30896 the simple past rules and exercises

The Simple Past, rules and activities
1. The principal use of the simple past:
- It is used to speak about a finished action in the past.
Example:
Algeria got its independence in 1962.
- It is also used to tell a story that happened in the past, i.e, to
narrate.
2. The simple past is used with the following time indicators:
- In + a date in the past
- Yesterday
- Ago
- Last+ night, week, month, year, century…
3. There are two types of verbs when conjugated in the simple past:
 Regular verbs:
We call them regular because they have the same ending: “ed”
in their simple past and past participle.
Egs:
Infinitive
Simple past
To help
helped
To work
worked
To create
created
To happen
happened
So, we add: “ed” to a regular verb, or “d”

Past participle
helped

worked
created
happened
if the regular verb

ends in “e”.
 Irregular verbs:
We call them irregular because they don’t have the same
ending, and we have to learn them by heart.
Egs:
Infinitive
Simple past
Past participle
To get
Got
Gotten
To go
went
Gone
To do
Did
done
To think
Thought
thought
So, you notice that the endings are very different, very
irregular. Learn your irregular verbs by heart


Activity 1: Put the verbs between brackets in the correct tense:

a. In 2003, a terrible earthquake (to happen) in Algeria.
b. Two weeks ago, my friend (to buy) a new laptop. It (to be) very
expensive.
c. Mohamed (to go) to London last week. He (to win) a scholarship to
continue his studies in medicine.
d. In 1957, the USSR (to launch) Sputnik I.

4. The negative form:
How de we form the negative of the simple past?
Look at this example:
Yesterday, I went to the supermarket.
Compare with this one:
Yesterday, I didn’t go to the supermarket.
To form the negative, in the simple past, we use this rule:
Did + not + stem
Exception for the auxiliary “to be”:
Eg:
The weather was fine.
The weather was not fine
Activity 2: transform the following sentences from the affirmative to
the negative form:
a. I found this purse three days ago.
b. She talked to her friend on the phone.
c. I taught English in this school.
d. He watched a nice film last night.
e. The children were very noisy.
f. He was tired.

5. The interrogative form:
Read this sentence:

A / wh/questions.
Sara went to the supermarket yesterday.
a
b
c


-

Ask questions to the underlined words:
a. Who went to the supermarket yesterday?
b. Where did Sara go yesterday?
c. When did Sara go to the supermarket?
Remarks:
1. Question a. when we ask a question to get the subject of the
sentence, this is the rule:
Form: who/what for subject+ verb in the past+ the rest of the
question + ?
2. Question b. and question c., when we ask questions for other
information, this is the general rule:
Form: wh/question + did+ subject+ stem + the rest of the
question+?

B/ Auxiliary Questions:
Suppose I don’t know if Sara went to the supermarket or no. To know this,
I ask a yes/no question.
This is the question:
Did Sara go the supermarket?
The possible answers:
-

Yes, she did.
Or
No, she didn’t.
The rule:
Did + subject + stem + the rest of the question + ?

Activity 3: Ask questions on the underlined words:
1.

Christopher Columbus discovered America in 1492.

2. The Americans dropped the first atomic bomb more than forty years ago.
Activity 4: Ask yes/no questions:
1. The children went to the zoo.


2. The pupils had their exam yesterday.
3. They told her the truth.
4. The girls sang a nice song.
Activity 5: Put the verbs between brackets into the correct tense and form:
James Madison (to be)………… born in Virginia. He (to have)…………. eleven
younger brothers and sisters. He (to be)…….. sick a lot when he (to be)……..
a child and the family (to hire)…………… a private tutor to teach him until he
(to be) 11. Then he (to go)……….. to a boarding school which (to be)………. 70
miles from his home. There he (to spend)…….. five years studying Latin,
Greek, French, Italian,
algebra, geometry and geography.
When he (to be)……..18 he (to enter)………… college. He (to study)………… hard
and (to finish)………… college in two years instead of three.

After he (to graduate)……….., he (not/to know)…………. what he(to want)…………
to do. He could go back to the family plantation and farm, or he could
become a minister. He (to think) about becoming a lawyer. He would just
keep studying.
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