1.

TALKING ABOUT THE PAST

Read the following text:
I remember the days when I was working in Mexico. I arrived in the city in May, 1980. I
was accepted at the university immediately. I studied for five years in order to get my BS
in Physics. During my senior year, I visited many places around the country. I didn’t
travel to the most touristic cities like Acapulco or Puerto Vallarta, but I visited small
villages full of color and extraordinary people. After my graduation, I worked as a
volunteer for the Mexican government in a special program for rural schools. I worked
with excellent professionals in different states. I finished my studies and I came back to
my country, but I will never forget Mexico.

You can form the past tense by using the past tense of the verb. There are two kinds of verbs:
Regular and irregular verbs. For now, we will focus only on regular verbs.
Regular verbs end in -ED
Arrive Arrived Register Registered
Study Studied Visit Visited
Look at the example and write the past tense of the verbs:
Cried Fried
Example 1: Study – studied Cry   Fry 
Inferred Stopped
Example 2: Chop – chopped Infer   Stop 
Deduced Produced
Example 3: Erase – erased Deduce   Produce 

Write the past forms. Of the following regular verbs.

want wanted use used try tried ask asked

help helped play payed believe believed happen happened

change changed watch watched create created open opened

remember remenbered consider considered work worked seem seemed

need needed live lived move moved continue continued

include included stop stopped follow followed offer offered

walk walked call called

 Learning verbs.

Here is an excellent way to remember verbs that are similar in Spanish. Here are some
examples:

English Spanish

Use Usar

Create Crear

Consider Considerar

English Spanish

Include Incluir

Move Mover

Now try these:

Accept Aceptar Educate Educar Object Objetar

Admire Admirar Enter Entrar Offend Ofender

Admit Admitir Escape Escapar Order Ordenar

Alert Alertar Exist Existir Attract Atraer

Analyze Analizar Expand Expandir

Another excellent strategy to remember verbs is by classifying them. Here are

some examples:
Check any list of regular verbs on the web. Try to include some under the
following categories:
http://www.eslcafe.com/grammar/simple_past_tense02.html
Regular verbs related to speaking
•Call •Ask •Answer
•Discuss •Explain •Clarify
Regular verbs related to thinking
Consider Ponder analyze meditate
     
Regular verbs related to math operations
•Add •Subtract •Multiply
•Divide •Calculate
Regular verbs related to music
play listen compose tone
     
Regular verbs related to physical activities
•Exercise •Practice •Play
•Rehearse •Dance •Move
Regular verbs related to elections
 opt prefer select
   

4. ASKING QUESTIONS IN THE PAST

Read the sentences:

What did you do when you lived in Atlántico?

Did you go the beaches close to Barranquilla?
Did you go to any soccer match in the Roberto Melendez Stadium?

Use did before the subject (noun) to ask questions in the past:
Yes, I did. I lived there for 8
Did you live in Mariquita?
years.
Did you work there? No, I didn’t. I was a student.
Yes, I did. I studied at the
Did you study there?
UNAD.

Complete the following conversation with the correct form of the verbs in
parentheses:
Do haved
 you   (have) a good weekend in Pasto? Yes, I did.

go did
What   you   (do)? I went camping with my son.

Do Cooked
Wow!   you   (cook) over a fire? No. We took some food with

us.

Do spent
I see.   you   (spend) the night outside? Yes, we put up a tent.

Go slept
 you   (sleep) well? Not really. There were a lot of

mosquitoes!

5. NEGATIVE STATEMENTS IN THE PAST

Read the sentences:
When I was in Cundinamarca, I visited small towns but I didn’t visit touristic cities.
I studied Colombian history. I didn’t study Engineering.
I stayed with my cousins. I didn’t stay in a hotel.

Use didn’t before the verb to make negative statements in the past:
I didn’t visit touristic
I visited small towns.
cities.
I studied Colombian I didn’t
history. study Engineering.
Now, read the conversation and write the correct form of the verbs.
was checked
When I (be)   in Leticia, I (check in)   at the hotel and

stayed wasn´t
(stay)   all the time in my room. I (not / go)   out. I (not /

didnt visit didn´t walk was

visit)   any park and I (not / walk)   anywhere. I (be)   

informed
in my room all the time because they (inform)   me that the city

was
(be)   very dangerous!

was visited
When I (be)   there, I (visit)   many places! I (not /
didn´t stay walked
stay)   in my room. I (walk)   to the Santander Park, the
was
Amazonas jungle tour and the isla de Los Micos! That (be)   a great time!

6. USING IRREGULAR VERBS IN THE PAST

Examples:
I write many emails every day. Yesterday, for example, I wrote 125 emails at the office.

Present: Past:
Write Wrote
Here is the list of the top 25 most common irregular verbs!

And here is a little game for you to remember the verbs.

Write the verbs that have the same form for present and past.
set
split
shut

Now, write the verbs that have a different form for present and past.
weep
win
wring
write

Finally, look for the meaning of the verbs you don’t know. You will see that in
this way you will remember your verbs very quickly.
sew: coser
shrink: encoger
spread: extenderse
tread: pisar
 7. USING IRREGULAR VERBS IN CONTEXT
Read and listen to the conversation.
A. What did you do on your first day in Washington?
B. I didn’t do much. I went to the National Gallery and found lots of interesting things
there. I stayed there for four hours and I didn’t go to the other museums because I didn’t
have any money.
A. But all the Smithsonian’s are for free!
B. Really? I didn’t know that! How did you know?
A. I found some information on the Internet.
B. Where did you find that?
A. At trip www.advisor.com.
B. Oh, I spoke to other tourists but they didn’t know anything either.
Complete the following chart with the verbs mentioned in the conversation.

