Grammar past simple

We use the Past Simple to talk about actions and Questions

situations in the past. The actions and situations
are finished. Wh- questions
My hair was red when I was a girl, but its grey now. Wh- word + did + subject pronoun +
infinitive
When did you finish work yesterday?

+ I, He/She/It was We/You/They were Yes/No questions

Did + noun/subject pronoun + infinitive

- I, He/She/It wasnt We/You/They werent Did you study at university?

(were not)

Was I/he/she/it? Were we/you/they?

Irregular verbs
Many common verbs in English have
? Yes, I/he/she/it was. Yes, we/you/they were. an irregular past form, i.e. they do not
No, I/he/she/it No, we/you/they end in -ed in the past.
wasnt werent.
have = had We had a lovely meal in the
restaurant.
She was tired last night. go = went Sara went to Amsterdam on
They werent at the cinema yesterday. a weekend break.
Was Karin at the office on Monday? No, she wasnt. take = took Paul took a lot of photos
Were the musicians good? Yes, they were. in India.
see = saw I saw the Mona Lisa when
Where were you last night? I was at home.
I went to Paris.
There are no general rules for the
Regular verbs: positive formation of the Past Simple of irregular
verbs.
Make the Past Simple of most regular verbs by adding -ed These verbs are irregular only in the
to the verb. positive.
work = worked watch = watched listen = listened They form the negative and questions
like regular verbs, with did + the
Note the spelling rules.
infinitive.
Verbs that Rule Examples
end in... Remember

-e add -d lived, changed 1935 = nineteen thirty-five

1946 = nineteen forty-five
2002 = two thousand and two
consonant re move -y and studied, carried 2015 = two thousands and fifteen or
+y add -ied twenty fifteen

one vowel + repeat consonant planned, stopped

consonant and add -ed Remember
Prepositions of time
Negative in 1999
on Saturday
in March
Did + not + infinitive in the twentieh century
The tourists did not visit all the museums.
In informal English, we use the contracted form didnt.
They didnt work in restaurants.

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1.1 Irregular verbs

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1.1 Architectural profile

Reading Speaking
1 Whos your favorite architect? 1 Think of a famous architect in your
Whats your favorite building? country. What buildings did he/she
design?
2 Read the article and answers these questions.
1 Who desgined the Petronas Towers? 2 Talk about your life. Place of birth,
2 Did Cesar Pelli love building when he was a kid? how your studies and professional
3 When were the Towers finished? career started and your most
4 What happened in 2004? important work.

3 Why are these dates important in Pelli story?

1952 1977 1993 2004

The Petronas Towers creator

Kuala Lumpurs most famous buildings, The Petronas Twin Towers, were the tallest buildings in the
world from 1998 to 2004. Cesar Pelli was the architect who designed these towers. He wanted to
reflect the home to the dominant Islamic culture of Malaysia.

He was born in the small town of Tucumn, in Argentina. When he was a kid, he used to do a lot of
drawings and constructions of different types, forts and towers and bridges. He migrated to the
United States in 1952 and became a naturalized US citizen in 1964.

Pelli established his company in 1977 after he designed the extension of the Museum of Modern Art
in New York. One of his most important designs, The Petronas Towers, began its construction in 1993.
When they were completed in 1996, they became, at 452 meters, the tallest buildings in the world.
In 2004, Pelli received the Aga Khan Award for Architecture for his design.

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 1
1 Put these words in the correct group according
to the pronunciation of the -ed endings.

worked moved hated walked refused

wanted discovered needed finished lived
opened

/d/ /t/ /id/

2 Put the verbs in brackets in the correct form.

1 Cesar (move) _______ to the USA in 1952.
2 (you/go) _______ to the Petronas Towers when
you (be) _______ in Barcelona last month?
3 We (eat) _______ seafood in a great restaurant in
Malaysia.
4 Mary (want) _______ to see all the sights so she
_______ (take) the tourist bus around the city.
5 They (buy) _______ a lot of souvenirs when they 3
(go) _______ shopping in the Central Market.
6 Unfortunately, James (not have) _______ time
to visit the Islamic Museum when he (be) _______
in Malaysia.
7 I (ask) _______ the hotel receptionist for a good
place to eat.
8 The taxi driver (not understand) _______ us and
(refuse) _______ to take us to our hotel.
9 We (walk) _______ to the top of The Petronas Towers.
The views (be) _______ fantastic from up there.
10 (you/see) _______ any famous people when you
(visit) _______ Kuala Lumpur?
4

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1.1 How was your holiday?
5 How to ... ask about a
past experience
How was your day/weekend/trip/flight/
holiday/party/date?

