FORM (I)

Affirmative
Regular verbs:
play played
walk - walked

S + V + ED

Irregular verbs: V form 2 (see list of irregular

verbs)
write wrote
read read
be- was (I, he, she, it)/ were (you, we, they)

FORM (II)
:Negative
S + DID NOT (DIDNT) + V
I didnt play
He didnt walk
We didnt write
You didnt read
I wasnt/ we werent

FORM (III)
:Interrogative
?DID + S + V
?Did
?Did
?Did
?Did

you play
she walk
they write
we read

?Was he? / Were you

Spelling with -ED

(regular verbs)
: Verbs in e, add only D. 1
Verbs in cons. + y, change y in i when adding. 2
-ED: carry- carried, study- studied, fry-

fried, try- tried

Verbs in vowel + y do not suffer any changes. 3

when adding ED: play-played
Verbs in c receive k when adding ED: panic-. 4
panicked
Verbs in l double l in British spelling; in. 5
American spelling there is no change: traveltravelled (Br. Eng.)/ traveled (Am. Eng.)

Spelling with -ED

(regular verbs)
Monosyllabic verbs, ending in consonant +. 6
vowel + consonant, double the final consonant
when adding ED: stop- stopped,plan-

planned, rob- robbed,beg- begged

Bisyllabic verbs, with the stress on the . 7

second syllable, ending in consonant + vowel
+ consonant, double the final consonant when
adding ED: reFER-referred; preFER- preferred,

regRET- regretted

Usage
An action that started and finished at a specific time in the. 1
past. Sometimes, the speaker may not actually mention the
.specific time, but they do have one specific time in mind

Examples:
I saw a movie yesterday.
Last year, I traveled to Japan.
Did you have dinner last night?
She washed her car two hours ago.

Listing a series of completed actions in the past. These . 2

.actions happen 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and so on

Examples:
I finished work, walked to the beach, and found a nice place to swim.
He arrived from the airport at 8:00, checked into the hotel at 9:00, and

met the others at 10:00.

Did you add flour, pour in the milk, and then add the eggs?

Duration which starts and stops in the past. A duration is a .3

longer action often indicated by expressions such as: for two
.years, for five minutes, all day, all year, etc

Examples:
I lived in Brazil for two years.
Ruti studied Japanese for five years.
They sat at the beach all day.
They did not stay at the party the entire time.
We talked on the phone for thirty minutes.

A habit which stopped in the past. It can have the same.4

meaning as used to. To make it clear that we are talking
about a habit, we often add expressions such as: always,
often, usually, never, when I was a child, when I was
. younger, etc

Examples:
I studied French when I was a child.
He played the violin.
He didn't play the piano.
Did you play a musical instrument when you were a kid?
She worked at the movie theater after school.

5. Past facts or generalizations which are no longer true. As in

USE 4 above, this use of the Simple Past is quite similar to
the expression used to."

Examples:
She was shy as a child, but now she is very outgoing.
He didn't like tomatoes before.
Did you live in Texas when you were a kid?
People paid much more to make cell phone calls in the past.

6. IF sentences type II. In the main clause we use present

conditional (would + V) and in the conditional phrase we use
past simple.
Examples:
If Ihada lot of money, I would share it with you.
You would get a higher grade if you paid more attention.
If I were you, I would handle those chemical substances

more carefully.

Time Expressions

The Past Continous Tense

FORM (I)

:Affirmative
S + WAS/WERE + V + ING

I was playing

He was reading
We were writing
They were walking

Remember the rules on the spelling of verbs when

!adding ING

FORM (II)
:Negative
S + WAS NOT (WASNT)/ WERE NOT (WERENT) + V
+ING

I wasnt reading
She wasnt playing
They werent dancing
You werent getting

FORM (III)
:Interrogative
WAS/WERE + S + V + ING
?Were you writing
?Was he reading
?Were they dancing

Usage
Unfinished or incompleteaction in the past. 1
:that was interrupted by another event or action
I was havinga beautiful dream when the alarm clock"
rang."
: 2. To express a change of mind
Iwas goingto spend the day at the beach but I've "
."decided to go on an excursion instead

Usage
An action in progress at a certain time in . 3
:the past
.Hewas playingfootball on this time yesterday
With'wonder', to make a very polite. 4
:request

Iwas wonderingif you could baby-sit for me "

."tonight

Usage
Two or more actions happening at the. 5
same time (in the past)
While shewas preparingdinner, hewas
.washingthe dishes
To describe the background in a story . 6
written in the past tense
The sunwas shiningand the birdswere "
singingas the elephant came out of the jungle.
The other animalswere relaxingin the shade of
..."the trees

!REMEMBER
Past Continuous is incompatible with the
verbs not normally used in the progressive
form (verbs of perception, verbs of opinion,
verbs of cognition, verbs expressing feelings,
attitudes, volition, permanent situations,
!possession and modal verbs)

Time Expressions
Aswe were playing, it started to rain.
Whilewe were playing, it started to snow.
This time yesterdaywe were playing basketball.
All last nightthey were traveling through
Anatolia.
We were having
dinnerbetweensevenandeightyesterday
evening
It was rainingat noon yesterday.
I was not visiting the museumat ten yesterday. I
.was visiting the castle then

Past Continuous Tense

vs. Simple Past Tense
Past continuous tense - longaction
Simple past tense -shortaction that
. happensin the middleof the long action
When/while
.I was watching TVwhenyou telephoned
.While I was walking past the car, it exploded

Exercises
?..What (do( when I (call( you last night( 1
...I (sit( in a cafe when you (call(( 2
.Susie(watch)a film when she (hear) the noise( 3
Yesterday I(go)to the library, next I(have)a( 4
....swim, later I(meet)Julie for coffee
...We(play)tennis when John(hurt)his ankle( 5
...He(take)a shower when the telephone(ring)( 6
...When I(walk)into the room, everyone(work)( 7
...He(live)in Russia when the Revolution(start)( 8
When her train(get)to the station,( 9
...we(wait)on the platform
He(be)so annoying! He(always leave)his( 10
...things everywhere

On holiday we(visit)Rome,(see)the Vatican, ( 11

....and(spend)a few days at the beach
Why(stand)on a chair when I(come)into the ( 12
?..room
...When I(leave)the house, it(snow) ( 13
He(work)in a bank when he(meet)his wife ( 14
My fatherat 70 km/h when a policemanhim. ( 15
..(drive) (stop)
?What the manager (do) at 7:00 pm yesterday ( 16
.When Donny (enter) the room, everyone (talk) ( 17
The client really (walk out) while Troy ( 18
?(present)the proposal
The thieves (hide) in the kitchen when the police ( 19
.(come) in
While we (do) the experiment, we (break) some ( 20
.test tubes

Last night, while I was doing my homework, Angela (call). She

said she (call)me on her cell phone from her biology classroom
at UCLA. I asked her if she (wait)for class, but she said that the
professor was at the front of the hall lecturing while she (talk)to
me. I couldn't believe she (make)a phone call during the
lecture. I asked what was going on.
She said her biology professor was so boring that several of the
students (sleep, actually)in class. Some of the students
(talk)about their plans for the weekend and the student next to
her (draw)a picture of a horse. While we were talking, I
(hear)her professor yell, "Miss, are you making a phone call?"
Suddenly, the line went dead. I (hang)up the phone and went
to the kitchen to make dinner. As I (cut)vegetables for a salad,
the phone rang once again. It (be)Angela, but this time she
.wasn't sitting in class