Transcript Past Simple

Past Simple
Grammar Guide
mgr Anna Waligórska – Kotfas
PWSZ Konin
PAST
PRESENT
yesterday
in 2005
last week
three months ago
then
always
often
sometimes
never
Verb TO BE
 We
form the past simple tense of BE like
this:
I
was
we were
you
were
you were
he
was
she
was
they were
it
was
Verb TO BE

We use BE to make questions and negatives:
Paula wasn’t at the party on Saturday.
Was she ill? No, she wasn’t.
Where was she? She was at work.
We weren’t at home last night.
Where were you? Were you at the cinema?
Yes, we were.
Verb Form to be – Practice
 James was at the cinema yesterday.

y/n?


wh-?
Verb Form to be – Practice
 James was at the cinema yesterday.

James wasn’t at the cinema yesterday.
y/n? Was James at the cinema yesterday?
 Yes, he was.
 No, he wasn’t.
wh-?Where was James yesterday?
When was James at the cinema?
Verb Form – Regular verbs

Most verbs add –ed to the base form to make
the past simple tense. The past simple tense
form is the same for all persons
watch –
I/he/she/it/we/you/they watched
Spelling Rules
Note the following spelling rules with -ED endings:

Base forms ending in a single stressed vowel
and a consonant (except w, x or y)  double the
consonant, e.g. hug – hugged

In British English (but not US English) we often
double final consonant l, e.g. label – labelled,
travel – travelled
Spelling Rules
Note the following spelling rules with -ED endings:

Base forms ending in a consonant + Y 
change Y to I, e.g. copy – copied

Base forms ending in a vowel + Y  no change,
e.g. play – played
Pronunciation Rules

/t/
If -ed is preceded by a voiceless consonant sound (p, k, sh, etc.)
it sounds as /t/ (voiceless).
Remember that the 'e' is silent.

/d/
If -ed is preceded by a voiced consonant sound (d, b, v, etc.) or
a vowel sound (often 'ay') it sounds as /d/ (voiced).
Remember that the 'e' is silent.

/-id/
If -ed is preceded by /t/ or /d/ pronounce a voiced /-id/. In this case,
the 'e' is pronounced.
Quiz
Pronunciation Rules
/t/
/d/
/ɪd/
dropped
cleaned
added
finished
enjoyed
dedicated
helped
exchanged
decided
hoped
listened
wanted
kissed
lived
needed
laughed
married
objected
looked
organized
painted
walked
played
refunded
washed
saved
tasted
watched
travelled
wanted
Verb Form – Irregular verbs

Irregular verbs do not form the past tense with -ED
buy – bought
do – did
go – went
leave – left
teach – taught
send – sent
win – won
Learn them by heart 
Verb Form – Negatives

We form the negatives with the auxiliary
did
+
not + verb

We usually use the contracted forms didn’t in
speech and informal writing:
Paula didn’t go to school yesterday because she
was ill.
Verb Form – Questions

We form the y/n questions with the auxiliary
Did
+
subject
+ verb
Did Mark work last week?
The short answers are:
Yes, he did.
No, he didn’t.
 We form the wh- questions with
Question word + did + subject + infinitive
What did you watch yesterday?
Verb Form – Practice
 They visited India four months ago.

y/n?


wh-?
Verb Form – Practice
 They visited India four months ago.

They didn’t visit India four months ago.
y/n? Did they visit India four months ago?
 Yes, they did.
 No, they didn’t.
wh-?What did they visit four months ago?
When did they visit India?
Verb Form – Practice
 Peter broke a window last night.

y/n?


wh-?
Verb Form – Practice
 Peter broke a window last night.

