THE PAST SIMPLETHE PAST SIMPLE

Unit 9 :BiographyPart3: Life as it was

Part4:Questions ,questions

Meaning & usageFormation (Structure)

Yes/No QuestionsWh Questions

Time expressions

Pronunciation of verbs ending with ed

Past Simple meaning

• the form of a verb used to describe an action which happened before the present time and is no longer happening.

Past Simple Use

• Actions that started and finished in the past

– I went to the beach last Sunday.– I bought a new car yesterday.

Past Simple Use• Actions that happened one after the

other in the past (like in a story)

– He came in, took off his coat and sat down.

– I went to the party and I saw my favourite friend, then I asked him to sit with me.

Past Simple Use

• The Simple Past can also be used to describe a habit which stopped in the past

• I studied French when I was a child.

• I always played tennis a years ago.

2 types of verbs

• REGULAR• IRREGULAR

Regular verbs form

• -ed for all subjects

Play playedWork workedStay stayed Listen listened

Special Notes:• If a regular verb ends in a single vowel and

a singleconsonant (except x), double the consonant beforeyou add -ed:

• E.g. stop /stopped• swap / swapped beg / begged clap / clapped hop / hopped jog / jogged slam / slammed

Special Notes:

2) If a regular verb has two or more syllables, if theverb ends in l or r, and if the last syllable is stressed,double the l or r before you add -ed:

• E.g. prefer → preferred• compel / compelled• Control/controlled• fulfíl / fulfilled• defer / deferred

• Note that British spelling does not use this rule.

Special Notes:

3)If a regular verb has two or more syllables, if the verb ends in l or r, and if the last syllable is not stressed, do not double

the l or r, before you add -ed:

E.g. cáncel / canceled;• hónor / honored;• súffer / suffered;• trável / traveled

• Note that British spelling does not use this rule.

Special Notes:

• 4) If a regular verb ends in a consonant and y (or ifthe final syllable of a regular verb ends in this way),

change the y to i and then add -ed:

E.g. apply / applied• copy / copied• falsify / falsified• supply / supplied• hurry / hurried• qualify / qualified•

Special Notes:

• 5) If a regular verb ends in a vowel and y (or if thefinal syllable of a regular verb ends in this way),

do not change the y to i and then add -ed:

E.g. annoy / annoyed• enjoy / enjoyed• obey / obeyed• play / played• stay / stayed•

Irregular verbs form

• The Irregular verbs do not make their past tense by adding- d or -

ed or by changing y to i and adding ed. Instead, they make

their past forms in several ways:

Verbs don’t follow the previous rule

Irregular verbs form

• The form CHANGES from infinitives, usually with a vowel change.

• Can be grouped according to certain change patterns, which helps to memorize them.

Verbs don’t follow the previous rule

Certain change patterns

• speak spoke• eat ate• see saw • fly flew• think thought

For some irregular verbs, the simple and pastforms are the same. Here are a few examples:

• beat / beat• cost / cost• cut / cut• put / put• set / set• hit / hit

Verb TO BE

Iheshe it

youwethey

was were

Negative Sentences

DID NOT + VERB (base form)

Example: I did not work yesterday

or

I didn’t work yesterday

INCORRECT: I didn’t worked

More examples:

- I didn’t go on holiday last year

- I didn’t went on holiday last year

Negative Sentencesverb TO BE

WAS / WERE + NOT

Examples: I was not at school yesterday afternoon

or I wasn’t at school yesterday afternoon

They were not at home last weekendor

They weren’t at home last weekend

Yes /No Questions

DID + subject + main verb + rest of

sentence + ?

Example:

Did you work yesterday?

- Yes, I did.- No, I didn’t.

WH QuestionsWhoWhatWhereWhyWhenHowWhich

PersonThingsPlaceReasonTimeProcessChoose

Questions • Yes / No Question

Did Nevo see his grandparents yesterday?• Wh – Non – Subject Question

Where did you spend your holidays?• Wh – Subject Question

Who wrote this beautiful poem?

Did

Who / What

Wh - word

Rest of the sentenceV1Subject ?

Subject V1 Rest of the sentence

?

V2Rest of the sentence ?

did

Yes /No Questionsverb TO BE

WAS / WERE + subject + rest of sentence + ?

Example:

Were you at home last weekend?

- Yes, I was.- No, I wasn’t.

REMEMBER!!• Positive sentences:

– I played football yesterday– I went home early on Saturday

• Negative sentences:– I didn’t play football yesterday– I didn’t go home early on Saturday

• Yes/No questions:– Did you play football yesterday?– Did you go home early in Saturday?

REMEMBER!!Verb TO BE

• Positive sentences:– I was in London last year

• Negative sentences:-They weren’t at home last weekend

• Yes/No questions:– Were you ill yesterday?

Remember

E.g.–Yesterday ,I/We/You /He /She/It/They played football.

• -Last week, I/We/You /He /She/It/They arrived at work at 9.00am

© Rafael Moreno Esteban 2008

We use the same verb form with all subjects

Time expressions• Frequency adverbs• Yesterday, the day before yesterday…• Last night, last week, last month, last year…• The last time you called• Two days ago, a week ago, 5 years ago…• In 1999, in October, in the summer…• lately, recently • When I was a child.

Pronunciation of verbs ending in ed

Pronunciation of verbs ending in ed

Pronunciation of verb ending with ed

• When an infinitive verb ends with the sound [t] or [d] then, we have to add the syllabe of the past simple[Id]

• **/Id/ adds an extra syllable • need - needed (Id) • wait – waited (Id)

Pronunciation of verb ending with ed 

• When the last sound of the verb vibrates in vocal cord, we have to pronounce the « ed » like a sound [d]

• Examples of voiced consonants/b/ /ð/ /v/ /l/ /r/ /z/ /m/ /n/ /g/ /dʒ/

/ʒ / /ŋ/

• sob - sobbed (d) roam - roamed (d) • believe - believed (d) judge - judged

(d) • fill - filled (d) enjoy - enjoyed (d)

Pronunciation of verb ending with ed

• When the last sound of the verb doesn’t vibrate in vocale cord, then it is pronounced [T]

Examples of voiceless consonants/P/ /k/ /F/ /s/ /ʃ / /tʃ/ /θ /

• look - looked (t) push - pushed (t)

• ask - asked (t) watch - watched (t)

• help - helped(t) dress - dressed (t)

Thank youThank you