The Simple Past Tense The simple past tense is used to talk about actions that happened at a specific time in the past. You state when it happened using a time adverb (yesterday,last week,tow days ago, etc.)

For example:

1 - I lived in South Africa for two years.2 - She cleaned her room yesterday.

You form the simple past of a

verb by adding -ed onto the

end of a regular verb ,but

irregular verb forms have to be

learned.

Spelling rules for regular verb

1) Double the consonant if the consonant is stressed stop – stopped swap – swapped

2)Add only –d, when the verb ends with –e

love – loved save – saved

3)Verbs ending in 'y' preceded by a consonant:

Change 'y' to 'i' Then add -ed.

hurry - he hurried (play – played)

Negative Sentences

did not + verb (base form)

Example 1 : I did not work yesterday

or I didn’t work yesterday

INCORRECT: I didn’t worked

Regular Verb (to work)

Statements

+

Regular Verb (to work)

Statements

-

Questions

?

Short answer

+

Short answer

-

I worked. I didn't work. Did I work? Yes, I did.No, I didn't.

[He/She/It] worked .

[He/She/It] didn't work.

Did [he /she / It] work?

Yes, [he/she/It] did.

No, [he/she/It] didn't.

[You/ We/They] worked.

[You/ We/They] didn't work.

Did [you/ we/they] work?

Yes, [you/ we/they] did.

No, [you/ we/they] didn't.

Question

In the past simple we use did as a helping verb to form a question with Wh - word .

1 – He cleaned his car. What did he clean?

2 – I cocked the dinner. When did you cock?

3 – She wrote a book.

Past Continuous Tense

1 – We use this tense to talk about actions that weregoing on, or happening at a certain moment in the past.

At this time last Saturday, Ahmad was playing in the

park with his friends.

2 - We often use past continuous to say what was inprogress, when something happened:

The phone rang while I was doing my homework.

I was reading a comic book while my sister was

watching TV. When I was walking along the road, I saw a

car hit amotorbike.

Positive and Negative

in Past Continuous Positive

Subject + was + v-ing

1) I was studying.

2) He was playing.

Subject + were + v-ing

1) You were reading.

2) They were sleeping.

Negative

Subject+ wasn’t(not) + v-ing

1) I wasn’t (not) studying.

2)He wasn’t (not) playing.

Subject + weren’t(not) + v-ing

1) You weren’t (not) reading.

2) They weren’t (not) sleeping

Making Yes/No Questions

in Past Continuous Was + He, She, It + v-ing?Was he working? Yes, he/ she/ it + was. No, he/ she/ it + wasn’t.

Were + you, we, they + v-ing?Were they working? Yes, you/ we/ they+ were. No,You/ we/ they + weren’t.

In the past continuous we use was or were to form a question with Wh - word .

1 – He was playing tennis at 9 o'clock last night . When was he playing tennis?

2 – You were cocking the dinner all the after noon yesterday. What were you doing all the after noon yesterday?

3 – She was writing a book When I visited her.

Making Wh- word

Question

in Past Continuous

We often use the past continuous and thepast simple together with “while / when”. Pastcontinuous: longer action or situation Past simple: complete shorter action that happenedduring the longer action.

While I was having dinner, the phone rang.

While I was talking to my brother, Bill came in.

At 8 p.m., when Jack came home, I was reading acartoon book.

What about you?

What were you doing yesterday at 9.15 a.m.?

I was….