Peter didn’t break a window last night.
y/n? Did Peter break a window last night?
 Yes, he did.
 No, he didn’t.
wh-?What did he break last night?
When did he break a window?
Use: Past Actions and States
 We
use the past simple to describe
single completed actions in the past:
Julius Caesar invaded Britain in 55 BC.
He bought his car last month.
I enjoyed the film we saw yesterday
afternoon.
Time expressions
 We
often use the past simple tense with
expressions that refer to a completely
finished period of time:





yesterday / yesterday afternoon
last night / last week / last month / last year
then
two months ago / three years ago
in 1979
Use: Past Actions and States
 If
the context is clear, it is not necessary
to give a past time reference:
Caesar’s troops failed to defeat the
indigenous tribes.
Shakespeare wrote ‘Hamlet’.
Use: Past Actions and States

We use the past simple for actions which
happened at the same time and also for
repeated actions:
When we got to the junction I took the left
turn while Mickey took the right.
(=two actions at the same
time)
My brother applied for a visa six times before
he got one.
Regularly every summer, Janet fell in love.
(=repeated actions)
Use: Past Actions and States

We use the past simple for sequences of
actions. Sometimes the actions follow
immediately after each other, or one action
causes a result:
Silverman ran to the car; jumped in and raced
off into the night.
(=sequence of actions)
Wall Street traders lost a fortune when the
Asian markets collapsed. (= The markets collapsed with
the result that the traders lost a fortune.)
Use: Past Actions and States
 We
use the past simple to describe states
in the past:
We lived just outside Oxford in the 1990s,
but we didn’t have a car.
I spent all my childhood in Scotland.
Past ability – COULD

We use could + verb to describe the
possession of an ability in the past:
Mozart could play the piano at the age of five.
When I was young, I could climb any tree in the
forest.
 We use couldn’t + verb to describe a lack of
ability in the past :
Mozart couldn’t speak French.
I couldn’t swim two years ago.
Past ability – WAS / WERE
ABLE TO

To describe the successful use of an ability on a
specific occasion we use was/were able to +verb:
Mike's car broke down but fortunately he was
able to repair it.
(=particular action)
Although the pilot was badly hurt, he was able to
explain what had happened.
(=particular action)
We weren’t able to ski in Scotland last weekend.
(=specific occasion)
Past ability – negations

The rule PAST ABILITY (could) vs. PAST
ABILITY IN A PARTICULAR SITUATION (was
/were able to) is relaxed in the negative – we
can use could in questions, and in sentences
with limiting adverbs such as only or hardly:
‘Could you fix the computer yourself?’ ‘No, I
could only back up the key files.’
She was so exhausted she could hardly speak.
Despite being a mechanic, Mike couldn’t fix his
car when it broke down yesterday.
Past obligation – HAD TO

We use had to to talk about something that
someone did because it was necessary:
Jane had to wait an hour for a bus.

We use didn’t have to for absence of obligation
in the past:
You didn’t have to finish the washing-up.

The question form is did … have to:
Did you have to work last Saturday?
Remember
to learn past forms of
irregular verbs!

Use
the past simple tense
correctly!

Wordle
 He
was in the shower at 6:30.
 He was in the kitchen at 7:00.
 He was at work in the morning.
 He was at home in the afternoon.
 He was at the cinema in the evening.
 He was in bed at quarter to twelve.
Activity
 Where
were you yesterday at …?
6.00 am
3.15 pm
7.30 am
8.45 pm
midday
11.00 pm
Ask your partner and answer.
Activity: Silvia and James
A: Where was Silvia in 1998?
B: She was at school.
Where was James in 1998?
A: He was at university.
Ask your partner and answer.
Activity

What was the date yesterday?
 Were you on holiday last month?
 Where were you at this time yesterday?
 Was the weather good on Saturday?
 Was your teacher in a good mood last week?
 Were all your colleagues at school
yesterday?
Ask your partner and answer.
Fabio
Fabio was from Rome in Italy. Last summer,
he studied English in Oxford. He had a lot of
friends in Oxford, but he really wanted an English
girlfriend. Fabio had a problem. He wanted to be
big and strong, but he was small and very thin.
One night he decided to go to a nightclub. At
the club, he watched the people dancing and then
he noticed a nice young woman. To his surprise,
she smiled at him, walked across the room and
asked him to dance.
Fabio loved dancing, but after three records,
he fainted. His friends carried him outside and
were surprised to find that he had six pullovers on
under his jacket.
Shirley Valentine
Shirley Valentine was a woman of 42 from Liverpool, in
England. One summer, she went on holiday to Greece with a
friend, Jane. They stayed in a hotel near the beach and the
manager of this hotel was a man called Costas.
Shirley went to the hotel bar one evening and started
talking to Costas. After a while he said, ‘Would you like to go for
a ride in my brother’s boat tomorrow?’ She thought he was nice
so she went with him the next day and enjoyed the boat trip very
much. After that, she went out with him every day; they swam,
sunbathed and visited the sights of Greece.
At the end of her holiday, Shirley went to the airport but
when she thought of Liverpool, she decided not to go home. She
ran out of the airport and went back to the hotel where she saw
Costas in the bar with a woman. She heard him say, ‘Would you
like to go for a ride in my brother’s boat tomorrow?’ When Costas
saw Shirley, he was shocked, but Shirley smiled and asked him
for a job in his hotel. She wasn’t in love with Costas – she was in
love with Greece.









A few years ago Manchester United played the Spanish
team Deportivo de La Coruña in the Champions League.
Two Manchester United fans wanted to travel to Spain to
see the match.
It wasn’t possible to fly to La Coruña direct, so they
needed to fly to Santiago the Compostela, and then to
get a taxi.
They booked tickets to Santiago on the Internet.
They checked in at Heathrow Airport at 9.00 p.m.
because the flight was at 11.00 at night.
When the plane landed they were very surprised! It was
morning!
They walked out of the airport and stopped a taxi.
They asked the taxi driver, ‘Where is the match?’ The
taxi driver answered ‘What match?’
They weren’t in Spain. They were in Santiago, the capital
of Chile!

A few years ago Manchester United played the
Spanish team Deportivo de La Coruña in the
Champions League.
 Two Manchester United fans wanted to travel to
Spain to see the match.
 It wasn’t possible to fly to La Coruña direct, so
they needed to fly to Santiago the Compostela,
and then to get a taxi.

They booked tickets to Santiago on the Internet.
 They checked in at Heathrow Airport at 9.00
p.m. because the flight was at 11.00 at night.
 When the plane landed they were very
surprised! It was morning!

They walked out of the airport and stopped a
taxi.
 They asked the taxi driver, ‘Where is the match?’
The taxi driver answered ‘What match?’
 They weren’t in Spain. They were in Santiago,
the capital of Chile!
Activity
 Everybody
in the class wrote
some letters last weekend.
True or False?
Activity

Write a question
Did you write any letters last weekend?
/

Ask and answer questions
Yes, I did. / No, I didn’t.

Note down the answers
/
Activity
 Sum
up the survey
Five people in the class wrote
some letters last weekend.
Ten people in the class didn’t
write any letters last weekend.
Speaking: Holiday
Look at the prompts below and make questions.

Where / go? When?
 Who / go with?
 How / get there?
 Where / stay?
 How long / be there?
 / have good weather?
 What / do during the day?
 What / do at night?
 / have a good time?
 / have any problems?
Speaking: Holiday
Ask a partner about their holiday. Use the prompts below.

Where did you go? When did you go?
 Who did you go with?
 How did you get there?
 Where did you stay?
 How long were you be there?
 Did you have good weather?
 What did you do during the day?
 What did you do at night?
 Did you / have a good time?
 Did you / have any problems?
Speaking: A Night Out
Interview your partner about their night out. Use the prompts.









