Positive form — Regular verbs

 

I You He/She/It We You They

work ed a lot last night.

The -ed ending has three pronunciations:

[id]	[t]	[d]
after the sounds [t] and [d] attracted [ə ' træktɪd] adopted [ə ' dɒptɪd] added [ ' ædɪd] needed [ ' nɪ:dɪd]	after the unvoiced sounds (except [t]) looked [lʋkt] addressed [ə ' drest] touched [tʌtʃt] washed [wɒʃt]	after voiced sounds (except [d]) played [pleɪd] opened [ ' əʋpənd] raised [reɪzd] lived [lɪvd] filled [fɪld] showed [ʃəʋd]

Exercise 36. Put these words into three groups according to the pronunciation of the -ed endings.

passed, washed, watched, decided, remembered, failed, stopped, studied, asked, loved, used, listened, wanted

Exercise 37. Complete the sentences using the words in the list. Use the Simple Present or the Simple Past.

invite, stay, like, want, watch, happen

 

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

 

1. Ann seldom ___ her homework before midnight. But yesterday she ___ her homework at 10 pm.
2. I usually ___ a lot of people to my birthday party. But last year I ___ only my close friends.
3. Take care! This crossroads is extremely dangerous. Accidents are often here. A serious accident ___ at this crossroads only a few days ago.
4. In the evening my parents ___ at home and ___ TV. As usual they ___ at home and ___ TV last night.
5. After a hard day’s work Tom ___ to relax by going for a swim. But yesterday all he ___ to do was lie down and get some sleep.

Positive form — Irregular verbs

Irregular verbs are irregular in the Past Simple Tense in the positive only (not in the negative or question form).

 

1.	I You He/She/It We You They	came	to the station in time.
2.	I You He/She/It We You They	had	a lecture yesterday.
3.	I	was	born in Moscow in 1989.
You	were	rather good at English.
He/She	was	in Paris some years ago.
It	was	most interesting event in my life.
We You They	were	at the opera yesterday.

 

Exercise 38.

Find the word that doesn’t belong to each list. Give the Present Tense form of the verbs.

a) said	visited	struck	grew	brought	forgave
b) cooked	worked	listened	meant	showed	watched
c) phoned	fought	rang	thought	saw	drove
d) liked	closed	read	climbed	married	acted
e) spent	draw	got	moved	ran	swam

Exercise 39. 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

1.	I You He/She/It We You They	did not (didn’t) return/come home in time.
2.	I You He/She/It We You They	did not (didn’t)have a villa near the beach.
3.	I	was not (wasn’t)	in the office the day before yesterday.
You	were not (weren’t)
He/She/It	was not (wasn’t)
We You They	were not (weren’t)	at the seaside last summer.

Exercise 40. Make the following sentences negative.

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

1. I bought some new clothes last week.

1. The train arrived on time.
2. You made a bad mistake.
3. They left for the airport at 5 am.
4. She had a headache yesterday.
5. Mr Benson and his wife were in Canada a month ago.
6. The weather was hot in New York City last summer.

Exercise 41. Complete the sentences. Put the verb into the correct form, positive or negative.

1. The hotel ___ very expensive. (not/be) It ___ very much. (not/cost)

1. The bed ___ uncomfortable. (be) I ___ very well. (not/sleep)
2. Madame Tussaud ___ making models in wax as a teenager. (start)
3. The film ___ boring. (be) I ___ it very much. (not/enjoy)
4. Nicholas ___ different schools but he was bored and unhappy. (try)

General questions

1.	Did	I you he/she/it we you they	go/return home after work?	Yes, No,	I you he/she/it we you they	did. didn’t.
2.	Was	I/he/she it	interested in Biology at school? difficult?	Yes, No,	I/he/she it	was. wasn’t.
	Were	you	keen on computer games in your childhood?	Yes, No,	I	was. wasn’t.
	Were	we you they	born in Moscow?	Yes, No,	we you they	were. weren’t.
3.	Did	I you he/she/it we you they	havemany friends at school?	Yes, No,	I you he/she/it we you they	did. didn’t.

Exercise 42. 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 visited my parents last week. (negative) — I didn’t visit my parents last week.

1. We began our new language course book in May. (negative)

2. Mike got some tickets for the World Cup. (question)

3. Our trip lasted a fortnight. (negative)

4. Tanya didn’t sleep well at all last night.(positive)

5. They worked overtime in their new job. (negative)

6. The alarm clock woke Helen from a deep sleep. (negative)

7. He arrived at the hotel at midnight. (question)

Special questions

When	were	you born?	— In 1987.
How	was	the weekend?	— Oh, it was great!
Which subject	was	your favourite one?	— Mathematics.

 

How	did	you	get	there?	— By bus.
How long	it	take	you to do your homework?	— Three hours.
How long ago	it	start	raining?	— About two hours ago.
When	you	finish	school?	— A year ago.
What	he	do	after school?	— He went to university.
Where	she	study	English?	— At college.
Why	we	leave	the party so early?	— I was too bored.
How much	it	cost?		— Not much.
How many friends	you	have	at school?	— A lot.
How often	Sam	have	English classes last term?	— Twice a week.
What kind of film	I	see?		— A thriller.
Whose lecture	they	listen	to?	— They listened to a world-famous professor.

Object question

Who	did	she	see	at the party?	— Brian and his girlfriend.
Who	he	meet	at the airport?	— His wife.
What	they	see	in London?	— A lot of interesting sights.
What	you	do	yesterday?	— Nothing.

 

Subject question

Who	—	—	helped you with the test?	— Brian did.
What	—	—	happened last night?	— Nothing special.
Who	was	—	at the conference?	— All my colleagues.
What	was	—	strange?	— His behaviour and appearance.

 

Exercise 43. Ask questions about the information in italics.

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

1. My parents were on holiday in Greece in June.

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

Exercise 44. Ask subject or object questions. Give short 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 the door?

1. We listened to the news at breakfast.

1. Anthony talked to his girlfriend on the phone all evening.
2. Fred’s sister married a famous actor.
3. They bought a present for us.
4. I reported the accident to the police.

The Future Simple Tense

The Future Simple Tense is used:

• for a statement of a future fact

The journey will take six hours.

These expressions are usually used with the Future Simple Tense: