1

PAST SIMPLE (SIMPLE PAST)

 Uses
1. The simple past is a verb tense that is used to talk about past events.
2. We use past simple to describe past experiences.

Example of the use of PAST SIMPLE to describe past experiences of past events

My name is Teixeira, I was born in 1995 in Sofala Province, in Beira city.

I started school when I was 6 years old. I finished my grade 12 in 2013 at Escola
Secundária da Manga (Manga Secondary School). In 2014 I applied for University at
Universidade Pedagógica (Pedagogical University) in Beira to attend English course and I
was admitted.
In 2017 I finished my graduation course and I was graduated.
And now I am a teacher at Catholic University in Beira in Health Sciences Faculty. Three
years ago, I taught English subject at Universidade Pedagógica (Pedagogical University)
which now is UNILICUNGO.

Exercise 1

Write a small text describing your past experiences or your past events. Don´t
forget using verbs in past simple.

_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________

Material elaborado por dr. Augusto Teixeira, 25/03/2020

 2

GRAMMAR

Material elaborado por dr. Augusto Teixeira, 25/03/2020

 3

Exercise 2

Complete the sentences with was / were.

1. How many students __________ in the classroom?

2. The experiments __________difficult. They __________ easy.
3. __________ your friends at school yesterday?
6. Sandra __________ not at school yesterday.
7. You __________ nasty to me!
8. __________ your grandparents designers?
9. John and I __________ (not) in the garden.
10. __________ your parents in the restaurant? Yes, they __________ .
11. My grandmother __________ a nurse. She wasn´t a doctor.
12. I __________ thin when I was 6 years old.
13. When I __________ younger, I played a guitar.
14. We __________ away on vacation last month.

Material elaborado por dr. Augusto Teixeira, 25/03/2020

 4

16. __________ you at the cinema last night?

17. __________ the exam difficult?
18. The film __________ (not) exciting. It was boring.

Exercise 3

Complete with was or were.

1. John_____________at home last week.

2. They ________________at the cinema yesterday.
3. Your parents ______________at the station at nine o´clock.
4. Mary __________________in the street this morning.
5. My aunt ___________in hospital yesterday morning.
6. I _______________at school this morning.
7. Jill and Kevin ______________at the zoo last Sunday.
8. We _______________in a Chinese restaurant last night.

PAST SIMPLE FOR REGULAR AND IRREGULAR VERBS

Use the Simple Past to express the idea that an action started and finished at a specific
time in the past. Sometimes, the speaker may not actually mention the specific time, but
they do have one specific time in mind.
Examples:
 I saw a movie yesterday.
 I didn't see a play yesterday.
 Last year, I traveled to Japan.
 Last year, I didn't travel to Korea.
 Did you have dinner last night?
 She washed her car.
 He didn't wash his car.

Material elaborado por dr. Augusto Teixeira, 25/03/2020

 5

The Simple Past can be used with a duration which starts and stops in the past.
Duration is a longer action often indicated by expressions such as: for two years, for five
minutes, all day, all year, etc.

Examples:

 I lived in Brazil for two years.

 Shauna studied Japanese for five years.
 They sat at the beach all day.
 They did not stay at the party the entire time.
 We talked on the phone for thirty minutes.
A: How long did you wait for them?
B: We waited for one hour.
REGULAR VERBS

Regular verbs are verbs that form their past simple forms by adding -ed.

Example:

 I cleaned my teeth.
 Jerry worked in a bank.
 We enjoyed the party last night.
 It stopped at lunchtime.
 Yesterday it rained all morning.
 She passed the examination because she studied very hard.
 The police stopped me.

Material elaborado por dr. Augusto Teixeira, 25/03/2020

 6

Exercise 4

SPELLING RULES

a) Verbs ending with a consonant and a –y, drop the –y and add –ied.
Examples: try-tried / Study-studied copy-copied / cry-cried

b) Verbs ending with a vowel and a –y, doubled the consonant and add –ed.
Examples: stop-stopped / plan-planned / travel-travelled / beg-
begged
ATTENTION! Pray - prayed

Material elaborado por dr. Augusto Teixeira, 25/03/2020

 7

IRREGULAR VERBS

Exercise 5

Gap filling

1. He_____________down and _____________his leg. (to fall /to break)

2. The policeman___________the thief and__________him in jail. (to catch /to put).
3. They____________us funny stories (to tell), but I_____________all of them. (to know)
4. She________________a cake for us an hour ago ( to make). We __________and
________it (to eat/to enjoy).
5. The boy_______________ a letter yesterday (to write. He_________it to his mother ( to
send)

Exercise 6

Material elaborado por dr. Augusto Teixeira, 25/03/2020

 8

Exercise 7

Past Simple Negative

Affirmative Negative Interrogative

I walked I didn't walk Did I walk?