PRESENT PAST
Do Did
Go went

Find Found
stay Stayed

Have had

Am/is/are was/were
Speak spoke

8. ASKING QUESTIONS ABOUT THE PAST

Wh- questions

Look at Linda’s agenda, answer the questions and fill in

the blanks.
What time did she start her activities?
started 7:00 a.m.
She   her activities at  .

Where did she go after breakfast?

went
She   to the office.

How did she get to the office?

 take a taxi
She went there by  .

Who did she meet?

met
She   John and Paul.

What topics did she discuss during the meeting?

discussed
She   the new contract.

Where did she go after lunch?

watched
She   to the movies.

What movie did she watch?

watched
She   “Star Wars”.

9. REVIEWING WH QUESTIONS IN THE PAST

Look at the chart. Watch the main verbs:

Match the answers with the questions.

What did the person say?
You look very upset! What happened?
Where was the appointment?
Why? Didn’t he go to his office?
How long did you wait?
What did you do, then?
I had a medical appointment,
but it was terrible! __Where was the appointment? ________________________
It was at Central Hospital.
But I never saw the doctor! _______Why? Didn´t he goes to his office? __________
No! And his assistant told me it was his day off! ___What did you do, then? _____
I talked to the person
in charge. ____What did the person say? _____________
He said I had to see another
doctor and asked me to wait. _ How long did you wait? ______________
Four hours! I waited there
for four hours!!! __you look very upset! What happened? ___________

10. REMEMBERING MORE IRREGULAR

VERBS IN THE PAST
Find the present form of the following verbs.

1 2
 
 B M
3  R  E A  D 
4  I  K
4  R A   N    E
5  I    G
 T H   I    N K  
 E  G
 L
 L

11. READING: CONNECTORS “BECAUSE”

AND “BECAUSE OF”
Ali and Deyanira got married a month ago in Cartagena. Their marriage was very
unusual and filled with accidents. The video was uploaded on YouTube and it soon
became one of the most visited video clips. It became famous because of the amount of
things that went wrong. First, the bride was wearing a gigantic dress and she didn’t fit
into the car because of the size of the dress. She had to go to the ceremony in a horse
carriage. When she arrived, she fell down because the size of the dress didn’t let her see
the steps!!! When she was walking down the aisle at the famous church of San Pedro
Claver, there were candles on the floor, and one of the candles set fire to her wedding
dress. Someone used a fire extinguisher because she was about to get burned.

The wedding became famous because it was very unusual and filled with accidents.
She fell because the size of the dress didn’t let her see the steps.
Someone used a fire extinguisher because she was about to get burned.
The video became famous because of the amount of things that went wrong.
The bride didn’t fit in the car because of the size of the dress.

Choose because or because of:

 I didn’t come to class because / because of the rain.

I didn’t come to class because / because of it was raining.

I was late because / because of there was a traffic jam.

I was late because / because of a traffic jam.

She was happy because / because of you came to visit her!

She was happy because / because of your visit.

13. COMPARING SIMPLE PAST AND PAST

PROGRESSIVE
This morning, I was taking a shower when the phone rang. I was totally wet. I left the shower and
began to walk downstairs. When I was going down, I fell because my feet were wet and with
soap! I answered the phone and it was Billy. I was telling him about the accident when someone
knocked on the door! I was just wearing a towel!!! I went to the door, opened, and saw a woman.
She was selling books door to door. She showed me the books but I was freezing! I told her that I
didn’t have time for her. She packed her books and left. While she was leaving, my girlfriend
arrived and she found me just like that! With a towel!!!

You can combine these sentences in two ways:

I was taking a shower when the phone rang. Or The phone rang while I was taking a shower.
Combine these sentences. Use when or while
Example: I was going downstairs.
I fell! While I was going downstairs, I fell. I was going downstairs when I fell.

I was telling Bill about the accident. Someone knocked at the door.

I was telling Bill about the accide

 

at the door while i was telling bill a

 

The man was leaving. My girlfriend arrived.

The man was leav

 

My girlfriend arrive
 
 14. WHILE OR WHEN?
Read the sentences. Write while or when:
when
Were you watching Colombia versus Brazil   I called you?
when
I wasn’t drinking sangria   you arrived.
while
 Alberto was driving to the Chia I was calling Tom’s mother.
while
We were walking by the roller coaster in the National Coffee Park   a man had
a heart attack.
when
I saw you yesterday   you were taking the bus to Facatativá.
while
What were you doing   it started to rain?
when
I was looking for my keys   I found a vueltiao hat on the street.

Actividades de tiempo libre y clima

1. Escriba 4 oraciones sobre las actividades que hace en su ciudad.
2. Escriba dos oraciones describiendo el clima de su ciudad.
Recordatorio: use sus propias palabras

1. I wake up early every morning to go to work.

2. On weekends I go with my family to the park in the mornings and in the afternoons
we go out for lunch.
3. I like to go to the cinema in my city when new releases come out.
4. Every morning I take my son to school near the house.

1. Generally, the climate in Madrid is warm, although there are rainy days
2. The rainy days in Madrid are too cold and can rain all day long.