Simple Past

English 3
 Autoridades
Dra. Margarita Teresa de Jesús García Gasca M. en D. Antonio Pérez Martínez
Rectora Coordinador del Plantel Pedro Escobedo
Dr. Javier Ávila Morales C.P. Gloria Inés Rendón García
Secretario Académico Coordinadora del Plantel Pinal de Amoles
M. en E.D. Jaime Nieves Medrano M. en A. Óscar Uriel Cárdenas Rosas
Director de la Escuela de Bachilleres Coordinador del Plantel Bicentenario
M. en C. Rita Ochoa Cruz M. en LIT. José Cupertino Ramírez Zúñiga
Secretaria Académica de la EBA Coordinador del Plantel Amazcala
M. en C. Lucero Canto Guerrero Ing. Juan Fernando Rocha Mier
Coordinadora del Plantel Sur Coordinador del Plantel Concá
M. en C. Edgar Ulloa Hernández M. en A. Hugo Enrique Suárez Camacho
Coordinador del Plantel Norte Coordinador del Plantel Jalpan
Dra. Cypatly Rojas Miranda
Mtra. María de la Luz Ruiz Maqueda
Coordinadora del Plantel San Juan del Río
Coordinadora del Plantel Amealco
Lic. María Patricia Pérez Velázquez
M. en A. José Antonio Cárdenas Rosas
Coordinadora del Plantel Colón
Coordinador del Bachillerato Semiescolarizado
 Autores
Gabriela Patricia Cinta Collado

Indira Perusquía de Carlos

 Hello!
How’s everything?

The purpose of these lessons is that you learn how to express actions in Simple Past
in the affirmative, negative and interrogative form. In this document, you will find
explanations, examples, and exercises to help you understand and practice this tense.
If you have any questions, write them down in your notebook to ask your teacher.
 Simple Past
1. Grammar Reference
• We use the Simple Past to express an action that started and finished
at a specific time in the past.
• Sometimes, the speaker may not mention the specific time, but they
have one specific time in mind.

Past Present Future

Affirmative Form
• We form the simple past with the subject (noun or personal pronoun)
and the verb in the simple past form.

Verb in
Simple Past Complemet
Tense

Subject
Remember that the verbs are
classified into two groups:
regular and irregular verbs.
Affirmative Form

Regular Verbs
• We form the affirmative of most regular verbs by adding –ed to the base form of the
verb.
Affirmative Form
Regular Verbs
• However, there are some Regular Verbs that can change spelling in the simple past tense.
If the verb ends in: Spelling rule
(1) A consonant Add –ed
Help Helped
(2) A vowel + y Add- ed
Play Played
(3) A consonant + y Change –y to –i, add –ed
Cry Cried
(4) Consonant + vowel+ consonant (one syllable verbs) Double the consonant**, add –ed
Stop Stopped
(5) Two- syllable verbs stress on the last syllable. Double the consonant, add –ed
PreFER Preferred
(6) Two- syllable verbs stress on the first syllable Do not double the consonant, add –ed
LISten Listened

** Do not double the consonants –x, -w

Examples

She smiled at me. We enjoyed the party.

***For a list of regular verbs you can visit the web page: http://www2.udec.cl/~alualem/ingles/lvr.html
Exercise 1

1. Go to the next page and answer the exercise to practice. Take a screenshot as
evidence.
https://wordwall.net/es/resource/17245775/simple-past-regular-verbs

2. Choose 5 regular verbs from the last exercise and write an affirmative
sentence with each one.
2. Affirmative Form

Irregular Verbs
• Other verbs have irregular affirmative forms.
Examples

I ate a sandwich last night. He went to the zoo last week.

***For a list of irregular verbs you can visit the web page: http://www2.udec.cl/~alualem/ingles/lvi.html
The verb To Be
Remember that the verb to be is an irregular verb. It has two forms in the simple past
tense: WAS and WERE.

