CHAPTER

ry fhe simple past tense is used to say that something happened in the past, before now.

@! To make positive sentencesin the simple past tense, use the past tenseverb. There are two kinds of
past tenseverbs: regular verbs (end in -ed) and irregular verbs (do not end in -ed). lrcegular verbs
have to be memorized (seeyour word list for regular and irregular verbs). Follow this pattern:

Subject Past Verb (Regular or Irregular)

I, You, worked. ate.

We, They,
played. went.
He, She,It

@! To make negative sentences in the simple past tense, use did not or didn't (the contraction) and the
base form of the verb. Follow this pattern:

Subject Negative Verb

I, You, work. come.

did not
We, They,
(didn't) play. drink.
He, She, It

Some words are often used with the simple past tense. These phrases can be used at the beginning or end
of a sentence. Here are some examples:
yesterday Iast night an hour ago
yesterdaymorning last week ten daysago
yesterdayafternoon Iastyear four monthsago
yesterdnyeaening IastSunday afew minutesago

Exeuptns: I lived in New York City threeyearsago.

He didn't eat dinner last night.

@l To make yes/no questions in the simple past tense, use Did + subject+ the base form of the verb. Follow
this pattern:

Did Subject Verb

Did [, you, we, they, he, she, it come? rest? eat?

BurrprNc Brocrs oF ENGLTSH 63

CHAPTER The Simple Past nse

@$Follow this pattern to answer yes/no questions in the simple past tense:

Yes, did.
l, you, we, they, he, she, it
No, didn't

@! To make question-word questions in the simple past tense, put the question word first. Thery follow the
samepattern as yes/no questions (not all verbs can be used with all question words). Follow this pattern:

Question Word Did Subject Verb

What I do?
Where you
8o?
\Arhen he cook?
did she
Who send?
it
whv we make?
How they buy?

Another question is How long? How long usually asks about a period of time. Here are some ways to
answer a question with Hozu longJ:

all day fromu:oo a.m.to 2:oop.m. for fiae minutes

aII night fro*3to5p. m. for threehours
all week f"o* f to rc at night for twenty years
Exelrprns: How long did you sleep? I slept all night.
How long did he work? He workedy'om 9 a.m.to 5 p.m.
How long did they practice? They practicedfor two hours.

ffsqpffi#src6aB€*ae
F€.ffiE"*r+
$*r rfus &hat #sadin **d
@lThe final-ed sound for verbs in the past tensehas three pronunciations: ledt,ltt, and ldl.
Rule r: If the final letter before -eil is -d or i the final -ed is pronounced lcdl and is a separatesyllable:
nee{ed - needled.l wanted - wantledJ rested - rest/ed/
Rule z: If the final letter before -eil is pronouncedlk L A t ph, al, the final -ed is pronounced I tl :
liked - likeltl washed - wasUtl
Rule 3: In all other cases,the final -ed is pronounced l@l:
lived - liveldl learned - learn|d.l called - calUdl

64 Bunonc Brocrs oF ENGrrsH

Fmsi*$veSetrt*gie*m
Use the pictures below and practice the conversationswith your partner. Use past tenseverbs. Switch and
repeat.

VERBS
REGULAR

Ea. whutaiavr"ry Ee. whut did Lisa and Vince Ee. you
do yesterday? do yesterday? do yesterday?
B. She all day. B. Thev all duy- B. I all day.

Mary Lisa and Vince you

cook dinner cleanthe house studymath

Ted Liz and Jane yournephew

work play wai(forthe bus

Mike yoursons Alex

helphisparents play basketball fix the car

Karen you and your father your daughters

wash clothes paintthe house dance

BunorNc Brocxs oF ENGLISH 65

Pffisi€9v* S*ffi*mraees
Use the pictures below and practice the conversationswith your partner. Use past tense verbs.
Switch and repeat.
VERBS
IRREGULAR
Ee. whut did Atex Eo. Ee. you do
*u, did Mr. and Mrs. Lee
do yesterday? three weeks ago?
do last week?
B. He w to the B. I made a cake three
B. They last week.
park yesterday. weeks ago.
Alex Mr. and Mrs. Lee you
yesterday last week threeweeksago

