English 24
Grammar Tips
24th January 2004

The Past Simple

When do we use the past simple??
The past simple is used to fix events and situations in the past. It is finished time. You use it to say when the event or situation happened.
v I saw Sean in the pub last night
v He lived in Ireland when he was a child
v Paul lost his keys yesterday. He didn't realise until he got home. He looked everywhere but didn't find them. Then he found them in the car this morning.

We use the past simple to talk about actions or situations in the past
e.g. historical events:
v The 2nd world war ended in 1945.
v Beethoven composed beautiful symphonies
v Shakespeare wrote the Merchant of Venice (write = irregular verb)

Very often the past simple ends in -ed. But not always!!! As you no doubt know many important verbs are irregular and do not end in -ed.

Do - Did
Present Simple: I do the shopping everyday
Past Simple: I did the shopping yesterday

Go - Went
Present Simple: I go on holiday to Spain every year
Past Simple: I went on holiday to Spain last year

Run - Ran
Present Simple: I run 4 miles every morning
Past Simple: I ran 4 miles yesterday

Eat - Ate
Present Simple: I eat out every lunchtime
Past Simple: I ate out last Saturday

Sing - Sang
Present Simple: I always sing in the shower
Past Simple: I sang in the shower last night

Write - Wrote
Simple Present: I write home every week
Simple Past: Shakespeare wrote plays and sonnets

The Rules:
Past simple questions and negatives use "did/didn't (the past of do/don't) and the infinitive (do/open/close/snow/go)
e.g. It snowed Did it snow? It didn't snow
Gemma: Did you go out last night, Chiara?
Chiara: Yes, I went to the theatre. But I didn't enjoy the play.

v What did you do on Saturday night? /at the weekend?
v Why didn't Sarah come to the party?
v We didn't invite her so she didn't come.
v Why didn't you phone me yesterday?

NB: we usually use did/didn't with have:
v Did you have time to do the shopping?
v I didn't have enough energy to go to the gym

DO NOT USE did with the verb "be" (was/were)
v Why were you so happy yesterday?
v Was Rosa with you at the party?
v The sisters weren't able to come because they were too busy.

Top Spelling Tips for the past tense:
v Regular Verbs ending in consonant +y commonly change to i before ed (carry/carried, cry/cried, try/tried)
v Verbs ending in a vowel +y don't change the y (pray-prayed, stay-stayed) exceptions (say-said, pay - paid)
v Regular verbs ending in e add d (breathe/breathed, love/loved, hate/hated)

Top Phonetic Tips:
Watch out for irregular verbs in past tenses that have similar spellings, as they may have different pronunciations:
e.g. said, paid (said pronounced sed)
And also watch out for some verbs with the same pronunciation as they may be spelt differently:
e.g. read, led (read in past tenses pronounced red)
(present simple: read, simple past: read, past participle: read)

1. After /k/f/p/sh/tch/ ed is usually pronounced /t/
e.g. walked, sniffed, dropped, washed, watched
2. After t or d, ed is usually pronounced /id/ wanted, added, hated, exhausted
3. After other consonants and vowel endings ed is usually pronounced /d/ rubbed, hugged, pulled, hummed, purred, closed, loved, glued tied.

Exercise 1
Read the sentence in the present tense and then write a sentence in the simple past.
e.g.Joanne usually wakes up at 8am. Yesterday she woke up at 7.30am

1. Joanne usually has breakfast at work. On Sunday _______________
2. Joanne usually drives to work. Yesterday _____________________
3. Joanne is usually late for work. Yesterday ____________________
4. Joanne usually eats baked potato for lunch. Yesterday ___________
5. Joanne usually goes to the gym after work. Yesterday ____________
6. Joanne usually reads a book at bedtime. Last night______________

Exercise 2
Your friend has just come back from a holiday in England and you are asking her about it.
e.g. Where did you go? Was the weather good?

1. stay in bed and breakfast or a hotel? __________
2. visit any art exhibitions or museums? __________
3. meet up with your friends? __________________
4. go to the theatre? ________________________
5. take any photos? __________________________
6. eat in any good restaurants? _________________
7. what/ do in the evenings? ___________________
8. what/ eat for breakfast? ___________________

Exercise 3
All the sentences below are in the past tense, put the verb into the correct form.
e.g. She ___ (not listen) to the news every morning.

1. I _____ (not/have) breakfast because I ____ (not/have) time.
2. The children __ (not/go) to bed because they ____ (not/tired)
3. I ____(not/buy) the newspaper this morning because I (not/bring) my purse.
4. She ___(not believe) him when he told her he loved her.

Answers

Exercise 1
1. On Sunday she had breakfast in bed/at home
2. Yesterday she walked to work
3. Yesterday she was early for work
4. Yesterday she ate pasta/a sandwich/ for lunch.
5. Yesterday she went to the cinema/straight home/to the pub/to her friends
6. Last night she read a magazine at bedtime.

Exercise 2
1. Did you stay in bed and breakfast or a hotel?
2. Did you visit any art exhibitions or museums?
3. Did you meet up with your friends?
4. Did you go to the theatre?
5. Did you take any photos?
7. Did you eat in any good restaurants?
8. What did you do in the evenings?
9. What did you eat for breakfast?

Exercise 3
1. I didn't have breakfast because I didn't have time.
2. The children didn't go to bed because they weren't tired.
3. I didn't buy the newspaper this morning because I didn't bring my purse.
4. She didn't believe him when he told her she loved her.