THE PAST SIMPLE

We use the past simple:

To talk about things that started and finished in the past:

Situations that were true in the past.

Past habits.

THE PAST SIMPLE: Irregular verbs:

look at the list: Write- wrote See- saw

Regular verbs: +ed Visit-visited Learn- learned

Verb to be There was/there were

YOU MUSTLEARN THEM!

Affirmative sentences:

My uncle bought this house in 1999. Last summer, they visited London.

(C+) Subject + V (past) +C.

Negative sentences

I didn’t visit my friend last week. Two days ago, she didn’t go to the

doctor.

(C+) Subject + DIDN’T + V (INFINITIVE) + C.

Interrogative sentences:

Did you eat meat last night? Where did they play football?

(WH) + DID + Subject + V (INFINITIVE) + C?

Short answers:

Yes, they did. No, she didn’t. Yes, I did. No, he didn’t.

YES, Subject pronoun + DID.NO + Subject pronoun + DIDN’T.

REGULAR VERBS: SPELLING (1) Most of the verbs add ed: look-lookedBUT… We only add d:

Verbs ending with a silent e only + d: Live-lived

We change the y to i +ed. Verbs endding in consonsnt + y:

carry- carried study- studied (but… stay-stayed)

REGULAR VERBS: SPELLING (2)

We double the last consonant + ed: Monosyllabic verbs ending 1 vowel + 1

consonant : stop- stopped rob- robbed

Two-syllable verbs with the stress on the last syllable: prefer- preferred permit- permitted

Verbs ending in l: travel- travelled

Verb to be (1) (ser/estar)

AFFIRMATIVE I was (jo era/estava)

You were He/she/it was We were You were They were

NEGATIVE I wasn’t (Jo no era/no estava)

You weren’t He/she/it wasn’t We weren’t You weren’t They weren’t

Verb to be (2) (Ser/estar)

QUESTIONS Was I? (Era/estava jo?)

Were you? Was he/she/it? Were we? Were you? Were they?

SHORT ANSWERS

Yes, I/he/she/it was. No, I/he/she/it wasn’t.

There was/ were (Hi havia) SINGULAR:

There was a pencil on the table. There wasn’t a pencil on the table. Was there a pencil on the table? Yes, there was. No, there wasn’t.

PLURAL: There were three children in the room. There weren’t three children in the room. Were there three children in the room? Yes, there were. No there weren’t.

PRONUNCIATION: -ed

WHEN THE REGULAR VERB FINISHES:

Voiceless sound: – p – k – s – ch – sh – f – x – h –

pronounce ED as “T”

Voiced sound : – l – v – n – m – r – b – v – g – w – y – z – and vowel sounds pronounce ED as “D”

Finisehes T or D:pronounce ED as “ID”

askedbrushed cookeddanced (da:ns) + tdressedescaped finished fixedguessedhelped

advised (ad’vaiz) + dagreedanswered arrivedbelievedbelonged calledcarriedchanged closed crieddescribeddied

collectedcounteddecideddefended demanded dividedendedexported flooded graduated hated includedinvited

Time expressions

Yesterday (ahir) Yesterday morning/afternoon/evening

Two days ago (fa dos dies) Two hours/weeks/months/years ago

Last month (l’any passat) Last week/year/Friday/night

In 2007 In January