The document discusses the past simple tense in English. It explains that there are regular and irregular verbs in the past simple. For regular verbs, "-ed", "-d", or "-ied" is added to the infinitive. Irregular verbs are formed irregularly and there is a list to study. The past simple expresses actions completed in the past. It can be used with time expressions like "ago", "last", and "in". The past continuous and "used to" are also discussed.

1. The past simple
©Fernando Braña Asensio 07

2. The past simple
We have two types of verbs
REGULAR VERBS
IRREGULAR VERBS

3. REGULAR VERBS
To form regular verbs we need to add
-ED -D -IED to the infinitive of the
verb
For example:
-ed inventED
-d arriveD
-ied studIED

4. PAST FORM OF REGULAR VERBS
FORM
POSITIVE NEGATIVE
QUESTION
I arrived
You arrived
he/she/it arrived
We/you/they arrived
I DIDN’T arrive
You DIDN’T arrive
he/she/it DIDN’T arrive
We/you/they DIDN’T arrive
DID I arrived ?
DID You arrive ?
DID he/she/it arrive?
DID We/you/they arrive?

5. IRREGULAR VERBS
We have a list to
study.
We don’t add –ed/
-d/-ied.
They are frmed
irregularly.
Some examples are:
Be
Become
Catch
Swim
Hit
Leave
Read
begin
Was/were
Became
Caught
Swam
Hit
Left
Read
began

6. PAST FORM OF IRREGULAR VERBS
FORM
POSITIVE NEGATIVE QUESTION
I swam
you swam
He/she/it swam
We/you/they swam
I DIDN’T swim
you DIDN’T swim
He/she/it DIDN’T swim
We/you/they DIDN’T swim
DID I swim ?
DID you swim?
DID He/she/it swim?
DID We/you/they swim?

7. The past simple
The past simple is used to express
things that happened in the past
and are finished
past present

8. The past simple
The past simple is usually
accompanied by some expressions of
past time:
…Ago: I saw you 3 weeks ago
Last…: I saw you last week
In…: I saw you in 2007
When…?: when did you see the film?

9. The Past Continuous (was/were+Ving)
Positive
I was sleeping
You were sleeping
He
She was sleeping
it
We
You were sleeping
they
Negative
I wasn’t sleeping
You weren’t sleeping
He
She wasn’t sleeping
it
We
You weren’t sleeping
they
Question
…was I sleeping…?
…were you sleeping…
He
….was She sleeping…?
it
We
Were You sleeping…?
they

10. The past simple uses
 When we want to talk about something that
happened at a specific time in the past
What were you doing at this time yesterday?
Yesterday at 6 I was playing the guitar

11. Past simple or Continuous
Sometimes we find the past simple and the past continuous in the same sentence.
When this happens, the 1st action takes the past continuous and the 2nd
action takes the past simple, which interrupts the first
We often find “when”, “while” with the past continuous
When we were watching TV, the lights went off
(1st: you were watching TV. 2nd: the lights went off)
The phone rang while I was having a shower
(1st: I was having a shower. 2nd: the pone rang)

12. Used to
+ infinitive:
He used to drive to school
Form:
Positive: He used to drive to school
Negative: He didn’t use to drive to school
Question: What did you use to do when you were
younger?
Uses:
Express habits in the past. Things that you usually did
but you don’t do now