Programa de Acceso Inclusivo, Equidad y Permanencia PAIEP U. de Santiago SIMPLE PAST ENGLISH DEPARTMENT

Transcripción

1 SIMPLE PAST ENGLISH DEPARTMENT Objetivos Conocer el uso del pasado simple. Operar las diversas formas verbales del pasado simple. Contenidos 1. Past Simple / Pasado Simple Materiales A paperback or online dictionary. Past Simple As the name suggests, past simple is used to indicate events or situations that happened in the past. Whenever you use past simple, you must take into account that the action you are referring to is over. This is important because in future handouts we will see that there are more than one type of past tenses. Let s see the example below to see how it works: A. Tom: Look! It s raining again. B. Ann: Oh no, not again. It rained all day yesterday too. In the example above, we can see the use of simple past. This time we are referring to the rain. The verb is used in its ed form and you have a time marker: yesterday. Remember that in English we have verbs which are regular and irregulars. Regular verbs always finish with ed, while irregular verbs have a different form. Check the examples below and compare. - I very much enjoyed the party. (regular) - Mr. Edwards died ten years ago. (regular) - When I lived in Manchester I worked in a bank. (regular) - Chile won the American Cup in (irregular) - Ms. Daisy went to Europe in a business trip. (irregular) 1

2 In case you don t remember which verbs are regular or irregular, you can visit the following webpage and check the most commonly used irregular verbs in English. Click here to check the webpage. In the case of verb be (am / is / are) the past form is was / were. - I was angry because Carlos and Sofía were late. - She was happy because she won a scholarship. All the examples we have seen are in affirmative form. Affirmative means that they state something. Now we will see how to make the simple past into negative. For doing so, the only thing we need to add is the expression didn t. - I didn t go to the party because I was tired. - Argentina didn t win the 2015 American Cup. - They didn t play today as they had to study for a PEP. In the negative form we must add the expression didn t and do not modify the verb. All verbs in the example above are in their base forms. We use go and not went, win and not won, play and not played. This is basically because the word didn t indicate past and we do not need to change the verb as we would have a double negative. Finally, in the case of questions we use the expression did. A. Ana: Did you go out last night, Jorge? B. Jorge: Yes, I went to the cinema. But I didn t enjoy the film. As you may notice, questions in English follow a different order. Check the example below and compare. - I wrote a letter this weekend to complain about the quality service. - Did you write the letter to complain about the quality service? 2

3 As you can see, questions in the simple past start with the word did. After the word did we use the subject (the word which is making the action) and then we include the verb in its base form. In the case of verb to be we used was or were depending on the subject. - Was Matias at work yesterday? - Did you have time to call her? - Were you happy about the result? - Did you enjoy your holiday? Exercises 1. In this exercise you have to read a sentence about the present and then write a sentence about the past. Examples: Tom usually gets up at Yesterday, he got up at 7: Tatiana usually wakes up early. Yesterday morning. 2. Tatiana usually walks to work. Yesterday. 3. Tatiana is usually late for work. Yesterday. 4. Tatiana usually has a sandwich for lunch. Yesterday. 5. Tatiana usually goes out in the evening. Yesterday evening. 6. Tatiana usually sleeps very well. Last night. 2. This time you have to put one of these verbs in each sentence: Hurt teach spend sell throw fall catch buy cost Example: I was hungry, so I bought something to eat in the shop. 1. Tom s father him how to drive when he was Don down the stairs this morning and his leg. 3. We needed some money so we our car. 4. Ann a lot of money yesterday. She a dress which $ Jim the ball to Sue who it. 3

4 3. In this exercise you have to write questions. A friend has just come back from holiday and you are asking him about it. Examples: Where / go? Where did you go? Food / good? Was the food good? 1. How long / stay there? 2. Stay in a hotel? 3. Go alone? 4. How / travel? 5. The weather / fine? 6. What / do in the evenings? 7. Meet any interesting people? 4. This time you have to put the verb into the correct form. All the sentences are past. Example: I didn t go (not/go) to work yesterday because I wasn t (not/be) very well. 1. Tom (not/shave) this morning because he (not/have) time. 2. We (not/eat) anything because we (not/be) hungry. 3. I (not/rush) because I (not/be) in a hurry. 4. She (not/be) interested in the book because she (not/understand) it. 4

5 Answer Key 1. In this exercise you have to read a sentence about the present and then write a sentence about the past. 1. He woke up early. 2. He walked to work. 3. He was late for work. 4. He had a sandwich for lunch. 5. He went out. 6. He slept very well. 2. This time you have to put one of these verbs in each sentence: 1. Taught 2. Fell hurt 3. Sold 4. Spent bought cost 5. Threw caught 3. In this exercise you have to write questions. A friend has just come back from holiday and you are asking him about it. 1. How long did you stay there? 2. Did you stay in a hotel? 3. Did you go alone? 4. How did you travel? 5. Was the weather fine? 6. What did you do in the evenings? 7. Did you meet any interesting people? 4. This time you have to put the verb in the correct form. All the sentences are past. 1. Didn t shave didn t have 2. Didn t eat weren t 3. Didn t rush wasn t 4. Wasn t didn t understand 5

6 Sources - Raymond Murphy. English Grammar in Use; A self study reference and practice book for intermediate students. (1985). 6