Who / go with?
What / wear?
Where / go?
What / do?
What / have to eat and drink?
/ meet anyone?
How / go home?
What time / get home?
/ have a good time?
Quiz
 Put
each verb in brackets in the Past
Simple.
Your team scores 1 point for each correct
past tense.
 Answer
the questions.
Your team scores 2 points for each correct
answer.
Quiz
1. The artist Pablo Picasso …….….. (be)
born in:
A/ Spain.
B/ France.
C/ Italy.
2. David Beckham …….. (get) married to
Victoria Adams in:
A/ 1993.
B/ 1996.
C/ 1999.
Quiz
3. In 2003 Chris Martin, lead singer of
Coldplay, …….. (marry):
A/ Gwyneth Paltrow. B/ Kate Winslet.
C/ Drew Barrymore.
4. Mother Teresa …….. (live) most of her
life in:
A/ Rome.
B/ Calcutta.
C/ Delhi.
Quiz
5. John F. Kennedy …….. (become)
President of the US when he …….. (be):
A/ 33.
B/ 43.
C/ 53.
6. Nintendo …….. (sell):
A/ 10
B/ 50
C/ 100
million GameBoys in the 1990s.
Quiz
7. The English king Henry the Eighth ……..
(have):
A/ two
B/ four
C/ six
wives.
8. In 2004 Mick Jagger:
A/ …….. (leave) the Rolling Stones.
B/ …….. (become) Sir Mick Jagger.
C/ …….. (divorce) Jerry Hall.
Quiz
9. Bjorn Borg …….. (be) famous because
he …….. (play):
A/ tennis.
B/ golf. C/ football.
10. Man …….. (go) to the Moon for the first
time in:
A/ 1959.
B/ 1969. C/1979.
Quiz
11. John Lennon …….. (die) in:
A/ 1970.
B/ 1980. C/ 1990.
12. In 2004 Robbie Williams and Nicole
Kidman …….. (sing):
A/ Angels.
B/ Something Stupid.
C/ Let me entertain you.
Quiz
 Let’s
check the answers
Quiz: Answers
1. The artist Pablo Picasso …….….. (be) born in:
A/ Spain.
B/ France. C/ Italy.
was (1) / A (2)
2. David Beckham …….. (get) married to Victoria
Adams in:
A/ 1993.
B/ 1996.
C/ 1999.
got (1) / C (2)
Quiz: Answers
3.
In 2003 Chris Martin, lead singer of Coldplay,
…….. (marry):
A/ Gwyneth Paltrow.
B/ Kate Winslet.
C/ Drew Barrymore.
married (1) / A (2)
4. Mother Teresa …….. (live) most of her life in:
A/ Rome.
B/ Calcutta.
C/ Delhi.
lived (1) / B (2)
Quiz: Answers
5. John F. Kennedy …….. (become)
President of the US when he …….. (be):
A/ 33.
B/ 43.
C/ 53.
became (1); was (1) / B (2)
6. Nintendo …….. (sell):
A/ 10
B/ 50
C/ 100
million GameBoys in the 1990s.
sold (1) / C (2)
Quiz: Answers
7. The
English king Henry the Eighth ……..
(have):
A/ two
B/ four
C/ six
wives.
had (1) / C (2)
8. In 2004 Mick Jagger:
A/ …….. (leave) the Rolling Stones.
B/ …….. (become) Sir Mick Jagger.
C/ …….. (divorce) Jerry Hall.
left (1); became (1); divorced (1) / B (2)
Quiz: Answers
9. Bjorn Borg …….. (be) famous because he
…….. (play):
A/ tennis.
B/ golf.
C/ football.
was (1); played (1) / A (2)
10. Man …….. (go) to the Moon for the first time in:
A/ 1959.
B/ 1969. C/1979.
went (1) / B (2)
Quiz: Answers
11. John Lennon …….. (die) in:
A/ 1970.
B/ 1980. C/ 1990.
died (1) / B (2)
12. In 2004 Robbie Williams and Nicole Kidman
…….. (sing):
A/ Angels.
B/ Something Stupid.
C/ Let me entertain you.
sang (1) / B (2)
Quiz: Answers
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
was (1) / A (2)
got (1) / C (2)
married (1) / A (2)
lived (1) / B (2)
became (1); was (1) / B (2)
sold (1) / C (2)
had (1) / C (2)
left (1); became (1); divorced (1) / B (2)
was (1); played (1) / A (2)
went (1) / B (2)
died (1) / B (2)
sang (1) / B (2)
Total: 40 pts
Murder in a
country house.
A Detective Story.
Murder in a country house.pdf
Murder in a country house
 Do
you remember who is who?
Murder in a country house

