9 - ] Basic Grammar For Beginners - Simple Past Tense

9 - ] Basic Grammar For Beginners

12. The Simple Past Tense

Positive	Negative	Question
past of the verb [ed] or irregular [ went , saw ]	did  not (didn’t) + infinitive	did + subject + infinitive
We visited the park . They went to school . She washed the dishes .	We did not visit the park. They did not go to school . She did not wash the dishes .	Did you visit the park? Did they go to school? Did she wash the dishes?

1 . We use the past simple tense for actions that started and were completed in the past , often with a time expression .

Examples

The Ancient Egyptians built the Pyramids .

We visited Alexandria last week .

They played football yesterday .

2 . Verbs ending in (e) add just (d)

love , loved / arrive , arrived

3 . Verbs ending in (y) preceded by a consonant , change the (y) into (ied) .

cry , cried / carry , carried / try , tried / marry , married

4 . Verbs ending in (y) preceded by a single vowel , just add (ed)

play , played / enjoy , enjoyed / obey , obeyed / stay , stayed

5. Verbs ending in a consonant after a vowel , double the last letter .

stop , stopped / drop , dropped / drag , dragged / dip , dipped

6 . Irregular verbs have their forms .

buy , bought / swim , swam / write , wrote / grow , grew / fall , fell / read , read / hit , hit

7 . This tense is often used with the following adverbs of time .

yesterday / ago / last / once / in the past / this [ morning , day ]

Examples

We climbed the mountain last month .

They bough a car yesterday .

I met my friend two hours ago .

Once we went to the forest .

I came to school with my friend this morning .

They lived in this town in the past .

Exercise 1

Put the following verbs in the past simple tense :

1 . He -----------------[tell] me about it yesterday .

2 . I ------------------[go] to school rather late this morning .

3 . It -----------------[rain] very hard lasy night .

4 . I ------------------[see] a terrible accident yesterday .

5 . We ----------------[learn] many new words yesterday .

6 . I ---------------[watch] this play only once .

7 . We -------------------[have] no new lessons this week .

8 . --------------you----------------[enjoy] the party last night ?

9 . Where --------------you ------------[be] last night ?

10 . She -------------------[not understand] a word of what he said .

11 . Gandhi --------------------[die] more than 50 years ago .

12 . We -------------------[finish] our supper an hour ago .

13 . They -----------------[visit] the Tower of Cairo a few days ago .

14 . I ---------------------[ buy } one like that last week .

15 . -------------------you -----------------[ wash ] the dishes last night ?

16 . What time ---------------you --------------[ have ] your lunch yesterday ?

17. Where ---------------you ----------------[ spend] your last summer vacation ?

18 . He ---------------[ play ] football when he was young .

19 . They -------------------[ come ] here a month ago .

20 . They -------------------[ visit ] the Pyramids a few days ago .

21 . -----------------it [ rain ] last Sunday ?

22 . --------------your friends -------------[ have ] a good holiday last summer .

23 . They ------------------[ selltheir old car last week .

24 . Five years ago we ------------------ [ have ] a small car .

Exercise 2

Correct the verbs in brackets :

1 . Mother ----------------[ bake ] a ice cake for my birthday yesterday .

2 . ------------------you ----------------------[ see ] the film that night ?

3 . She ----------------------[ not understand ] the lesson yesterday .

4 . My father -----------------[ buy ] a new car last week .

5 . Mother ------------------[ polish ] the silver this morning .

6 . They -----------------[ do] a lot of homework yesterday .

7 . Yesterday she --------------------[ not go ] to school .

8 . Yesterday evening the train ----------------------[ leave ] for Aswan .

9 . What ---------------------your mother buy for you on your birthday ?

10 . She ----------------[ be ] a teacher twenty years ago.

11 . The customer ------------------[ pay ] the bill yesterday .

12 . Helen --------------[ study ] German when she was in high school .

13 . They --------------------[ receive ] an important message a few minutes ago .

14 . She ----------------[ invite ] many people to her last birthday party .

15 . He -----------------[ speak] to me about it yesterday .

16 . ----------------you ----------------[ see[] the film last night ?

17 . -----------------you --------------[ be ] absent yesterday ?

18 .-------------------you [ be ] at the party last night ?

19 . He ---------------[ write ] the exercise , and gave it to the teacher .

20 . The ship -----------------[ go ] round the world last year .