PAST SIMPLE
Past Simple
Yesterday is history tomorrow is a mystery, today is a gift which is why it is called the present.
Past simple
Past simple is used to refer to actions done before the present time. The past simple is used to talk about the following:
● Actions finished in the past ( single or reported) eg. I visited Italy last year.
● Series of completed actions in the past. Eg. She swam in the ocean and made a beach castle.
● With and without time expression eg. Bree called last night. (With time expression) I cooked dinner. ( without time expression)
Please note that the actions may have been in the recent past or a long time ago eg ten years ago, a year ago, a 100 years ago.
In a positive sentence, the base form will usually take -ed like regular verbs and can be used for all subjects eg I,,we,they,she.
Eg. They ate dinner before 8pm yesterday evening.
TO BE
I, he, she, it was
Eg. It was horrible not to be able to talk to you.
you, we, they were
Eg. We were stuck in traffic for half an hour this morning.
In a negative sentence, did not is used with a helping verb.
Subject + did not/didn’t + Verb (bare infinitive)
Eg I didn’t call you.
Did they work yesterday?
Didn’t they work yesterday?
Ppronunciation of Regular Verbs
| /d/ | /t/ | /id/ |
|---|---|---|
|
B – Absorbed, grabbed |
F – Briefed, bluffed |
D – Needed, decided |
|
G – Belonged, dragged |
|
T – started, wanted |
|
T – started, wanted |
T – started, wanted |
T – started, wanted |
|
T – started, wanted |
T – started, wanted |
T – started, wanted |
|
T – started, wanted |
T – started, wanted |
T – started, wanted |
|
T – started, wanted |
T – started, wanted |
T – started, wanted |
/d/
Words ending in the following letters: Voiced sound = uses the vocal cords and they produce a vibration of humming sound in the throat. (Touch your throat and feel it.)
/t/
Words ending in the following letters: Voiceless
/id/
Words ending in the following letters:
REGULAR VERBS (ED)
Regular verbs end in ‘ed’ in the past simple , whereas Irregular verbs end in different ways.
/d/ Words ending in the following letters: Voiced sound = uses the vocal cords and they produce a vibration of humming sound in the throat. (Touch your throat and feel it.) | /t/ Words ending in the following letters:
Voiceless
| /id/ Words ending in the following letters: |
B – Absorbed, grabbed | F – Briefed, bluffed | D – Needed, decided |
G – Belonged, dragged |
| T – started, wanted |
L – Dialed, controlled | K – asked, worked | |
M – armed, charmed | P – Stopped, dropped | |
N – Listened, Cleaned | S – Discussed, kissed | |
O – Cooed, wooed | X – Fixed, hoaxed | |
R – Angered, blistered | CH – Blushed,watched | |
U – Plateaud | SH – Washed, dashed | |
V – Loved, lived | CK – Backed, licked | |
Y – Played, Stayed | X – Boxed, fixed | |
W – Followed, mowed | ||
Z – Buzzed, quizzed | ||
Silent ‘B”: bombed, climbed combed, dumbed, thumbed, tombed, plumbed, lambed, crumbed, enwombed |
Irregular Verbs
| Infinitive | Past simple | Present Participle | Translation into French |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Be |
Was/Were |
Been |
Être |
|
Buy |
Bought |
Bought |
Acheter |
|
Acheter |
Acheter |
Acheter |
Acheter |
Infinitive | Past simple | Present Participle | Translation into French |
Be | Was/Were | Been | Être |
Buy | Bought | Bought | Acheter |
Catch | Caught | Caught | Attraper |
Do | Did | Done | Faire |
Drink | Drank | Drunk | Boire |
Eat | Ate | Eaten | Manger |
Fall | Fell | Fallen | Tomber |
Feel | Felt | Felt | Sentir |
Fight | Fought | Fought | Se battre |
Forget | Forget | Forgotten | Oublier |
Give | Gave | Given | Donner |
Get | Got | Got | Obtenir/recevoir |
Go | Went | Gone/Been to | Aller |
Have | Had | Had | Avoir |
Hear | heard | Heard | Entendre |
Know | Knew | Known | Savoir/Connaître |
Make | Made | Made | Faire/fabriquer |
Read | Read | Read | Lire |
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How to form questions in the past simple
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Simple Past Story
Who was Charles Darwin?
Charles Robert Darwin was born in 1809. He died at the age of 73. He transformed the way we understand the natural world. He is celebrated as one of the greatest scientist who ever lived. He enjoyed reading books and exploring the fields, when he was young. In 1825 he enrolled in medical school, where he witnessed a surgery. He felt traumatised after this experience, that he gave up his studies. He decided to go to Cambridge university to study theology. In 1831 he embarked on a journey around the world, which revolutionised his life and the way we thought about nature. During his trip, he came across animals of different shapes and sizes, which were completely new to him. He collected plants, animals and fossils to study when he returned home.
He spent a lot of time analysing and comparing specimens before declaring that evolution occurs by a process of natural selection. He was able to confirm his theory by experimenting on pigeons. It gave him a way to study how far a specie could change over time. He was ready to share his discovery with the world after 20 years of research. However, he knew that he would be met with a lot of opposition. He delayed publishing on this topic for many years, while he gathered a mountain of evidence. When he learnt that another young scientist called Alfred Russel Wallace had the same ideas, he contacted him and offered to send his idea to a journal for immediate publication. Later on they organised a joint announcement. The following year Charles Darwin Published his book on the origin of species in 1859.
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