AFFIRMATIVE

USE: The Past Simple is used:

for events which happened in the past and are now finished; for regular or habitual actions in the past;

The Past Simple often occurs with time expressions:

FORM:

NOTE:

-“Last night I played games online for about two hours.”

-“Yesterday I used the computer to talk to my cousins in Australia.”

yesterday – last month/week/year/ night – in 1987/in 2008 – from 1997 to 2000/ from 1776

to 1779 – ago – in the 18th

century/ in the 20th

century – in those days - …

I

You

He

She

It

We

You

They

VERB:

play

watch

want

show

etc.

ed

played

watched

wanted

showed

etc.

when the verb ends in “e” just add “d”: likeliked/ use used

when the verb ends in consonant + “y” the “y” disappears and you add “ied”:

trytried / carry carried / cry cried

when the verb ends in consonant + vowel + consonant you must repeat the last

consonant and add “ed”: travel travelled (but not all the verbs suffer this

transformation!!)

A. Insert the verbs in the right column.

stay – live – produce – wait – cry – hurry – play – listen – paint – move – visit –start travel –

hop – skip - interview – call – cook – erase – dance – enjoy – hate - stop

Verb + ed Verb + d Verb + ied Verb + consonant +

ed

B. Complete the sentences with the past simple of the verbs in brackets.

1. Last week I _____________ (call) my grandmother.

2. She ______________ (like) my phone call.

3. My cousin Mary is a TV reporter. Yesterday she _______________ (interview) Cristiano

Ronaldo.

4. In 2006 my family and I _____________ (visit) our friends from Belize.

5. He ____________ (hate) chocolate when he was younger.

6. Bob ________________ (travel) to Spain last summer.

7. Mike _____________ (arrive) at school at 8.30. Classes _________ (start) at 8.45.

8. This morning she __________ (plan) to arrive earlier at the party but she didn’t so she

________________ (telephone) her aunt.

9. We ______________ (hurry) to the train station because.

10. Yesterday the museum _______________ (open) at 10 am.

C. Tick () the sentences that refer to past actions.

1. Mary works in a restaurant.

2. Last weekend John played the piano.

3. He studied a lot for the test.

4. I usually watch TV in the morning.

5. In the evening they watched TV and listened to music.

6. I always study for the English tests.

7. Robert rested for half an hour.

8. My mum seldom cooks dinner before 8 pm.

9. We travelled to the island of Madeira in 2007.

10. They have got a lovely baby brother.

Negative

FORM:

+ + =

Interrogative

FORM:

+ + =

-“Last night I didn’t play games online.”

-“I didn’t use the computer to talk to my cousins in Australia.”

I

You

He

She

It

We

You

They

I didn’t play…

You didn’t use…

She didn’t dance…

We didn’t like…

They didn’t try…

…

Infinitive

play

use

dance

like

try

…

didn’t

-“Did you play games online last night?”

-“Did she use the computer to talk to her cousins in Australia?”

I

you

he

she

it

we

you

they

Did

Infinitive

play

use

dance

like

try

…

Did I play…?

Did she use…?

Did they dance?

Did he try …?

…

Short answers:

-“Did you watch the film on TV last night?” – Yes, I did/ No, I didn’t.

-“Did she play with you?” – Yes, she did. / No, she didn’t.

Let’s practice!

D. Make these sentences negative.

1. I interviewed Leornardo di Caprio yesterday. I didn’t interview Leonardo di Caprio yesterday.

2. We danced a lot last night. __________________________________________

3. She cried because of the iPhone. ______________________________________

4. We travelled to London last year. _____________________________________

5. We hurried to catch the train. _______________________________________

6. Peter enjoyed the film. _____________________________________________

7. The boys stayed with their grandmother. _______________________________

E. Ask the questions and give short answers.

1. she - hate – the party / Yes

Did she hate the party? – Yes, she did.

2. Jane – erase – the board / No

Did Jane erase the board? – No, she didn’t.

3. you – live - in the USA / No

___________________________________________ _________________

4. Mike – call – his mother / Yes

___________________________________________ _________________

5. the girls – listen – to the teacher / No

___________________________________________ _________________

6. your neighbours – move – to another town / Yes

___________________________________________ _________________

7. John – cook – a delicious meal for his girlfriend? / No

___________________________________________ _________________

8. Kate – skip – the English lesson / Yes

___________________________________________ _________________

9. You – visit – your cousin Larry / No

___________________________________________ _________________

10. It – rain – yesterday / No

___________________________________________ _________________

EXERCISE 1 PAST SIMPLE or PAST PROGRESSIVE? Circle the correct answer(s).

1. He ............... what ............... to be a very important document, so I ............... to disturb him. a. read b. reads c. reading d. was reading a. seem b. seems c. seemed d. was seemed a. want b. don't want c. wanted d. didn't want 2. When I ............... the test I ............... into the schoolyard, where my friends ............... for me. a. finish b. finished c. finishing d. was finishing a. rush b. rushed c. rushing d. was rushing a. waited b. didn't wait c. were waiting d. weren't waiting 3. It ………………. hard when I ............... home this morning, so ............... back for my umbrella. a. rains b. is raining c. rained d. was raining a. leaves b. leaving c. left d. was leaving a. go b. going c. went d. was going 4. Some friends ............... in unexpectedly last night, just as we ............... to bed. a. drop b. dropped c. was dropping d. were dropping a. go b. goes c. was going d. were going 5. When he ............... her reaction he ............... his mistake. a. see b. sees c. saw d. was seeing a. realize b. realized c. realizing d. was realizing

We use the PAST PROGRESSIVE to talk about an action that was still in progress and not yet

completed at a particular point in the past.

