The Past Simple
ENGLISH GRAMMAR
PAST SIMPLE
FORM
The form of the past simple is the same for all persons (I, you, he, she, it, we, you, they).
AFFIRMATIVE
INTERROGATIVE
NEGATIVE
You
You
you
He
He
he
She
worked
It
drank
She
It
did not
work
drink
Did
she
work?
it
drink?
We
We
we
You
You
you
They
They
they
Contraction: did not = didnt
Some verbs are regular, other are irregular.
The affirmative past simple of regular verbs ends in -ed:
work > worked
play > played
live > lived
When we add -ed to verbs, there are sometimes changes in spelling:
stop > stopped
travel > travelled
try > tried
live > lived
Irregular verbs have different affirmative past simple forms:
see > saw
come > came
drink > drank
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The Past Simple
ENGLISH GRAMMAR
USE
We use the past simple to talk about actions and situations that happened in the past, often
with expressions like ago, yesterday, last night, in 2005, etc...
I played football yesterday
He lived in London from 1997 to 2005.
Did you see Sarah yesterday?. No, I didnt
We didnt go out last night. We stayed at home.
They went to Spain on holiday last summer.
Cristopher Colombus discovered America.
SPELLING RULES
Past simple affirmative
V+ -ed
With most verbs we add -ed:
walk > walked, finish > finished
+ -d
With verbs ending with -e, we add -d: live > lived, phone > phoned
y > -ied
With verbs that end with a consonant + -y, we change the -y to -ied:
try > tried, apply > applied
Double consonant
With verbs that end with a vowel + one consonant, we double the consonant:
stop > stopped, plan > planned, travel > travelled
Exceptions: We do not double the final consonant:
1.- When it is a -y or -w : stay > stayed
2.- When the last syllable is not stressed: listen > listened, open > opened
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The Past Simple
ENGLISH GRAMMAR
PRONUNCIATION OF THE -ED
The -ed ending can be pronounced in 3 different ways: /id/, /t/ or /d/.
If the verb ends in the sound /t/ or /d/, you pronounce the -ed ending /id/.
invite /invait/
invited /invaitid/
If the verb ends in a voiceless consonant sound apart from /t/, you pronounce the -ed
ending /t/.
stop /stop/
stopped /stopt/
If the verb ends in a voiced consonant sound apart from /d/, or a vowel, you pronounce
the -ed ending /d/.
call /ko:l/
called /ko:ld/
NOTE:
Voiceless consonant sounds:
/t/, /p/, /k/, /f/, /s/, /
/,/
/ or /t
Voiced consonant sounds: the rest
/d/, /b/, /g/, /v/, /z/, /
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/, / /, /d
/, /l/, /r/, /m/, /n/, /
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The Past Simple
ENGLISH GRAMMAR
ACTIVITIES
1.- SPELLING RULES.
Write the past simple of these verbs:
1. LIKE
_______________
2. PLAY
_______________
3. LISTEN
_______________
4. CYCLE
_______________
5. REVISE
_______________
6. COPY
_______________
7. PRACTISE _______________
8. START
_______________
9. WATCH
_______________
10. LIVE
_______________
11. COOK
_______________
12. DANCE
_______________
13. HATE
_______________
14. FINISH
_______________
15. TIDY
_______________
16. USE
_______________
17. NEED
_______________
18. SAIL
_______________
19. SLIP
_______________
20. PLAN
_______________
2.- P R O N U N C I A T I O N :
Write the past form of these verbs in the correct colum below:
discover
crash
laugh
destroy
survive
jump
worry
need
visit
change
travel
introduce
/t/
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/d/
/id/
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The Past Simple
ENGLISH GRAMMAR
3.- REGULAR VERBS.
Complete the sentences with the past simple of one of these verbs:
clean
play
die
rain
enjoy
smoke
finish
start
happen
live
open
stay
want
watch
1. Yesterday evening I _________________ television.
2. I _________________ my teeth tree times yesterday.
3. Bernard _________________ 20 cigarettes yesterday evening.
4. The concert last night _________________ at 7.30 and _________________ at 10 oclock.
5. The accident _________________last Sunday afternoon.
6. When I was a child, I _________________ to be a adoctor.
7. Mozart _________________ from 1756 to 1791.
8. We _________________ our holiday last year. We _________________ at a very good hotel.
9. Today the weather is nice, but yesterday it _________________ .
[Link] was hot in the room, so I _________________ the window.
[Link] weather was good yesterday, so we _________________ tennis.
[Link] Shakespeare _________________ in 1616.
4.- IRREGULAR VERBS.
What did [Link] do yesterday?. Write the verbs in brackets in the past simple form.
Yesterday Mr. Bird (get up) _________________ at 6.45 and (have) _________________ a shower.
Then he (have) _________________ tea and cornflakes for breakfast. He (leave) _________________
home at 7.55 and (go) _________________ to work by bus. He (take) _________________ the 8.05 bus
and (get) _________________ to work at 8.30. He (have) _________________ lunch from 1.00 till 2.00
and (leave) _________________ work at 6.00 in the evening. When he (get) ________________ home,
he (read) _________________ the newspaper. Then he (have) _________________ dinner at 7.15. After
dinner he (take) _________________ his dog out for a walk. He (go) _________________ to bed at
10.30 exactly!.
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