UMIYA OVERSEAS EDUCATION

Grammar work sheets

Session 7 : Simple Past Tense

Speaking topic of the past memories. Use the following bold words in the past wherever
necessary and reframe the paragraph.

Usually I celebrate my birthday every year. I enjoy this day very much. I am always happy when I invite my

friends and relative on this day. I decide the big place for my birthday celebration so that I can accommodate

maximum guests. A few preparations are made for the event. I create invitation cards and send them to all my

friends and invitees. Food is decided by my mother and sister so I find no problems for that issue. The

decoration and sound system are well managed by my friends. On the day of the birthday, first of all, I seek

blessings from my parents and later pray God in the temple which is nearby. The evening time is much

awaited as it is the celebration time. The well decorated big hall of a nearby hotel sees all the guests coming the

melodious music played by the sound system awaits the curious ears. And, the time finally arrives when my

dashing entry is marked by all the guests. A din of cheering and applause fills the vicinity of the hall. The loud

music overrules the species and wishes. The legs can't stop themselves dancing on the beats of music. An

instance of happiness is experienced. After all itis my birthday. The cake cutting is done after a session of

dance and music. The exchanges of gifts are the next session which is very memorable. A gala dinner is always

the cherry on the cake. All delicious and mouthwatering food dishes are served for the guest. The food is nicely

savored and devoured by the people present there.

Eventually, the occasion of my birthday celebration comes to a standstill when a surprise dance item is

presented by my friends. I always feel great and thankful for the act of my friends. I always carry the memories

of my birthday celebration.

Translate the following sentences into English.

1. મને હજી પણ એ યાદગાર trip યાદ છે. મેં ગયા વર્ષે મનાલી મુલાકાત લીધી હતી. તે એક સરસ હહલસ્ટે શન છે.
અમે તયાાં ટર ે નમાાં ગયા હતા. ટર ે નની જની બહુ આનાંદદાયક હતી. બે હદવસે અમે મનાલી પહ ચ્ાં યા.

2. તે સ્થળે ઘણા પવવત ની હારમાળા હતી. પવવત ખુબ સુાંદર લાગતા હતા. બરફથી ઢાં કાયેલા હશખર મારાં મન
મ હીલેતા હતા. પવવત ની વચ્ચે એક સુાંદર નદી હતી.
3. અહીાં મારે એવુાં કહેવુાં પડશે કે , મનાલી એક ખુબ જ સુાંદર સ્થળ છે . એક વખત તયાાં પહ ચ્ાં યા પછી, પાછા
આવવાનુાં મન થાય નહીાં.

4. સૌ પ્રથમ, પહેલા હદવસે અમે local sites seeing કયુું. તયાાં રસ્તા નાના પણ સુાંદર અને ચ ખા હતા. રસ્તાની
બાંને બાજુ સુાંદર રાં ગીન ફૂલ ની દુ કાન હતી. એ ઉપરાાંત, તે સ્થળે અમે ઘણી નાની દુ કાન જ ઈ કે જેમાાં ગરમ
ગરમ કાવ પીરસત હત . કાવ એક સરસ ચા જેવુાં મસાલેદાર પીણુાંછે. હકીકતમાાં આ ભૂલી શકાય તેમ નથી.

5. બીજે હદવસે અમે પવવત તરફ ગયા રસ્ત બહુ કહિન હત પણ અમે ગભરાયા વગર તયાાં પહ ચ્ાં યા. ”Where
there is a will there is a way.” અમારી સાથે એક હ હશયાર પવવતાર હી હત અને તેની સૂચના પ્રમાણે,
બરફથી ઢાં કાયેલા પવવત ઉપર અમે ચઢાણ કયુું. થ ડાક થાક લાગ્ય હત ક ણ મજા આવી ગઈ.

6. લગભગ ૩ કલાકે અમે હ ટલ પરત ફયાવ. તયાાં પહ ચ ાં ીને ગરમપાણી થી સ્નાન કયુું અને તયારબાદ હડનર આર ગ્યુ.
હડનરમાાં ન થવઈહડડયન food હતુાં. તેમાાં રાજમા અને ચાવલ હતા.

7. મનાલીની મુલાકાત અમારા માટે એક યાદગાર મુલાકાત રહી. મને એવુાં લાગે કે હુ ાં વારાં વાર તયાાં જવુ.ાં

A teacher and students are talking about local customs. Fill in the gaps with the verbs
in brackets in the correct form. Use would or used to where possible.

Teacher: What sort of things_________________________ (you/ do)as a child?

YOKO: Oh, when I was a child growing up in Japan there were many customs that we
_________________(follow). For example, I remember we _____________________ (move) house When I
was 7 and we (visit) our new neighbor with gifts. At that time the tradition was that people
________________________(give) gifts of Japanese noodles, but it is different now and people tend to
give things like soap or towel or nothing at all.

Teacher: _________________________ one tradition that you particularly remember?

YOKO: Yes, one tradition that _______________________________(really/like) was in the spring when the
cherry blossoms were out. As a family we ______________(go) into the countryside and we
___________________(spend) the day eating, drinking and singing. One year my father
_________________(take) a lovely photo of me and my sisters and I still keep that picture on my wall
today.

Teacher: And _______________(you/have to) do anything you didn’t like?