Read and listen. Mark sentences T or F.
1. Somebody killed Jeremy at 8.00.
 : Between midnight and 7.00 am.
2. The inspector questioned Amanda in the living room.
 : In the library.
3. Jeremy went to bed before Amanda.

4. Amanda and Jeremy slept in the same room.
 : They slept in peparate rooms.
5. Somebody opened and closed Jeremy’s door.

6. Amanda got up at 7.00.
 : She got up at 7.15.
7. Amanda didn’t love Jeremy.

Inspector Granger arrived at about 9.00. He was a tall man with a big black
moustache. Amanda, Barbara, Claudia and Gordon were in the living room. The
inspector came in.
‘Mr Travers died between midnight last night and seven o’clock this morning,’ he
said. ‘Somebody in this room killed him.’ He looked at them one by one but nobody
spoke.
‘Mrs Travers, I want to talk to you first. Come into the library with me, please.’
Amanda Travers followed the inspector into the library and they sat down.

‘What did your husband do after dinner last night?’
‘When we finished dinner Jeremy said he was tired and he went to bed.’
‘Did you go to bed then?’
‘No, I didn’t. I went for a walk in the garden.’
‘What time did you go to bed?’
‘About quarter to twelve.’
‘Was your husband asleep?’
1.
2.
3.
4.
‘I don’t know, inspector. We … we slept in separate rooms.’
5.
‘Did you hear anything when you were in your room?’
6.
‘Yes, I heard Jeremy’s bedroom door. It opened. I thought it was Jeremy. Then it
closed again. I read in bed for half an hour and then I went to sleep.’
‘What time did you get up this morning?’
‘I got up at about 7.15. I had breakfast and at 8.00 I took my husband a cup of tea. I
found him in bed. He was … dead.’
‘Tell me, Mrs Travers, did you love your husband?’
‘Jeremy is … was a difficult man.’
‘But did you love him, Mrs Travers?’
‘No, inspector, I hated him.’
7.
8.
9.
10.
Find ten irregular verbs. Tell
your partner the forms.
come – came – come
say – said – said
go – went – gone
sleep – slept – slept
hear – heard – heard
think – thought - thought
read – read – read
get – got – got
take – took – taken
find – found – found
Murder in a country house

Listen and compete the chart.
Barbara / Gordon / Claudia
Amanda
What did they do
after dinner?
She went for a walk.
What time did
they go to bed?
11.45
Did they hear
anything?
Jeremy’s door
opened and closed.
Possible motive?
She hated him.
Barbara
Gordon
Claudia
Murder in a country house

Check the answers with your partner.
Amanda
Barbara
Gordon
Claudia
What did they do
after dinner?
She went for a walk.
She played cards
with Gordon.
He played cards
with Barbara.
She went to her
room and had a
bath.
What time did
they go to bed?
11.45 pm
11.30 pm
He doesn’t
remember.
11.00 pm
Did they hear
anything?
Jeremy’s door
opened and closed.
No, she didn’t.
No, he didn’t.
She heard
somebody go into
Jeremy’s room.
Possible motive?
She hated him.
No motive.
She loved him
Now he has the
business.
She loved Jeremy
but he used her. He
wanted to marry her
but he didn’t.
Murder in a country house
 Who
do you think was the murderer?
Why?
What happened?