go to the park seea movre makea cake

yourmotherandfather Mary yourgrandmother

two nightsago lastSaturday yesterdaymorning

eatdinner reada book ride her bicycle

yourfriend Greg the teacher

yesterday lastFridaymorning last week
E "?""e :L 1* ."*

comeover takea nap give a test

yourniece youraunt anduncle you

a few hoursago lastNewYear's Eve at the party

writea letter havea party tell a joke

66 BunorNc Brocrs oF ENGLTSH

 CHAPTER The Simple Past nse

VERBS
REGULARAND IRREGULAR
Dave and Alice Luke yoursister
lastwinter yesterdayevening thismorning

buya car watchthe kids starther newjob

the teacher youraunt yourcousins

lastweek fourmonthsago this afternoon

correcttests sell her car runin the park

you andyourfriend Ted and Karen Sue

lastnight last spring threehoursago

go out throw away their old clothes preparefor class

Kate John and Rita you

lastnight yesterdayafternoon thismorning

stayat home rest sleep late

*sq1sH
Ask your partner what he/she and what
people in his/her family did yesterday,last
week, three days ago, etc. Switch and repeat.

67
BuIrpINc Brocrs oF ENGLISH
 Use the pictures below and practice the conversationswith your partner. Notice that if the person is you,
it's not necessaryto say,"What's wrong with you?" Switch and repeat.

Eo.
*urs wrong? -A. Vy'hat'swrong with Lisa?
Ee. What's wrong with your
brother and sister?
B. I didn't do my laundry. B. She didn't cook dinner.
B . They
A. Why not? A. Why not?
A. Why not?
B. I didn't have time. B. She didn't have time.
B. They didn't have time.
you Lisa your brother and sister

do my laundry cookdinner cleanthe house

Kate you and yoursister Greg you

visithercousin makeour beds takea nap practiceEnglish

Brad and Debby yourbrothers Ted Kim

meettheirfriends exerctse sweepthe floor do herhomework

Garne

Write ten things you think your partner or

people in your partner's family didn't do.
Tell your partner your sentences.If your
sentenceis correct,your partner should answer
'That's right," and you get one point. Switch and
repeat. The person with the most points wins.

68 BuIrorNc Brocxs oF ENGLTsH

 CHAPTER The Simple Past nse

Use the pictures below and practice the conversations with your partner. Answer no if there is a red X over
the picture. Switch and repeat.

Tom you yourkids

study fix the lamp eat breakfast

lastnight thismorning

Brad yournephew Dave and Alice

turnoffthe lights closethe window wash the clothes

Liz and Jane Mary Rita

take a bath wakeup early driveto work

yesterday today yesterdaymorning

you yourparents you

shophere pay this bill followthe instructions

a few weeksago

Bunnnc Brocxs oF ENGLISH 69

CHAPTER The Simple Past nse

yourhusband you Greg

bringhis wallet forgetyourhomework breaka vase

Jay and Mary Luke and Kate youruncle

enjoytheirdinner catchthe bus spenda lotof money

lastnight thismorning Iastyear

Lisa you andyourfamily

sleepwell movehere seehisgrandparents

lastnight six monthsago thisyear
yourson it yourfriend

use my saw snow

lastwinter
Gam*: uuf*ncentration"

Think of ten verbs and write the present and past tense
form of eachverb on separatepiecesof paper the same
size. Turn the piecesof paper over and mix them up.
Each student (or team) tums over two piecesof paper.
If the two words are the present and past tenseof the
sameverb, the student makes a past tenseyes/no
question with the verb, keeps the piecesof papeq,and
takes another turn. If the words are not the sameverb,
the student turns the papers over and the next student t!
tries. Play until all the piecesof paper are gone. The
student with the most piecesof paper wins.

70 Bunorxc Brocrs oF ENGrrsH

 CHAPTER The Simple Past nse

Use the pictures below and practice the conversations with your partner. Switch and repeat.

