I HAD/WORKED/ATE (SIMPLE PAST)

POSITIVE:

I, You, They, We, He, She, It + worked/studied/ate/drank/had

NEGATIVE:

I, You, They, We, He, She, It + did not or didn’t + work/study/eat/drink/have

QUESTION:

Did + I, You, They, We, He, She, It + work/study/eat/drink/have?

The Simple Past is often -ed/-ied/-d (regular verbs). For example,

Add - ed:

Clean - Cleaned

Need - Needed

Watch - Watched

Brush - Brushed

Pray - Prayed

Play - Played

Change -y to -i and add -ed:

Study - Studied

Try - Tried

Add - d

Like - Liked

Dance - Danced
One vowel + one consonant = double the final consonant and add -ed

Stop - Stopped

Plan - Planned

For example,

This morning I brushed my teeth.

I watched an interesting movie last night.

We planned to get married this year.

Some verbs are irregular. The simple past is not -ed.

Beat - Beat

Begin - Began

Break - Broke

Catch - Caught

Choose - Chose

Do - Did

Draw - Drew

Drink - Drank

Eat - Ate

Fall - Fell

Feel - Felt

Read - Read /red/

Cost - Cost

Cut - Cut

For the complete list: https://www.e-grammar.org/download/list-of-irregular-verbs.pdf

2
For example,

I drew a beautiful portrait last week.

I lost my wallet when I was in the supermarket.

We chose to visit the museum in Rome.

I ate some apples when I was in class.

SHORT ANSWERS

Yes, I/we/you/they did.

Yes, he/she/it did.

No, I/we/you/they didn’t. or I/we/you/they did not.

No, he/she/it didn’t. or he/she/it did not.

USE:
We use it with finished actions, states, or habits in the past when we have a finished time word
(yesterday, last week, at 2 o'clock, in 2003).

I went to the cinema yesterday.

We spent a lot of time in Germany in 2010.

I saw him in the supermarket last week.

COMMON TIME EXPRESSIONS

Yesterday

A (week, month, year) ago

Last (month, year, weekend, Monday) night

The day before yesterday

Two (days, months, years) ago

3
 EXERCISES:
Activity 1: Multiple Choice

1. John ______ a wife. He was single.

a. wasn’t have b. didn’t have c. had d. didn’t had

2. My brother was so happy because he ______ the school football team.

a. joined b. joins c. joining d. did join

3. She ______ an English book last night.

a. reads b. read c. red d. reading

4. Ted ______ his father about a film he ______ on TV.

a. tells/looking b. spoke/seen c. told/saw d. speaks/watched

5. My mother ______ late, so she ______ the bus late.

a. wakes up/got b. woke up/got c. is waking up.getting d. has woken up/gets

6. The students ______ stories for homework yesterday.

a. has written b. have written c. wrote d. were written

7. How ______ your friends ______ to the train station last night?

a. did/got b. has/gotten c. has/got d. did/get

8. John ______ the old lady carry her shopping bags yesterday.

a. helped b. helps c. was helped d. help

9. What time ______ she ______ home?

a. did/arrived b. did/arrive c. do/arrived d. has/arrived

10. Unfortunately, he ______ late night and ______ the play.

a. was arriving/missed b. arrived/missed c. arrived/was missing

d. has arrived/has missed

4
Answer Key

Activity 1

1. B
2. A
3. B
4. C
5. B
6. C
7. D
8. A
9. B
10. B