We use WAS for the We use WERE for

personal pronouns the personal
I, HE, SHE, IT pronouns WE,
YOU, THEY
Examples

I was very titred this morning. They were happy with their
test results.
Time expressions used in Simple Past
Yesterday morning Last night Two hours ago The day before
yesterday
afternoon Sunday Three days
In 1981, 2011, etc.
evening week Five months
At 4:00, etc.
year Six years

month, etc.

Examples: I rode my bike yesterday morning.

She moved to Guadalajara two years ago.
Exercise 2
Write the verbs in
brackets in the Simple 1. Richard ____________________ (read) 2 books during his
vacation.
Past form.
2. Last week we ________________(go) to Six Flags.
3. His friends ____________________ (forget) their bags.
4. We ____________________ (leave) home at 6:30.
5. Cathy ____________________ (feel) terrible last week.
6. She ____________________ (write) a note for her mom.
7. Mathew _________________ (drive) all night.
8. We ____________________(know) all the answers in the exam.
9. Paul ___________________ (have) a little money for his trip
10. My grandmother ____________________ (be) a very nice person.
3. Negative Form
. We form the negative of the simple past with didn’t + base form
of the verb.

Subject + did not (didn’t) + Base form of the verb + complement

Don’t forget that in the negative form, when we use DIDN’T

the verb is now used in the base form.
Examples

Sara didn’t play basketball last Jack didn’t go on holiday last year.
weekend.
The verb To Be
To make a negative sentence in simple past with the verb To Be, we don’t use the
auxiliary DID, we only add not after the verb.
was not = wasn’t were not = weren’t

Examples:

I was not (wasn’t) at home yesterday morning.

Ann was not (wasn’t) good at sports when she was a child.

Helen and Tom were not (weren’t) at the party.

Exercise 3
Listen to the person speaking
and then choose the best
sentences to respond.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/
19m2oBNz2ChgdhWgY0Sf2Ji
c16X4V7l57/view?usp=sharing
4. Questions
.
Yes/no questions
Did + subject + base form of the verb+ complement?

Example

Did you play soccer yesterday?

Yes, I did.
No, I didn’t.
Questions
.
Wh-questions
Wh word + did + subject + base form of the verb + complement?

Example

When did you buy your cellphone?

I bought it in 2020.
Questions with the verb To Be
. To make questions in Simple Past with the verb To Be, we don't use the auxiliary
DID.

Examples

Were you at the downtown restaurant last night?

Yes, I was
No, I wasn’t.

Why was she sad?

Because she lost her little kitty.
Exercise 4
Read the story and answer the questions.
Yesterday Debbie had a job interview. She went downtown to the company. The interview was
for an accounting job. Debbie graduated university 3 months ago.
Her interview was at 10:00 am. She woke up at 7:00 am and left her house before 8:00 am. She QUESTIONS
waited for the bus, but it was late. She was very worried because she did not want to be late for 1. What time did Debbie
the interview. She tried to phone the company to warn them, but her phone battery was dead.
wake up?
When the bus arrived, it was almost 9:00 am. Then the bus was slow because there were many
other cars. The bus finally arrived at Debbie’s stop at 9:45 am.
Debbie ran from the bus stop to the office building. When she entered, she saw a sign that said 2. When did the bus arrive at
the company was on the 24th floor. The elevator ride took almost 5 minutes because many the stop?
people stopped at different floors.
When Debbie arrived at reception, it was 9:58. She was in time! 3. Was Debbie late?
“I am here to see Mrs. Lewis,” said Debbie.
The receptionist checked her book and replied: 4. Did Debbie go on the correct
“She is not here today. What is your name please?”
day?
“My name is Debbie Gregson.”
“Sorry Debbie, but your appointment is tomorrow.”
Debbie checked her agenda. It was true. She was there on the wrong day!
• If you still need more information, you can check the next videos on
Youtube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mwh_IWwwN8Y
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g-uW_KheiEc
 References
• English page. Simple past. Disponible en:
https://www.englishpage.com/verbpage/simplepast.html

• Evans, V., Dooley, J. (2009). Upload 3 US Student Book and Workbook. USA:
Express Publishing.

• Larsen, D. (1997). Grammar Dimensions 1. USA: Heinle & Heinle Publishers.