1

Business: Succcessful Business People

Lesson Plan

The Simple Past Tense and The Negative Simple Past Tense of Regular Verbs

Spelling of The Simple Past Tense Verbs

Pronunciation of The Simple Past Tense Verbs

Copyright © 2007 by Thomson Heinle, a part of The Thomson Corporation. All rights reserved. 

2

Grammar in Content

Read about Arthur and Karen.

Hey! How was your summer?

It was great! I was at a business seminar in Florida. Bill Gates was there! I talked to him for a few minutes. I also dropped in on a friend for lunch. We didn’t cook anything. Instead, we walked to a café near his house.

3

The Simple Past Tense

Complete the chart with positive and negative statements.

Subject verb

I in Tokyo last night.

HeSheIt

hard yesterday.

You*WeThey

Denise last week.

arrived

did not arrive

worked

did not work

called

did not call

What about Contractions?

didn’t

didn’t

didn’t

*You is either singular or plural.

4

Notes

We use the simple past to talk about events that happened and are now finished.

todaylast nightlast week yesterday

I studied.I worked. I called.

5

Exercise A

Raise your hand if the statement is false.

1. Arthur’s summer wasn’t good.

2. Bill Gates was there.

3. Arthur didn’t drop in on his friend.

4. Arthur and his friend cooked lunch.

5. Arthur’s friend drove them to lunch.

Answers:

1. False

2. True

3. False

4. False

5. False

6

Spelling Verbs in the –ed Form

Look at the chart.

Base form

-ing form Rules

workwalk

workedwalked

For most verbs: add ed.

livedance

liveddanced

For verbs ending in a consonant + e: add d only.

studycry

studiedcried

For verbs that end in a consonant +y: change y to i and add ed.

playenjoy

playedenjoyed

For verbs that end in a vowel +y: add ed.

Continued on next slide.

7

Spelling Verbs in the –ed Form

Look at the chart.

Base form

-ing form Rules

drophug

droppedhugged

For one-syllable verbs that end in a consonant + vowel + consonant: double the final consonant and add ed.

showrelax

showedrelaxed

For verbs ending w or x: do not double the final consonant. Just add ed.

happenopendistract

happenedopeneddistracted

For two-syllable verbs that end in a consonant + vowel + consonant: if the first syllable is stressed, add ed. Do not double the consonant.

preferadmitcommit

preferredadmittedcommitted

For two-syllable verbs that end in a consonant + vowel + consonant: if the second syllable is stressed, double the consonant and add ed.

8

Exercise B

Raise your hand if the statement is in the present progressive tense.

1. I walkt 12 miles yesterday.

2. He cryed at the end of the movie.

3. She danced when she was younger.

4. They plaid with the children.

Answers:

1. walked

2. cried

3. Correct

4. played

9

Grammar in Content

Read about Arthur and Karen.

Hey! How was your summer?

It was great! I was at a business seminar in Florida. Bill Gates was there! I talked to him for a few minutes. I also dropped in on a friend for lunch. We didn’t cook anything. Instead, we walked to a café near his house.

This time, try saying these verbs:

10

Pronunciation Notes

Complete the chart.

Verbs that end in Pronounce the third person -s

the sounds f, k, p, s, ch, or sh

the sounds b, g, j, l, m, n, ng, r, th, v, z, or zh

d or t

/t/ as in “cooked” and “helped”

/d/ as in “played” and “used”

/id/ as in “wanted” and “needed”

11

Exercise C

Practice aloud with a partner. Use these verbs in a past

tense sentence. Help and correct each other.

1. walk

2. cook

3. admit

4. work

5. cry

6. play

12

Grammar in Content

Read about Alison.

Let’s see… what did I do yesterday? I took a test in English. I ate dinner. I bought a new computer. I needed toothpaste, so I went to the convenience store. I called my house, but I didn’t speak to my sister.

13

Irregular Verbs

Complete the chart with positive and negative statements.

Subject verb

I

in a restaurant last night.

HeSheIt

You*WeThey

ate

did not eat

didn’t eat

*You is either singular or plural.

14

Notes

Irregular verbs do not have the –ed ending in the past tense. Here are some common irregular verbs and their past tense forms.

be / was, were

buy / bought

come / came

do / did

get / got

give / gave

go / went

have / had

leave / left

make / made

sell / sold

speak / spoke

meet / made

pay / paid

put / put

see / saw

take / took

write / wrote

See appendix 4 on page 232 for more irregular verbs and their simple past forms.

15

Exercise D

Ask a partner the question. Next, answer for yourself.

1. last night?

2. last Thursday?

3. this morning?

4. yesterday?

5. last Summer?

todaylast nightlast week yesterday

?

What did you do When did you

1. eat breakfast?

2. study?

3. write a letter?

4. shop?

5. meet your friend?

16

Review

Subject verb

I in Tokyo last night.

HeSheIt

hard yesterday.

You*WeThey

Denise last week.

arrived

did not arrive

worked

did not work

called

did not call

*You is either singular or plural.