8

The Simple Past: Regular and Irregular Verbs

The Life of Wangari Maathai

Focus on Grammar 1 Part VII, Units 21 & 22 By Ruth Luman, Gabriele Steiner, and BJ Wells
Copyright 2006. Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

The Life of Wangari Maathai

Past

Now

The Simple Past

Use the simple past to talk about an event that happened in the past.
Now

Regular Verbs
Regular verbs in the simple past end in -ed. If the base form ends in -e, add only d. If the base form ends in -y after a consonant, change the y to i and add -ed.

She moved back to Kenya.

She planted trees.

She studied biology.

Verb Forms
Use the same verb form for all persons.

I you he she it we they

studied worked lived

Negative 1
Use did not + the base form of the verb for negative statements in the simple past.
Base Form Verb

He did not have a lot of money.

Base Form Verb

She didnt go to school in England.

Time Expressions
Time expressions come at the beginning or at the end of a sentence.

Last week, she traveled to Norway.

Her parents visited the capital city a year ago.

This morning, we listened to the news about her award.

Practice 1
1. last weekend

Tell a partner about the things you did or didnt do at the times listed. Use the words in the box.

2. two days ago

3. this morning 4. last night 5. last year
cook
study play

Last weekend, I watched TV. I didnt study English.

watch
work exercise

visit
clean fix

listen
travel stay

Irregular Verbs
Irregular verbs have different forms in the simple past.
win Wangari won many awards for her work.

teach
She taught at several universities.

Negative 2
Be careful! Dont use did or didnt with the past tense form of the verb. Regular Verbs Irregular Verbs

She didnt planted trees She didnt went to England in 1966. in the U.S. She didnt plant trees inShe didnt go to England in 1966. the U.S. She planted trees in Kenya. went back to Kenya in 1966. She

Practice 2
1. be born was born 2. grow up grew up

Work with a partner. Describe your life to your partner. Use the simple past and these verbs.

3. begin college began college

4. fall in love fell in love

5. go to school

went to school

6. leave home left home 7. come to this city came to this city 8. choose a major chose a major

Yes / No Questions
To make a yes / no question in the simple past, use did + the subject + the base form of the verb.

Did

Subject

Base Form Verb

Other Words

Did Did

she her parents

finish help

college? her?

Short Answers
You can use did or didnt in the short answer in the simple past tense.

Did Wangari return to Kenya? Yes, she did.

Did she plant trees in the U.S.? No, she didnt.

Practice 3

Work with a partner. Practice asking and answering questions about the past. Use did and time expressions.

Example: pass the exam / last week

Yes, I did. OR No, I didnt

Did you pass the exam last week?

1) watch TV / last night

2) eat breakfast / this morning

3) do your homework / yesterday

4) go shopping / last month

References
Copyright 2006 Pearson Education and its licensors. All rights reserved.

Photo Credit: The Green Belt Movement