YOKO : Yes,I remember how we _________________________(have to) clean the house thoroughly. This
ceremony is called Osoji and my sisters and I _________________________(not/look forward to) it very
much!
Fill in the gaps in this model answer with verbs from the box in the past simple in passive.
Use the following words by changing them.

(allow / to be / was / are / invent / increase / lay / mean / own / receive / replace / ride cars /
take / walk / mostly conducted / not / change )
Thanks to the modern technology, there have been enormous changes in the workplace over the past 100 years.
What are the most significant changes that have occurred and what changes do you foresee in the next hundred
years?
The pace of change in the world of Technology is amazing. It __________________________(not) long ago
that the Postal Service ______________________ our only way to communicate over any distance. It
_____________ days and sometimes weeks to receive letters from within the same country. As a result, the
news in the letters ___________________ already out of date when people____________________ them. In
the workplace, this __________________ that business_______________________ locally. Over relatively
short distances.
When the telephone in 1876 __________________ Alexander Graham Bell it
_________________________________ the foundation for the communication systems we have today. The
telephone ___________________ two people to communicate instantly across a great distance. Eventually,
typewriters___________________________ computers and dramatically_____________________________
the speed of our daily work life. Nowadays the internet is an essential part of every business.
However, it is not just communications that have changed. Only 50 years ago most people
_________________________________________________(not) to work but__________________________
bicycles. Changes in travel as well as the increased Speed of Communications have led to the Global Business
world that we have today. It is a magic that our present____________________________ change by these
innovations.

To verb and -ing verb (participles and gerunds)

Fill in the blanks with proper usage of 'used to + to verb /-ing verb'.

1. During my childhood I ______________________ (to run) a lot but nowadays I don't run a lot.
2. I still remember, my father ________________________________(to dance) on the tunes of birds.
3. It has been marked that in the past the people_______________________(to study) with the help of
books only but nowadays they __________________(to study) with the help of internet.
4. These days the people ____________________________________ (to travel) a lot by vehicles but in
the past they____________________________ (to travel) by the animals.
5. In the West we are used to having clean water which comes out of the tap.
6. It is marked that nowadays, the youth is __________________________ using mobiles everywhere.
 7. Once we are used_____________________________(read) a lot of books are they had much time to do
so.
8. However, these days are not used to____________________________(utilize) much time.

Read the test task and a student’s response. Tick (√) the underlined verbs if they are right,
and correct them if they are wrong.

Describe an unforgettable trip you once made.

• Where you went
• Why you went there
• What happened
And explain why you remember it so well.

I remember a trip I once 1 made to my grandmother’s house. She 2 would live about 30 kilometers away from

us and we 3 used to going there quite often with our mother. On this occasion we 4 setoff to my grandmother’s

after school on a cold winter’s day. When we were about to leave, we 5 were noticing that some snow was

beginning to fall, and as we 6 were driving along we 7 were realizing that it 8 snowed more and more heavily.

Suddenly we had to brake hard as the car in front stopped suddenly. We 9 were skidding and 10 went off the
road into a ditch! It was pretty scary, but we were lucky and none of us were hurt. We got out of the car, and my
mother 11 was phoning for help on her mobile phone. While we 12 were waiting for help 13was stopping

snowing and we 14 sang lotsof songs to keep ourselves cheerful. Eventually the truck 15 was coming and

pulled our car out of the ditch. The car wasn’t badly damaged, but we 16 decided to turn around and go home.
We didn’t manage to see our grandmother that day, but it was so frightening that I will never forget it.

1. ………………………………………………………. 9. ……………………………………………………….
2. ………………………………………………………. 10. ……………………………………………………….
3. ………………………………………………………. 11. ……………………………………………………….
4. ………………………………………………………. 12. ……………………………………………………….
5. ………………………………………………………. 13. ……………………………………………………….
6. ………………………………………………………. 14. ……………………………………………………….
7. ………………………………………………………. 15. ……………………………………………………….
8. ………………………………………………………. 16. ……………………………………………………….
Choose the appropriate what to make sentence meaningful.
1. I love............................ When I am free. (to sing/ singing).
2. We transfer............................... to watch movie on every Sunday. (going/ to go).
3. Many a day, we see the people ..............................much food at the function. (wasting / to
waste).
4. We always learn English for .......................................success in the future. (to grab /
grabbing)
5. I decided……………………………………… (to do / doing) an animal management
course.
6. I chose......................................(to study/ studying) at fair field college because it's very
advanced.
7. We avoid.....................................(to enter/ entering) dark places in the night time.
8. We carry on............................................(to do / doing) your work when we have extra
time.
9. My father recommended............................................(to join/ joining) the English classes.
10. The technology, nowadays, offers......................................(to work/ working) less in
comparison to past time.

Underline the best noun to complete each of the sentences below.

Differentiate among habit/ custom / behavior / practice.

1. The people of the Island are proud of their history and custom / behaviors.
2. It is now a common practice / custom to allow calculators in maths lessons.
3. Parents need more control over their children's viewing habits/ practice.
4. In accordance with Muslim custom/ habit, he was married within hours of his death.
5. He's picked up some bad behaviors / habits from his new friend.
6. We have to end the habit / practice of employing children to work in the mines.
7. It is sometimes difficult to keep local habits / customs alive in a global age.
8. Should you reward children for good behavior / habits.
9. The people of my country celebrate Navratri every year as habit / custom.
10. There is a practice / custom that we should bow our head in front of the parents.