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 .

8 - ] Basic Grammar For Beginners - Simple Present Tense

8 - ] Basic Grammar For Beginners 

 

11 . The Present Simple Tense

     

Positive	Question	Negative
I , You ,We , hey (inf.)	I , You , We , They (do)	I , You , We , They (do not)
We play football . I usually go to school .	Do you like fish ? Do they play football ?	We do not smoke . They do not swim .
He , She , It (s ,es , ies)	He , She , It (does)	He , She , It (does not)
He plays football. She usually goes to school .	Does he sleep much ? Does she go to school ? Does it eat meat ?	He does not smoke . She does not swim . It does not eat meat .

1 . Verbs ending in the letters (ch , sh , ss , x , and o) , add (es) not (s)

Examples

brush - brushes / guess - guesses / wash - washes / go - goes / fix - fixes

He teaches English .

She brushes her teeth twice a day .

2 . Verbs ending in (y) following consonant , change (y) into (ies)

Examples

carry - carries / dry - dries / try - tries /  hurry - hurries / cry -cries /

She fries fish .

He carries his bag .

It tries to escape .

3 . Verbs ending in (y) following a vowel ( a, e, i, o, u ) follow the usual rule and add (s) .

examples

play - plays / stay - stays / pray - prays / say - says / employ - employs /

He plays football well .

They usually pray .

4 . This tense is often used with adverbs and adverbial phrases of frequency such as : often , never , always , every , usually , sometimes , (once , twice , three ,four etc. times a year , a day , a month etc.

Examples

We go to the beach every summer .

He usually goes to the club .

She visits her parents twice a week .

5 . This tense is used to express facts .

Example

The earth goes round the moon .

The sun rises in the morning .

6 . This tense is used also to express a habit .

Examples

He gets up early every day .

I usually go to school

Exercise 1

Correct the verbs between brackets :

1 . He always ----------------(play) football on Friday .

2 . She often ---------------(visit) her grandmother on Sunday .

3 . ------------he ---------------(come) to school on foot ?

4 . He --------------(go) to school every day .

5 . We --------------------9not usually eat) dinner at home ,

6 . Where -----------------your father -------------(work) ?

7 . They -------------(not go) to the cinema every night .

8 . He usually -----------------(go) to school on his bike .

9 . What time ------------the lesson ------------------(begin) ?

10. A doctor ------------------(study) medicine .

11 . It never ------------------- (rain) in summer .

12 . Father ------------------(go) to work in the morning .

13 . ---------------you(speak) English in class every day ?

14 . She ----------------(not help) her mother with the house work .

15 . He -----------------(not brush) his teeth every morning .

16 . She --------------------(walk) to school with her friend every day .

17 . Sally always ----------------(sit) in that seat .

18 . The students --------------------(write) many exercises every day .

19 . He ---------------------(read) the newspaper every morning .

20 . Adam ---------------(go) to the zoo very often .

21 . The cat always ----------------------(chase) the mouse .

22. Edward usually ---------------------(drink) tea for breakfast .

23 . She often --------------------(get) up early in the morning .

24 . Harry sometimes -------------------(spend) the week-end at home .

25 . -------------you ------------------(walk) to work every day ?

26 . He -------------(want) to be a doctor when he ---------------(grow) up .

27 . He ---------------(take) his car to work every day .

28 . Mary always ---------------9arrive) at the lesson on time .

29 . -------------it ------------(rain) very often during the month of January ?

30 . -----------------you always -------------(come) to work late ?

31 . How well -----------------he --------------(speak) English ?

32 . When ---------------the next train --------------------(arrive) ?

33 . How often -------------it (snow) in Egypt ?

Exercise 2

1 . Change the following into negative .

1 . She walks to school every morning .

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2 . They watch television in the evening .

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3 . He helps his father on the farm .

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4 . It rains in summer in Egypt .

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5 . She has many friends .

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6 . Mary teaches in a primary school .

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7 . Sarah has many English books .

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8 . William plays the guitar well .

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9 . It is hot in London .

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10 . A doctor works in a school .

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11 . Firemen work hard .

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12 . Policemen catch good people .

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13 . Postmen carry radios .

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14 . A teacher flies a plane .

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15 . A farmer helps sick people .

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16 . The sun rises in the west .

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17 . A policeman controls traffic lights .

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18 . Wild animals live in cages .

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19 . Elephants are useful to man .

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Exercise 3

Change the following into questions :

1 . She speaks French well .

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2. She eats with a fork and a knife .

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3 .We make many mistakes in class .

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4 . The baby cries too much .

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5. She goes to bed early .

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6. Nasser watches television every night .

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7 . Mary helps her mother in the kitchen .

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8 . A typist works in an office .

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9 . The teacher comes to school on foot .

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10 . Sandra sweeps the floor every day .

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11 . The girls make much noise .

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12 . Elephants eat grass .

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13 . Elephants live in the forest .

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14 . Birds feed on cereals .