You walked You didn't walk Did you walk?

He/she/it walked He didn't walk Did he walk?

We walked We didn't walk Did we walk?

You walked You didn't walk Did you walk?

They walked They didn't walk Did they walk?

Exercise 10

Write past simple negative sentences.

1. Laura applied for a new job.

___________________________________________________________________
2. Alex and Steven studied for the test.

Material elaborado por dr. Augusto Teixeira, 25/03/2020

 9

___________________________________________________________________

3. Johanna cried because she was ill.

___________________________________________________________________
4. Joe and Cays made themselves dinner.
___________________________________________________________________
5. They did their homework.
___________________________________________________________________
6. She asked a lot of questions.
___________________________________________________________________
7. Susan waited in the kitchen.
___________________________________________________________________
8. They cleaned the classroom.
___________________________________________________________________
9. You built a house.
___________________________________________________________________
10. The friends got new computers.
___________________________________________________________________

Past Simple in Questions and answers

Question
Auxiliary Subject Verb Rest Answer
word
yesterday
What Did you do I did my homework.
evening?
She met him
When Did she meet her boyfriend?
yesterday.

Where Did they go after the match? They went to a café.

Using Did without wh- question words

Auxiliary (+
Auxiliary Subject Verb Rest Yes/No Subject
n't)

Yes, he did.
Did Max Play football?
No, he didn't.

the film Yes, I did.

Did you watch
yesterday?
No, I didn't.

Material elaborado por dr. Augusto Teixeira, 25/03/2020

 10

Exercise 11

Put in the correct verb form into the gap. Use Simple Past.

1) ---------you----------------the door? (to close)

2)----------------- Claire--------------------the housework? (to finish)

3)------------------- he--------------------a bath yesterday? (to have)

4)--------------------- the boy-----------------------into the lake? (to jump)

5)------------------- Ronald------------------the Tower of London? (to visit)

6) ----------------Peggy and Olivia----------------after the baby? (to look)

7)------------------- she------------------------the invitation cards herself? (to make)

8)------------------------ the girl---------------------------the ketchup bottle? (to drop)

9) ------------------------Tim---------------------the green T-shirt last Monday? (to buy)

Questions Answers

What did you eat last night? I ate potatoes and fried chicken.
When did you arrive? I arrived at 10:30 pm.
Where did you go last summer? I went to Nampula last summer.
How did you enjoy your last holiday? I enjoyed well.
What did she cook? She cooked rice.

Material elaborado por dr. Augusto Teixeira, 25/03/2020

 11

Exercise 12

Answers Questions

1. They wanted to see their car. ------------------------------------- did they

want to see?
2. I got up at 7 o'clock.
get up?
3. She paid $10.
pay?
4. He liked the movie.
5. We had eggs and bread for dinner.
for dinner?
6. The meeting finished late.
7. I ate an apple pie.
eat?
8. I played tennis last week.
9. Ana opened the window.
10. She lost her bags.
------------------------------time did you
-----------------------------much did she
----------------------- -------he like the movie?
------------------------------did you have
-----------------------time did the meeting finish?
------------------------------kind of pie did you
------------------------------did you play tennis?
--------------------------- Anna open the window?
------------------------------------is she sad?

Exercise 13

Put the verbs into the correct form (simple past).

1. Last year I (spend) __________________my holiday in Ireland.

2. It (be) _____________great.
3. I (travel)_______________around by car with two friends and
we (visit) __________lots of interesting places.
4. In the evenings we usually (go) _______________to a pub.
5. One night we even (learn)________________some Irish dances.
6. It (not / rain) __________________a lot.
7. But we (see)_______________some beautiful rainbows.

Material elaborado por dr. Augusto Teixeira, 25/03/2020

 12

Atenção

1. Todos os exercícios devem ser respondidos numa folha A4 e

manuscrito que será um trabalho.
2. Colocar capa e folha de rosto (contra-capa) e obedecer todos os
elementos pre-textuais (apenas os que constam na capa e contra-
capa).

Atentendo e considerando a situação que o mundo está na nossa actualidade, todo o

cuidado é pouco. Por isso tomem todas precauções sobre COVID-19 e espero que todos
estejam de boa saúde.
Augusto Teixeira

Material elaborado por dr. Augusto Teixeira, 25/03/2020