Self-study materials for unit III

The Past Simple Tense is used:

to talk about a complete action or an event in the past. The action can be a short one

I missed the bus. I asked a question.

or a long one

I lived there for years. I walked for hours.

When we talk about actions and situations in the past we use:

a) adverbs of frequency to talk about habits

Always At school he always complained about bad food.

Usually When I was a child, I usually went to the cinema with my parents.

Seldom Jack's parents seldom went on holiday when he was a little boy.

Never My brother never missed a classical guitar performance.

b) adverbs of sequence to order events

Yesterday morning/afternoon/evening;

the day before yesterday;

Kate worked yesterday afternoon.

night/week/month/year; five minutes a week

Last spring/summer/autumn/winter; three hours two months ago

Monday /Tuesday, etc. five days a year

Jane moved into a new flat last week. He passed all his exams two months

ago.

Long ago Long ago, people learned to make musical instruments.

(Many) years later. Years later people learned to make more elaborate ones.

Many years ago Many years ago my mother taught me to play the piano.

After that After that I started taking piano classes with a professional

pianist.

(Soon) afterwards Soon afterwards I played the piano in many piano

performances.

In those days In those days piano performances were quite popular.

Then Then I gave up playing music.

At that time At that time I was rather keen on sports.

Positive form — Regular verbs

I watch television every evening. (present simple)

I watched television yesterday evening. (past simple)

watched is the past simple:

I/we /you /they he/she/it

watched

 

■ The past simple is often -ed. For example:

work –> worked clean –> cleaned start –> started

stay –> stayed live –> lived dance –> danced

These verbs are regular verbs.

- I clean my teeth every morning. This morning I cleaned my teeth.

- Terry worked in a bank from 1981 to 1986.

- Yesterday it rained all morning. It stopped at lunchtime.

- We enjoyed the party last Might. We danced a lot and talked to a lot of people. The party finished at midnight.

Spelling ► stud y –> stud ied marr y –> marr ied

sto p –> sto pped pla n –> pla nned

Exercise 1. Complete the sentences using the words in the list. Use the Present Simple or the Past Simple:

stay finish listen watch happen visit ask invite

 

Example: Mike often asks questions. He asked a lot of ques­tions in class yesterday.

 

1. Lily and Jack ___their grandparents every weekend. They ___ them last weekend too.

2. I usually ___ to the news on TV before I go to sleep at night, but last night I ___ to the news on the radio.

3. Ann seldom ___ her homework before midnight. But yesterday she ___ her homework at 10 p.m.

4. I usually ___ a lot of people to my birthday party. But last year I ___ only my close friends.

5. Take care! This crossroads is extremely dangerous. Accidents are often here. A serious accident ___ at this crossroads only a few days ago.

6. In the evening my parents ___ at home and ___ TV. As usual they ___ at home and ___ TV last night.

Positive form — Irregular verbs

Some verbs are irregular (not regular). The Past Simple is not -ed.

Here are some important irregular verbs

 

begin –> break bring build buy catch come do drink eat

began broke brought built bought caught came did drank ate

fall –> find fly forget get give go have hear know

fell found flew forgot got gave went had heard knew

leave –> lose make meet pay put read ring say see

left lost made met paid put read(/red/) rang said saw

sell –> sit sleep speak stand take tell think win write

sold sat slept spoke stood took told thought won wrote

 

- I usually get up early but this morning I got up at 9.30.

- We did a lot of housework yesterday.

- Caroline went to the cinema three times last week.

- Mr Todd came into the room, took off his coat and sat down.

Exercise 3. Complete the sentences putting the verbs in the Past Simple Tense. Use each verb only once.

sell spend buy fly drive run cost drink understand

 

Example: Mr and Mrs Brown drove from London to Manches­ter last weekend.

1. We needed money badly so we__our car.

2. Ann__a lot of money yesterday. She__a dress which__$70.

3. Dan__the marathon in two hours.

4. They__champagne to celebrate their wedding an­niversary.

5. As teenagers, we__each other very well.

6. They__to Spain the day before yesterday.

Negative form and questions

■ We use did in past simple negatives and questions:

infinitive	positive	negative	question
watch clean play do go have begin	I we you they he she it	watched cleaned played did went had began	I we you they he she it	did not (didn’t)	watch clean play do go have begin	did	I we you they he she it	watch? clean? play? do? go? have? begin?

