There are five vowels in English:

All the other letters are called consonants.

1. Are the red letters vowels or consonants?

a.

yoga

(vowel / consonant)

b.

beach

(vowel / consonant)

c.

movie

(vowel / consonant)

d.

gym

(vowel / consonant)

e.

brother

(vowel / consonant)

f.

famous

(vowel / consonant)

g.

door

(vowel / consonant)

h.

shopping

(vowel / consonant)

i.

water

(vowel / consonant)

j.

newspaper

(vowel / consonant)

Past Simple Spelling of Regular Verbs: Rule #1. For most verbs, we add ed to the end: Examples:

open - opened play - played start - started

Rule #2. Add a d if a verb ends in e: Examples:

receive - received use - used retire - retired

Rule #3: Change y to ied If a verb ends in:

consonant(s) + y
Examples:

try - tried marry - married

 copy - copied
Rule #4: Double the consonant and add ed if a verb ends with:

one stressed vowel + consonant

Examples:

prefer - preferred stop - stopped

This rule is not for:

an unstressed vowel + consonant

or

a vowel + vowel + consonant

Examples:

open - opened need - needed

2. Change the regular verbs to the past simple tense: a. (play) played c. (arrive) arrived e. (close) closed g. (finish) finished b. (prefer) preferred d. (talk) talked f. (marry) married h. (try) tried

i. (cry) cried k. (ask) asked m. (talk) talked o. (want) wanted q. (start) started

j. (stop) stopped l. (open) opened n. (retire) retired p. (use) used r. (copy) copied

3. Complete the following sentences in the past simple. Be careful with your spelling!

a. He (play) volleyball on the beach yesterday.

Her played volleyball on the beach yesterday.

b. They (enjoy) the party last night. They enjoyed the party last night.

c. Leanne (marry) Chris two years ago. Leanne married chris two years ago.

d. John (arrive) at 1:30 PM yesterday. John arrived at 1:30 PM yesterday.

e. We (open) the window yesterday because it was hot. We opened the window yesterday because it was hot.

f. I (ask) a question in class. I asked a question in class.

g. He (work) out at the gym two days ago. He worked out the gym two days ago.

h. She (cry) after the movie on Saturday. She cried after the movie on saturday.

i. James and Suzanne (retire) in 2008. James and suzanne retired in 2008.

j. I (try) yoga last week. I tried yoga last week.

4. CHALLENGE. More practice activities for using regular verbs in the past simple:

Link One Link Two Link Three Link Four

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