______________ about why war

was bad, and we 4. _______________ signs that said “Peace.” We5.

_______________ to change the world. We also 6. _______________ the Civil

Rights movement and

7._______________to speeches by its leader, Martin Luther King, Jr.

3. Complete the letter. Use the simple past form of each verb in parentheses.
(See list of irregular verbs at the end of the unit.)

Dear Marta,
I 1. had (have) a great time in Washington, D. C. The plane tickets were
very inexpensive, so I 2.____________ (buy) two and 3. ____________ (take) my
friend Val with me. We 4. ____________ (go) to a lot of museums. In fact, we 5.
____________ (spend) one entire day at the National Museum of American
History. We 6. ____________ (see) a really interesting exhibit on clothes of the
past. People 7. ____________ (wear) some very strange clothes in the old days!
We also 8. ____________ (eat) very well, too! We 9. ____________ (find) a
different restaurant every night. We also 10. ____________ (meet) a lot of
interesting people. Write soon and tell me about San Francisco.
Love, Mary Joe

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4. Read about the first airplane flight by Wilbur and Orville Wright. Complete
the paragraph with the simple past form of the irregular verbs in
parentheses. (See list of irregular verbs at the end of the unit.)

The first airplane flight 1. took (take) place in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, on
December 17, 1903. Orville Wright 2. ________________ (lie) face down in the
middle of the airplane, and his brother, Wilbur Wright, 3. ________________ (run)
alongside it. Near the end of the runway, the plane 4. ________________ (rise)
smoothly into the air. It 5. ________________ (fly) for several seconds, but then it
6. ________________ (fall) to the ground. This 12 second flight 7.
________________ (make) history, but no one 8. ________________ (pay)
attention to the Wright brothers at first. However, after they
9. ________________ (give) many public demonstrations of their flying machine,
the Wright brothers 10. ________________ (become) famous.

5. Complete this conversation with did, didn't, was, wasn't, were, or weren't.

Lynn: 1. Did you go to the basketball game last night?

Gary: Yes, I 2. ____________.
Lynn: 3. ____________ it exciting?
Gary: Yes, it 4. ____________ great. Maple Valley 5. ____________ win until
the last minute. What 6. ____________ you and Bill do last night?
Lynn: We 7. ____________ tired, so we 8. ____________ go out.
Gary: 9. ____________ you watch that new television show?
Lynn: Yes, we 10. ____________ but we 11. ____________ like it. It 12.
____________ really boring!

6. Write information questions about the underlined words or phrases in

each statement.

1. Carol studied art in Paris. Where did Carol study art?

2. Carol made her own clothes.

__________________________________________________________________

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3. Carol graduated from college in 2009.

__________________________________________________________________

4. Carol worked for a fashion designer.

__________________________________________________________________

5. Her boss taught her the latest fashions.

__________________________________________________________________

6. The fashion designer loved Carol's work.

__________________________________________________________________

7. Carol photographed her designs.

__________________________________________________________________

8. Carol won a prize in 2011.

__________________________________________________________________

9. Because she became popular, she made a lot of money.

__________________________________________________________________

10. Carol enjoyed fame during 2012.

__________________________________________________________________