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7 - ] Basic Grammar For Beginners - Some & Any , A Few , Little , Much , Many , A Lot Of

7 - ] Basic Grammar For Beginners 

9 . Some & Any

1 . “Some” is used in positive sentences with countable , plural nouns .

some boys , some pencils , some men

2.  “Some” is also used with uncountable nouns

some cheese , some rice , some butter

3 . “Some” can be used when you offer somebody something ; or for request .

Examples

Would you like some more tea ?

Can I have some more rice , please ?

4 . “Any” is used in negative sentences and questions .

Examples

She doesn’t have any money .

Do you have any money ?

Exercise 1

Add )some or any) in the following :

1 . There isn’t --------------milk in the fridge .

2 . We haven’t received ---------------e-mails from her for a year .

3 . I’m sorry there isn’t ---------------- more coffee . Will you have ------------tea instead ?

4 . Ask him to bring us ----------------more salt . There isn’t --------------in the kitchen .

5 . Here are --------------more exercises for you to do .

6. I can’t eat --------------more rice , but I should like ------------------meat .

7. Take ------------------------sandwiches with you or you won’t get ------------thing to eat till tonight .

8 . Is there ---------------one here who can speak Italian ?

9 . There were ------------------heavy clouds when we started this morning but there wasn’t

--------- rain while we were out .

10. The milkman promised to bring --------------------more cream tomorrow .

11 . Give those plants ---------------water ; they haven’t had -----------for two days .

12 . There aren’t ----------------------sugar left . I must gout and get ------------------------

13 . Try --------------of these grapes but be careful . Don’t eat ------------unripe ones .

14 . Put -------------------salt in your soup ; it needs ------------------- more .

15 . You must have ----------------- thing to eat before you do --------------more work .

16 . May I have ------------------more coffee , please ?

Exercise 2

Add (a , an , the , some , any or nothing) in the following :

1 . Do you take -----------------sugar in --------------tea ?

2 . ------------------house made of ------------stone can be very pretty .

3 . -----------------children love ---------------chocolates .

4 . -------------------donkeys are said to be ---------------stupid animals .

5 . Take ------------------umbrella with you to -----------------office , it may rain .

6 . I have --------------terrible headache . I’m going to take --------------aspirin and go to ------

bed

7 . Do we need ------------------visa to visit ------------------foreign countries ?

8 . I’m going shopping . I’m going to get ------------------new pair of trousers , ----------shirts and ---------------pyjamas .

9 . Mohammad is --------------doctor . His parents were -----------------doctors too .

10 . ----------------people do a lot of exercise ,others don’t do ------------------at all .

11 . -----------------people living in the flat above have --------------big wild dog .

12 . -----------------water in this glass is dirty .

13 . --------------------climate in Egypt is very nice .

14 . -------------------English language is very easy to learn .

15 . We need ----------------more light in order to study .

16 . We read -------------------long article about ---------------USA .

17 .  -----------------sugar is sweet while -------------lemon is sour .

18 . ----------------health is much more important than --------------gold .

19 . I haven’t got ------------------money . Would you give me ------------, please ?

20 . ---------------------money is the root of all evils .

21 . May I have ----------------beef-burger sandwich and -----------chips , please ?

22 . She gave me -----------------------questions to answer .

23 . It is ------------------most interesting newspaper .

10 . A Few , A little , Much , Many , A Lot Of .

1 . “A few” and “many” are used with countable plural nouns .

Examples

He ate a few sandwiches .

He has many books now .

2 . “A little” and “much” are used with uncountable nouns .

Examples

I would like to have a little coffee , please .

I didn’t eat much food .

3 . “A lot of” is used with countable and uncountable nouns .

Examples

She has a lot of brothers .

He drank a lot of tea .

Exercise

Add (a few , a little , much or many) to fill the blank spaces .

1. It is winter , but I still have ------------flowers in my garden .

2 . There aren’t -------------people at the bus stop . It must have just left .

3 .He is out of work now and lives on ------------------money left to him by his father .

4 . There isn’t -------------rain in September .

5 . You must do --------------more effort to pass the exam .

6 . She is --------------over seventy but in a very good health .

7 . Our government does not spend ------------------money on education .

8 . Do you know ----------------about Eskimos ?

9 . I don’t have ---------------friends at school .

10 . Only ---------------people attended the meeting . It was very boring .

11 . I did not see --------------friends here .

12 . Is there --------------water left ?

13 . The room was nearly empty ; there were --------------people .

14 . Are there -------------girls in your class ?

15 . She said there was too ------------sugar in her coffee .

16 . There isn’t ------------ink in the bottle .

17 . He is a wild boy . He causes ---------------trouble in class .

18 . I’m afraid we nearly ran out of sugar . We have got very ---------------left .

19 . I saw this film --------------times before but I didn’t understand ----------of it .

20 . I don’t know all my classmates . -------------of them are new comers .

21 . I don’t understand all my lessons . ------------of them are difficult .

22 . Most of my friends come to school by bus , but ---------------of them come on foot .

23 . I’m on a diet . I eat ----------------bread and a ------------of salad .

24 . He can’t come to the party . He has ----------------homework to do .