The PAST PROGRESSIVE allows us to say that someone was in the middle of an action when

something else happened. Here we use the PAST PROGRESSIVE with the PAST SIMPLE:

She was reading a book when she heard a loud cry.

Or that someone was in the middle of the action at a certain time:

I was watching television at 10:00 last night.

We use the PAST PROGRESSIVE to talk about two actions if they were happening at the same

time:

As she was washing the dishes she was listening to the radio.

6. Rona ............... an accident last week. A car ............... her while she ...............

the street near her house. a. has b. had c. is having d. was having a. hit b. hits c. was hitting d. was hit a. cross b. crossed c. was crossing d. was crossed 7. Maya ............... to tell me what ............... , so how could I possibly help her?! a. wants b. doesn't want c. wanted d. didn't want a. bother b. bothers c. bothering d. was bothering 8. I ............... two letters and a postcard while I ............... for you. a. write b. am writing c. wrote d. was writing a. waits b. is waiting c. waited d. was waiting 9. The little boy was so hungry that he ............... five biscuits while his mother

............... the table for dinner. a. eats b. is eating c. ate d. was eating a. lay b. lays c. laid d. was laying 10. He ............... me three times yesterday, but unfortunately every time he ............... I ............... something

so important that I couldn't talk to him. a. telephoned b. didn't telephone c. was telephoning d. wasn't telephoning a. call b. calls c. called d. was calling a. did b. didn't do c. was doing d. wasn't doing 11. It never ............... to him that somebody............... him and ............... to his telephone calls. a. occur b. occurs c. occurred d. was occurring a. watch b. watching c. was watching d. were watching a. listen b. listens c. listened d. listening 12. Why............... me yesterday? I ............... the house the whole evening because I ............... for your call. a. did you call b. didn't you call c. were you calling d. weren't you calling a. left b. didn't leave c. was leaving d. wasn't leaving a. waited b. was waiting c. didn't wait d. waiting 13. Who ............... to on the phone when I ............... the room? You ............... very excited and pleased with yourself. a. you talked b. did you talk c. you were talking d. were you talking a. enter b. entered c. entering d. was entered a. looks b. looked c. was looking d. were looking

EXERCISE 2 PAST SIMPLE or PAST PROGRESSIVE?

1. When I _________(come), they ___________(watch) a movie and they __________(ask) me not to talk.

2. When Dona _________( see) me she ___________( cross) the street because she __________ (not

want) me to see that she ___________(wear) my shirt.

3. Jane_________( read) a book when she ________(hear) a strange noise. She _________(get) up and

(see) that Galit _________(move) furniture in her room from place to place.

4. When Lee __________(get) to school, the teacher _____already _________(teach). She

___________(stand) with her back to the class so Lee___________(run) to her sseat and

_________(sit) down.

5. Leah and Shelly ___________ ( try) to concentrate on what they___________(do) while Eyal

___________(make) noise.

6. We____________(not take) umbrellas, because it___________(not rain) when we ___________(leave)

home.

7. While Bill _________ (stand) at the corner of the street, he ___________(notice) a man who

___________(take) great interest in a jeweler's display. He ___________(walk) by the window several

times and then ___________(peer) at the display again. While he ___________(do) this, his right hand

_____________(creep) into the pocket of his raincoat.

Suddenly he _________(pull) something out and ________ (throw) it at the window. Crash! The window

_________(smash) into a hundred pieces. Bill ___________(rush) to the man, _________(jump) on him

and ____________(bring) him to the ground. While Bill and the thief ___________( struggle) on the

ground a policeman ____________(arrive) and ___________(arrest) the thief.

EXERCISE 3 Fill in with the correct form of the verb. Use Present Simple / Present Proggessive / Past Simple / Past Progressive.

1. A few days ago I _______ (hear) that my friend Dan had broken his arm and could not come to the

office. I ___________(go) to visit him and when I ________(come) in he ____________(lie) in bed and

his wife ____________(argue) with someone on the phone. She ____________(not be) surprised to

see me.

"Hi. " I said. "How's Dan. I ____________(not want) to disturb him because he probably __________(need)

a lot of rest now. __________( he / rest) now or _______ he _______(have) a few minutes to see me?"

He told me how it all happened. "I _________(not take) an umbrella because it __________

(not rain) when I (leave) home yesterday. Unfortunately it soon __________ (begin) to rain and I had to run

all the way to the bus stop. While I (run)___________ I ________(trip) over a stone. I ________(fall) and

_________ (break) my arm."

2. As I _________(listen) to the radio, I suddenly ______ (hear) a strange noise. It _________(be) at the

backdoor. Somebody __________(try) to get in. I ___________(run) downstairs quickly and

___________(open) the door. Outside a strange looking man ___________(stand) holding a big sack in his

hand. The man __________(wear) dark glasses and he ___________(smoke) a big cigar. When he

_______(see) me he took off his glasses. Then I ___________(realize) who it _______ (be)…