It was nice/great/brilliant/fantastic.

It was OK/all right.

It wasnt bad.

It wasnt very good.

It was awful/terrible/really bad.

Reading Vocabulary more adjectives

1 Read the dialogues and match each dialogue 1 Complete the sentences with the adjectives in
with the pictures. the box.

Son: Oh, hi. How was your trip? deep far heavy long tall wide
Father: It was nice.
Son: There was... er... a party here.
1 This river is quite ____. Its about 200 meters from
Father: How big was the party?
sone side to the other.
Son: About fifty people. One or two are still here.
2 This road is very ____. Its over 500 kilometers.
3 Her house is quite ____ away. Its five kilometers
Girl 1: How was your date?
from here.
Girl 2: It was great. He was nice, and funny and he was
4 That building is very____. It has thirty floors.
really tall.
Girl 1: How tall was he? 5 The swimming pool isnt very____.
6 Be careful when you jump in.
Girl 2: Almost two meters, I think.
7 My suitcase was really ____. It was twenty-five
kilos.
Girl: Hi, Uncle Alan. How was your flight?
Uncle: It was OK, thanks, but it was quite long.
Girl: How long it as?
Uncle: About seven hours. And there werent any free
drinks.

Neighbor: How was your holiday?

Mother: It was really nice. We were in Istanbul.
Neighbor: There was no one in the city but it was quite far
from the hotel.
Mother: How far was it?
Neighbor: About two kilometers.

Woman: How was your weekend?

Man: It wasnt very good. I was in bed all day on
Saturday.
Woman: What was wrong with you?
Man: I dont know, but Im OK now.

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 Grammar questions with how
How + noun
How was your weekend?
How was your party?
How was your job interviewer?
How + adjective
How long was your journey? (time)
How long/wide is the river? (distance)
How tall is she? (height)
How far is the hotel? (distance)
How heavy is your bad? (weight)
How deep is the swimming pool? (depth)
1 Write a questions for each sentence.
1 The room is ten meters wide.
How wide is the room?
2 The flight is about four hours.
3 Hes one meter 85 centimeters tall.
4 The restayrant is 800 meters from here.
5 The building is twelve storeys tall.
6 The table is 35 meters long.
2 Work in pairs. Ask and answer questions.
long/the River Thames
A: How long is the River Thames?
B: Its 346 kilometers long.
1 tall/the Eiffel Tower
2 far/Perth to nearest big city
3 long/the flight from New York to Madrid
4 deep/the Mediterranean, on average
5 heavy/a sixty kilogram person on the moon
Speaking
1 Think about your last weekend away/holiday/
flight/brithday party. Write for adjectives to
describe it.
How was your last weekend away?
It was great. It was quite short.
How short was it?
1 Tom and Julie are talking about holidays.
Complete the dialogue with words from the box.
long food beautiful sunbathing
Tom: So, Julie, where did you go for your last
holiday?
Julie: I went to Bali.
Tom: Really? How was it?
Julie: Wonderful! The beaches ______ and the
weather was great!
Tom: How ______ did you stay?
Julie: I stayed about ten days.
Tom: What did you do there?
Julie: Well, I went ______ and tried a lot of
local ______.
2 Answer the following questions.
1 Where did Julie go for her last holidays?
2 How were the beaches?
3 How long did she stay?
4 What did she do there?
Reading
1 Now read the email that Julie wrote to her
mother talking about her holidays.
Hi Mum!
How are you? My holiday was fantastic. We
went to Bali. The flight was very long, about
20 hours. Too bad! But the beaches were
beautiful, the people were very friendly and
the food was delicious. We stayed at Royal
Resort. It wasnt very bad.
Hope to see you soon
Love,
Julie
Speaking
1 Where did you go on your last holiday?
What was your best holiday? Why did you like
it?
Which do you like more: foreign or local holidays?
Do you take photographs or make home videos
when on holiday?
Which places are popular in your country with
foreign tourists?
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