SIMPLE PAST

TENSE

Simple Past Tense(1)

We use this tense to talk about things
that happened in the past.

Grandpa played marbles

when he was young.
People used oil lamps in the
evenings fifty years ago.

If there is no action in the sentence, we

use was or were as the verb.
am / is / are was / were

I was short.

There werent any air-cons.

Simple Past Tense(2)

There are two kinds of past tense verbs:
Regular verbs
Irregular verbs

Regular verbs
Spelling rules
base form + ed
verbs ending in -e + d
verbs ending in a consonant + y

change y i + ed
Some verbs ending in
a single consonant +
the second last letter is a vowel
double the last letter + ed

Examples
walk walked
play played
like liked
move moved
carry carried
study studied
plan planned
stop stopped

Irregular verbs
Spelling rules
no change in base form

different spelling from the

base form

Examples
put
cut

put
cut

go
eat
wear
come

went
ate
wore
came

Simple Past Tense(3)

yesterday

last night

last Sunday

last year

ago
yesterday
last night

last year
50 years ago

last Sunday

Now

Practice 1
1 He _______
to the school by bus yesterday.
went
2 Grandma _______
a telephone
had
when she was young.
3 I _______
brought a bag trainers to school yesterday.
4 We _______
fast food last Sunday.
ate

Negative sentences
We add did not to make the sentence negative.
Dont change the verb after did not.

He had a computer lesson last week.

+ not
He did not have a computer lesson last week.

Practice 2
1 I __________
did not go (not go) to school by bus
yesterday.
2 She ___________
did not have (not have) a dancing
lesson last week.
3 Peter ____________
did not give (not give) any flowers
to his mum last Mothers Day.
4 He ____________
did not watch (not watch) the dragon
boat races last year.

Questions
We use did to make questions.
Dont change the verb after did.
Did

Yes,
No,

you
he
she
people
I
he
she
they

surf the Net

go to school
wear trainers

did.
didnt.

yesterday?
last Monday?
50 years ago?

Questions
We can also use was or were to make questions.
fast food 50 years ago?
Was there any
cola
when you were young?

Yes,

was.
there

No,

wasnt.

uncountable nouns

Questions
We can also use was or were to make questions.

Were there any

Yes,

CDs
50 years ago?
Cameras when you were young?

were.
there

No,

werent.

countable nouns,
use the plural

Practice 3
Were there any computers sixty years ago?
1 _____
werent
No, there ______.
Did you ______
come
2 _____
to school by MTR yesterday?
Yes, I ____.
did
listen to the radio last night?
Did you _______
3 ____
didnt
No, I _______.
Was there any chewing gum thirty years ago?
4 ____
was
Yes, there ________.

Practice
any ice cream?

Was there any ice cream

when you were young, Grandpa?

Yes, there was.

any bicycles?

Were there any bicycles

when you were young, Grandpa?

Yes, there were.

any air-cons?

Were there any air-cons

when you were young, Grandpa?

No, there werent.

any fast food?

Was there any fast food

when you were young, Grandpa?

No, there wasnt.

eat dim sum?

Did you eat dim sum when

you were young, Grandma?

Yes, I did.

watch TV?

Did you watch TV when you were

young, Grandma?

No, I didnt.

use computers?

Did you use computers when you

were young, Grandma?

No, I didnt.