Past simple tense

Past Simple Tense

Regular verbs Irregular verbs

+ -ed see list of irregular verbs

Утвердительная форма	Отрицательная форма	Вопросительная форма
I worked I wrote	I didn’t work I didn’t write	Did I work? Did I write

Past Simple Tense употребляется для передачи:

действия, которое произошло в прошлом. Временными маркерами прошедшего времени являются выражения: yesterday, last week / month / year; last summer / winter / autumn; two days ago, a month ago и т.д.	They spent their holidays in Switzerland last winter. We had a great time yesterday.
последовательности действий в прошлом	First, he read his message. Then he called his friends.
действий, которые неоднократно повторялись в прошлом	As a rule, she watched TV before going to bed every night.

Exercise 52. Write the Past Simple Tense of these irregular verbs.

give leave sell speak lose

make break meet win take

Exercise 53. Fill in the gaps with one of the verbs in the Past Simple Tense.

hurt, teach, spend, sell, throw, fall, catch, buy, cost

1. My father … me how to drive when I was 17. 2. James … down the stairs and … his leg. 3. We needed some money, so we … our summer house. 4. He … a lot of money yesterday. He … a dishwasher which … a lot. 5. The boy … a ball to a dog and the dog … it.

Exercise 54. Read the sentence about the present and write the sentence about the past.

Model:

My granny usually gets up at 6.30. Yesterday she got up at 6.30, too.

1. My granny usually wakes up early. Yesterday ….

2. My granny usually walks in the garden. Yesterday ….

3. My granny usually has a sandwich for lunch. Yesterday ….

4. My granny usually goes out in the evening. Yesterday ….

5. My granny usually sleeps very well. Yesterday ….

Exercise 55. A friend of yours has just come back from Italy. Interview him about his trip. Make up some questions.

Model:

what / place / go? - What place did you go to?

1. how long / stay there? 2. stay at the hotel? 3. go there on your own? 4. how / travel ?

the food / good? what / do in the evening? make any friends there? the weather / fine?

Exercise 56. Open the brackets using the verbs in the Present Simple or Past Simple Tense.

1. My mother … (cook) a very tasty dinner yesterday. 2. Your father … ( go) on a business trip last month. 3. He … (spend) last summer in the country. 4. She … (not help) her mother yesterday. She … (be) busy. 5. I … (not eat) ice-cream every day. 6. You … (watch) TV every day? 7. My mother always … (take) a bus to her work. 8. Queen Elizabeth II … (be) born in 1926. She … (become) Queen of England in 1952.

Exercise 57. Translate from Russian into English.

1. Мы начали этот эксперимент на прошлой неделе. 2. Они вернулись домой в семь часов вечера. 3. Вчера я встретил Катю в библиотеке. 4. Вчера погода была хороша, и мы с друзьями пошли в парк. 5. В прошлом году мы не изучали французский, мы изучали английский. 6. В прошлый вторник у нас был тест по биологии (test in Biology).

Exercise 58. Fill in the gaps with the verbs in the Past Simple Tense. All sentences are negative.

1. I … (not / have breakfast) this morning because I … (not / have ) time.

2. We … (not / buy) anything because we … (not / have) any money.

3. I … (not / sleep) because I … (not / feel) sleepy.

4. She (not / be ) interested in the book because she (not / understand) it.

Exercise 59. Ask and answer questions starting with when. Try to use different time expressions in your answers.

Model:

When did you get up? – At seven o’clock. Three hours ago. When did this semester start? – In September. Two months ago.

Possible time expressions: in 2006; last Sunday; in the evening yesterday; in September/November, etc

1.….. have breakfast? 2.…..arrive at the Academy? 3.…..start learning English? 4.…..first travel by plane?

5.…..last have a holiday? 6.…..last eat a hamburger? 7.…..learn to ride a bicycle? 8.…..go abroad for the first time?

Exercise 60. Translate from Russian into English.

В прошлое воскресенье мы ездили на ферму. Это была ферма моего дяди. Мы видели там много животных: коров, лошадей, овец. Там также были две собаки и три кошки. Жена моего дяди – ветеринар. Пять лет назад она закончила Санкт-Петербургскую Академию ветеринарной медицины. Они купили эту ферму три года назад.