Past Simple Tense (Lesson 6)

A. Read the following text and notice the underlined verbs:
I was a student then. I had quite a few good friends. They were all very close to me. We did a lot of things together. We went to school regularly. We discussed our problems between classes. We played together in the afternoon. It was a happy time.

Think:
What verb form is used in the sentences?
How are questions framed?
How are the negative sentences framed?
In the text, 'was' and 'were' are used to refer to a past state, 'had' indicates a past possession/relation and 'did', 'went', 'discussed', and 'played' describe past actions. The sentences are all in the past simple tense. This is how states and actions are expressed in the past simple tense.
Verb Form: Past form of the verb is used after subject. No auxiliary verb is required except in interrogative and negative sentences.

Now write five sentences using 'be' verbs in the past simple tense.
Also write five sentences about the things you did yesterday.

B. Read the following dialogue:

A : Were you ill yesterday?
B: No, I wasn't.
A: Then why didn't you come to school?
B: We had a family picnic.
A: Where did you go for the picnic?
B: We went to the City Park.

There are negative and interrogative sentences in the past simple tense in this dialogue. Find them and see how they are written.

Note:

• Interrogatives are framed by using 'did' as auxiliary verb before the subject.
• Negatives are formed by using 'did not' between the subject and the verb.
• Remember that when did is used in the interrogative and negative sentences in this tense, the main verb becomes the present or base form of the verb, not the past form.
• Wasn't is the short form of 'was not' and didn't is the short form of 'did not'.

Now read the following sentences and see how past states are expressed in the past simple tense :

I was sick last week.
He was my best friend then.
We were very happy.
They were unhappy.

Here we notice that 'was/were', the past form of 'be' is used to refer to past state. In these sentences 'was/were' is used as main verb. It is followed by a noun or adjective.

Now read the following negative and interrogative sentences and notice the positions of 'not' and 'was/were':

The food was not good.
They were not present there.
Were you absent from the class?
Why was he angry?
Were they not poor then?

Say how interrogatives and negatives have been formed in these sentences?

C. Write sentences in the past simple tense with the following verbs:
phoned, met, invited, bought, attended and happened

D. Read the following sentences, notice the use of 'had' and answer the question below the sentences.

We had a nice garden.
We never had a car.
They did not have much money.
How many pens did you have?

See how 'had' is used in these sentences-- as an auxiliary verb or a main verb?
Note: 'had' is used as a main verb to mean possession in the past simple tense.

E Complete the following sentences in the past simple tense. Use the right form of verbs given in brackets:

1. It _____ all day yesterday. (rain)
2. Did you ______ the party? (enjoy)
3. His father _______ ten years ago. (die)
4. Why ______ you angry? (be)
5. I did not ______ any such idea. (have)
6. He ______ me how to swim. (teach)
7. How long did you ______ there? (stay)
8. My mother _____ a teacher. (be)
9. How ______ the weather yesterday? (be)
10. Last week I _______ cold. (catch)

F Write five to seven sentences describing what happened in your English class yesterday