Pre-elementary Study Book 2nd edition

Unit 19 – past simple

My name’s Amy …

My name’s Paul …

I walked home from school yesterday …

I saw the Taylor Swift concert last month …

Did you go to England? …

I didn’t wait for the bus …

Did she walk to the shops? …

Did you like the movie? …

Holiday in Nice

Last summer I went on holiday to Nice in the south of France. The people are very friendly and the port is a great place to visit. On the first day I went to a restaurant with a terrace. It had a wonderful sea view. Also, the food was delicious. On the second day I went to two museums. First, I went to an art museum. There weren’t many pictures but there were many visitors. I didn’t like it very much. Second, I went to an unusual museum of toys. There were a lot of toys from all over the world. It was interesting to see. After walking around I was very tired, so I went back to my hotel and slept. I spent the last day on the beach. I swam, sunbathed and had a great time. It was a short but interesting holiday.

past simple tense

We use the past simple tense to talk about actions that finished in a time before the present. In the past simple tense, the action is not important. What matters is that the action was completed in the past. The action may have been in the recent past or a long time ago.

different uses

an action that started and finished in the past

I saw a movie last week.

more than one action that started and finished in the past

I finished work, walked home, cooked dinner and watched TV.

something that covered a period in the past

I lived in Spain for three years.

verbs change in positive past tense

The verb to be changes from am, is, are to was or were.

regular verbs

We add -ed to regular verbs in positive form.

walk > walked
look > looked
work > worked
stop > stopped
etc.

We played football last Saturday.
I worked hard today.
I was in Italy last August.

irregular verbs

Irregular verbs change in positive form.

teach > taught
buy > bought
sleep > slept
eat > ate
etc.

He saw his girlfriend last week.
I ate lunch at noon.
She slept late at the weekend.

We use did not and the base form of the verb in negative form.

He didn’t want to come with us.
I didn’t speak to her yesterday.
They didn’t wait for the bus.

We use did and the base form of the verb in questions.

Did he know about this before?
Did they have a good time on holiday?
Did you speak to him?