EA. What did Teddo yceterd4y? EA. What did your parentsdo last week?
B. He worked. B. They drove around.
A. How long did he work? A. How long did they drive around?
B. He worked from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. B. They drove around for three hours.

Ted yourparents
yesterday lastweek

work drivearound
from9 a.m.to 5 p.m. for three hours

Sue you andyourfriend yournephew

two daysago yesterday lastmonth

swim exerctse look for a job

from3 to 6 from 10 a.m.to 1 p.m. for four days
in the afternoon

you yourboss Mr.andMrs.Lee

lastThursday two weeksago lastWednesday

take care of my children reviewa report walk in the park

from 8 a.m.to 2 p.m. for six hours from2 to 5 p.m.

77
BunorNc Brocrs oF ENGLISH
CHAPTER The Simple Past nse

yourparents yoursister John and Rita

lastSaturday fiveyearsago yesterdayafternoon

rest live in Hawaii speakto theirkids

all day for four years for two hours

you Dave and Alice yourwife

lastnight at the party lastmonth

do my homework srngsongs teacha class

from7 to 9 at night for threehours for two weeks

youraunt anduncle yourgrandmother Jay and Mary

yesterday two nightsago two yearsago

argue talk on the telephone have a vacation

from6 to 8 at night for fifty minutes for three weeks

FATHER DRINK
Ganae

The teacher picks a verb and a subject. Students

(or teams) have ten minutes to think of as many
past tense questions using question words as possible
about the subject and verb (the questions must make
sense). After ten minutes, each student (or team)
takes a turn and reads his or her questions. The
student (or team) with the most questions wins.

72 BurrprNc Brocxs oF ENGLTsH

@! Read the story.
Hi, I'm ]ay. Last week, my family and I did a lot of things. I worked last week. Last Monday, I
didn t go straight home. Mary and I went to a restaurant. We ate dinner and drank coffee. Mary
didn't work last Tuesday. She visited her parents all day. Alex and Kim took care of the twins
yesterday. They didn't have time to go shopping. Luke met his friends, and they studied from 5
to 9 at night.
Hi, I'm Ted. This month, my family and I had a lot of fun. Karen and I took a vacation for two
weeks. We didn t go swimming. We went to the beach and sat in the sun. Lisa and Vince didn't
stay home two nights ago. They saw a movie with their kids. Last week, Alice and Dave sang
songs at a party from 9 to 11 p.m. Tom didn't practice the guitar yesterday. He played basketball
with his friends for three hours.
Alex Kirn
Mong

Alice Dqve

@$Answer the questionswith a complete sentence.

1.) Did Jaywork last Monday?
2.) What did fay and Mary drink last Monday?
3.) What did Mary do last Tuesday?
4.) What did Alex and Kim do yesterday?
5.) How long did Luke study?
6.) What did Ted and Karen do on their vacation?
7.) Did Lisa and Vince see a movie last night?
8.) How long did Alice and Dave sing songs?
9.) Did Tom practice guitar yesterday?
10.)How long did Tom play basketball?

fu$Write five questions about the story and ask your partner the questions.

@! Look at the picture but not the story and tell the story to your partner. You don't have to be exact.

@l Write a story about what you and people in your family did last week and on your days off. Read the
story to your partner.

BunprNc Brocrs oF ENGLTSH 73

 Use the pictures and vocabulary below and practice conversations about a visit to the doctor. The
conversations might go like this:

A. I hurt my arm. A.I cut myself.

B. What happened? B. When did you cut yourself?
A. I threw a lot of baseballs. A.I cut myself last night.
B. Be careful. B. Put some medicine on it.

(v)bruise (v) breok/bnoke

(v) cottgh
(v) sneeze

(v) tqke goor fernperofore

(v)tokeon x-nog
(v) hove q heodqche
(v) give o shof

(v) foke rnedicine/pills

(v) pnt on o bondoge

(v) pot on q cost

*iscus$ict:n

&d Did you hurt yourself? How did you do it? What did you do to fix it?
W Did you go to the hospital? Why?
@$The last time you went to a doctor, what did the doctor do?

74 BunorNc Brocxs oF ENGLTsH