This document provides an explanation and examples of using the past simple tense in English. It discusses the formation of regular and irregular past verbs and provides examples of their use in affirmative, negative, and interrogative sentences. Examples are given about the soccer player Ferenc Puskás' life and past accomplishments to demonstrate using the past tense. The uses of the past simple tense are outlined when talking about completed past actions and events.

1. PAST SIMPLE TENSE EXPLANATION AND EXAMPLES
English 2
NILTON JOE MIRANDA JIMENEZ

2. GOALS
Students will practice…
• The past simple of regular and irregular
verbs.
• Past time expressions.
Students will learn how to…
• Talk about what happened in the past.
• Talk about people’s lives.

3. SOCCER HEROES
Ferenc Puskás was a great soccer player. He was born in
Hungary in 1927. He lived in Kispest, a village near Budapest.
Puskás played first for the Kispest team, then for Budapest
Honved, and then for the Hungarian national team when he was
18. Puskás only used his left foot, but he was a fantastic player
who always scored goals. He got married in 1949 and he and his
wife, Erzsébet, had a daughter, Aneke.

4. SOCCER HEROES
After the Hungarian Revolution in 1956, Puskás and his family
moved to Austria and then Italy. Lots of clubs, including AC
Milan, Juventus and Manchester United, wanted to sign him, but
in 1958 he went to Spain to play for Real Madrid.
In 1962, he changed his nationality to Spanish and he joined the
Spanish national team. Puskás retired in 1966 and he died in
2007.

5. PAST SIMPLE FORMS:
AFFIRMATIVE
The past simple is the tense used to express finished actions in the
past.
• regular verbs → infinitive + ed
• irregular verbs → 2nd column of the table of the irregular verbs

6. PAST SIMPLE FORMS:
AFFIRMATIVE
Most verbs have a regular past simple form with –ed: text → texted
• However, we have some spelling rules for regular verbs.
When a verb ends in C-V-C,
double the final consonant and
add -ed
When a verb ends in –e, just add
-d
When a verb ends in consonant +
-y, change the –y to –I and add –
ed:

7. PRACTICE AFFIRMATIVE SENTENCES
IN PAST
Complete the sentences with the verbs in bold in the past simple:
1. It’s a nice day today. It was cold on the weekend.
2. I talk to my mother on the phone every day. I _________ to her this morning.
3. You study English at the university, but you _________ French in school.
4. Vegans like vegetables. They _________ them when they were children.
5. My father stops working this week, but we ________ going to the university last
week.

8. PAST SIMPLE FORMS:
NEGATIVE
There is no difference between regular and irregular verbs in negative
sentences.
• Always use the auxiliary did (Simple Past of to do) and the infinitive
of the verb for negations.

9. PRACTICE NEGATIVE
SENTENCES IN PAST
Put the words in the correct order to make negative sentences:

10. PAST SIMPLE FORMS:
INTERROGATIVE
There is no difference between regular and irregular verbs in
interrogative sentences.
• You need the auxiliary did and the infinitive of the verb.
• Remember to use question words for information questions.

11. PRACTICE QUESTIONS AND
ANSWERS IN PAST
• Complete the questions and answers with the correct past simple
forms of the verbs in parentheses.

12. USES OF THE PAST SIMPLE
TENSE
We use the past simple to talk about...
Actions finished in the past
 I visited Berlin last week.
Series of completed actions in the past
 First, I got up, then I had breakfast.
Together with the Past Progressive/Continuous: The Simple Past interrupted an action
which was in progress in the past.
• They were playing cards, when the telephone rang.
• 1st action → Past Progressive → were playing
2nd action → Simple Past → rang

13. PAST TIME EXPRESSIONS
Yesterday
Last week
Last month
One week ago
Two months ago
Three years ago
Yesterday
Yesterday morning
In 1990
The day before
yesterday
In March
On Sunday
When I was born
When I was 7 years old
While she was working

14. FINAL GOAL
WRITING & SPEAKING ACTIVITY
This is not a mandatory activity, but you can us it to improve your writing
and speaking skills. Follow these steps:
• Choose a member of your family and ask questions about his or her life.
• Write sentences in past tense about your relative.
• Then, write 2 or 3 negative sentences about his/her life.
• Organize all the sentences to write two paragraphs with different topics
(origins / childhood / work / etc.).
• Read your paragraph to practice pronunciation and fluency.