 

■ do/does (present) -> did (past):

- I don't watch television very often.

- I didn't watch television yesterday.

- Does she often go out?

- Did she go out last night?

■ We use did/didn't + infinitive (watch/clean/do etc.):

I watched but I didn't watch (not 'I didn't watched¹)

he went but did he go? (not 'did he went?¹)

- I played tennis yesterday but I didn't win.

- Don didn't have breakfast this morning, (not 'Don hadn't breakfast')

- They went to the cinema but they didn't enjoy the film.

- We didn't do much work yesterday.

 

Exercise 4. Make the following positive sentences negative.

Example: She spoke to me at the party. — She didn't speak to me at the party.

He had to find a new job. — He didn't have to find a new job.

1. I bought some new clothes last week.
2. The train arrived on time.
3. You made a bad mistake.
4. They had to leave for the airport at 5 a.m.
5. She had a headache yesterday

 

■ Note the word order in questions with did:

did + subject + infinitive

What How Where

Did did did did

Sue you the accident your parents

give do happen? go

you a birthday present? yesterday evening?   for their holidays?

 

■ short answers

Yes, {I/we/you/they/he/she/it} did.

No, {I/we/you/they/he/she/it} didn’t.

 

- 'Did you see Joe yesterday?' 'No, I didn't.'

- 'Did it rain on Sunday?' 'Yes, it did.'

- 'Did Helen come to the party?' 'No, she didn't.'

- 'Did your friends have a good holiday?' 'Yes, they did. '.

General questions

Exercise 5. Make these sentences into general questions. Give short answers.

Example: I finished work early last night. Did you finish work early last night? - Yes, I did.

1. I didn't enjoy Peter's birthday party.
2. Peter had a light breakfast in the morning.
3. She didn't know his telephone number.
4. Mrs Adams had to travel tourist class.
5. I felt tired and went to bed early.

 

Exercise 6. Rewrite each sentence as positive, negative or a general question, according to the instructions.

Example: My dad didn't work late yesterday. (positive) – My dad worked late yesterday,

Greg went to the theatre at the weekend. (question) – Did Greg go to the theatre at the weekend?

I had to visit my parents last week. (negative) – I didn’t have to visit my parents last week.

1. Jim had a lot of adventures in the jungle. (question)
2. We began our new language course book in May. (negative)
3. I ate nothing for breakfast this morning. (question)
4. The sun didn't rise at 5.15 a.m. (positive)
5. They had to work overtime in their new job. (negative)

 

Alternative questions

Exercise 7. Ask alternative questions with the following words. Give answers.

Example: The bus/arrive/ late /early?

Did the bus arrive late or early? — (It arrived) late.

1. Denis/attend the first lecture/ miss it /yesterday?
2. They/play football/ volleyball /yesterday?
3. They/ have to stay in town /go to the country/last weekend?
4. You/have a pet cat/ a dog /in your childhood?

 

Tag questions

Exercise 8.Give the correct tag to these sentences.

1. You didn't have a cup of coffee this morning, ___?
2. They didn't have to go out of town last Saturday ___?
3. They arrived in the city a fortnight ago, ___?
4. They had awful weather while they were on holiday, ___?
5. You had to live at home with your parents years ago, ___?

 

Special questions

Exercise 9. Ask questions about the information in italics.

Example: Bobby played golf yesterday. — What did Bobby do yesterday?

They had to travel in a car. — How did they have to travel?

1. Mrs Taylor's pupils often asked embarrassing questions.
2. It took Clare an hour to pack her travelling bag.
3. Charlotte Hughes (the second oldest person in the world) didn’t marry until sixty-three.
4. Alexander Bell started his first telephone company on August 2nd 1877.
5. Martin worked the whole summer. The job was tiring but he earned a lot of money.

 

Exercise 10. Ask subject or object questions. Give answers to subject questions.

Example: We waited for him at the door. — Who waited for him at the door? — We did. Who did you wait for at door?

1. We listened to the news at breakfast.
2. Anthony talked to his girlfriend on the phone all evening.
3. Fred's sister married a famous actor.
4. They bought a present for us.
5. I had to report the accident to the police.

 

Revision test

- Complete these sentences. Use one of these verbs in the past simple: