Talking about the past
(Past simple)
Past Simple
We use Past Simple to talk about an action or
situation that started and finished at a specific time
in the past.
Affirmative form
English has two types
of verbs in past simple:
taught
walked
Regular verbs
studied
Irregular verbs
gave
became
Look at the
cried
following list of
past tense verbs lived
which verbs are
did
regular, and
which are
Examples
I saw a movie yesterday.
Last year, I traveled to Japan.
They had dinner last night.
The elephant washed his car.
Affirmative form
I
worked
at the mall.
subject + verb (past simple) + complement
Regular verbs
-ED
Play: played
Cross: crossed
Water: Watered
Brush: Brushed
Cook: cooked
Climb: climbed
Paint: Painted
Wash: Washed
Push: Pushed
Call: called
-D
Dance: danced
divide: divided
Move: moved
Live: lived
Close: closed
-IED
Try: tried
study: studied
fry: fried
Carry: carried
Cry: cried
Irregular verbs
Be: was/were
Teach: taught
Drive:drove
Put: put
Write: wrote
Send: sent
Have: had
See: saw
Go: went
Come: came
Speak: spoke
Read: read
Tell: told
Say: said
Find: found
Feel: felt
Mean: meant
Pay: paid
Lose: lost
Understand: understood
Buy: bought
Negative form
I went to work yesterday.
He didnt go to work
yesterday.
NEGATIVE FORM
I
You
He
She
It
We
They
didnt play tennis last weekend.
didnt clean the windows.
didnt go the dentist.
Negative form
She
didnt
buy
a car.
Subject + didnt + verb (infinitive) + complement
Exception =
VERB BE!
The verb be is special.
Never use DID NOT or DIDNT with
the verb BE. Instead, just use:
NEGATIVE FORM
I
He
She
It
We
You
They
was not at school yesterday.
wasnt
were not at the beach last week.
werent
Interrogative form
Question words
What?
Where?
When?
Who?
Why?
How?
Qu?
Dnde?
Cuando?
Quin?
Por qu?
Cmo?
Open questions
Open questions have many responses.
QUESTION
WORD
DID
SUBJECT
INFINITIVE
REST OF THE
SENTENCE?
Where
did
you
go
yesterday?
When
did
he
buy
the car?
What
did
she
eat
Last night?
QUESTION
WORD
WAS/WERE
SUBJECT
REST OF THE
SENTENCE?
Where
were
you
yesterday?
When
was
he
in the mall?
Closed questions
Closed questions have two responses: yes or no
DID
SUBJECT
INFINITIVE
REST OF THE
SENTENCE?
Did
you
see
Jorge yesterday?
Did
She
cook
Lasagna?
Did
He
Paint
The house?
DID
SUBJECT
REST OF THE
SENTENCE?
Were
you
in the park?
Were
they
in the hospital?
Was
He
Happy yesterday?
Yes, I did.
No, I didnt.
Yes, She did
No, She didnt.
Yes, I was.
No, I wasnt.
Yes, They were.
No, They werent.
Activities
Affirmative
Coldplay-paradise
was
When she __________
(be) just a girl
She _____________
expected (expect) the world
But it ____________
(fly) away from her
flew
reach so
She ____________
(run) away in her
ran
sleep
And ____________ (dream) of
dreamed
Para-para-paradise, Para-para-paradise,
Para-para-paradise
Every time she ____________ (close) her
closed
eyes
When she _________ (be) just a girl
was (expect) the world
She ___________
expected (fly) away from her
But it ___________
reach
flew
And the bullets catch in her teeth
Life goes on, it gets so heavy
The wheel breaks the butterfly
Every tear a waterfall
In the night the stormy night she'll close
her eyes
In the night the stormy night away she'd
fly
And dreams of
Para-para-paradise
Para-para-paradise
Para-para-paradise
Oh oh oh oh oh oh-oh-oh
She'd dream of
Para-para-paradise
Para-para-paradise
Para-para-paradise
Oh oh oh oh oh oh-oh-oh-oh
Lalalalalalalalalalala
And so lying underneath those stormy
skies
She'd say, "oh, ohohohoh I know the
sun must set to rise"
This __________ (can) be
Para-para-paradise
could
Para-para-paradise
Para-para-paradise
Oh oh oh oh oh oh-oh-oh
2x
Fill in the blanks with the correct form of the
irregular verbs.
broke
1)John_____________
(break) a window while
he was playing football.
made
2) Arnold _________ (make) a question in class.
had
3)They __________(have)
a picnic at the
weekend.
drank
4) They ___________
(drink) a lot in the party.
BROKE / DRANK / HAD / MADE
made
6)My mother________(make)
a sandwich for
me.
was (be) ill so he stayed at home .
7)He ____
bought
8)He _______(buy)
an expensive car
last year.
sang (sing) with the
9) Cinderella ______
birds.
SANG / BOUGHT / WAS / MADE
Put the verbs (between brackets) into the correct form
(simple past).
Last year, I (spend) ________my holiday in
Ireland. It (be) ________great. I
(travel)___________ around the city by car
with two friends and we (visit) ________lots
of interesting places. In the evenings, we
usually (go)_______ to a caf.
We (be) ________very lucky with the
weather. It (be)___________ beautiful.
We(see) ________some beautiful rainbows.
I (have) ______ an amazing holiday!
OPENED
FINISHED
STARTED
WANTED
HAPPENED
RAINED
ENJOYED
STAYED
DIED
PAID
WENT
SAW
VISITED
THOUGHT
PLAYED
BOUGHT
COPIED
KNEW
PUT
SPOKE
GOT
HAD
DROVE
LEFT
ARRIVED
PARKED
HAD
WAITED
ARRIVED
TOOK
WENT
WENT
DEPARTED
Negative
Match column a to column b
Didnt wait
Didnt play (play) handball.
He_____________
Didnt ask
wait (wait)in the kitchen.
Susan Didnt
____________
Didnt clean
make
I Didnt
__________
(make) the beds.
Didnt play
Didnt clean (clean)the classroom.
They___________
Didnt get
Didnt ask (ask)a lot of questions.
Didnt wait
She____________
Didnt build
Didnt get
The friends_________________
(get) new computers.
Didnt buy
Wasnt (be) in Italy last weekend.
I __________
Didnt go
Didnt build (build) a house.
You_____________
Wasnt
Didnt buy
Christian _______________
(buy) a new guitar.
Didnt make
Didnt
go
We_____________ (go)shopping.
Rewrite the sentences in the
negative.
They collected postcards. They didnt collect
postcards.
You didnt jump high.
You jumped high. Albert didnt play volleyball.
Albert played volleyball.
The teacher didnt work at
The teacher worked at university
. visit her gandma.
Fiona university.
didnt
Fiona visited her grandma.
wash the car.
He didnt
He washed the [Link]
werent tired.
You were tired. He didnt have a computer.
He had a computer.
I didnt
buy bread.
I bought bread. You didnt see the house.
You saw the house.
Complete the sentences with the
verb in negative.
Didnt work
Didnt go
Didnt have
Didnt do
Interrogative
Put the questions in order
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
6)
7)
8)
cook?/What/you/did
What did you cook?
play?/did/Why/he
Why did he play?
Where/work?/they/did
Where did they work?
Where/walk?/they/did
Where did they walk?
dance?/she/How/did
How did she dance?
they/Did/When/play/football?
When did they play
Did/you/last Sunday?/What/do football?
Watch/did/she/TV/last night? What did you do last
Sunday?
Did she watch tv last
night?
Match column A to column B
A) Was this exercise easy?
F
1. She was ill yesterday.
B) Did you write a letter
G
2. They went to London last
last night?
month.
B
C) Did you buy a lovely
3. I wrote a letter last night.
H
dress?
C
4. They were in the kitchen.
D) Did we dance together?
D dress.
5. You bought a lovely
E) Did you choose the right
6. We danced together.
I
book?
7. It rained yesterday. E
F) Was she ill yesterday?
8. You chose the rightAbook.
G) Did they go to London
9. This exercise was easy.
last month?
H) Were they in the
kitchen?
I) Did it rain yesterday?
Answer the questions
What did he do at 7:00 am?
Did he take a shower at 7:05 am?
Did he have breakfast at 7:35 am?
What did he do at 8:00 am?
