Unit 6: Great Achievers: Past Simple

Unit 6: Great achievers
Past simple
We use the past simple when an action or situation happens and finishes in the past. We
usually say or know when it happened.
She called me at the office yesterday.
I worked in London in 2010.
Steve went to the US three times last year.
We often use the past simple in stories, when one thing happens after another in the past.
I stopped working in London and I looked for another job.
Past simple positive

For regular verbs, the past simple ends in -ed. Irregular verbs have a different past form. The
past simple form is the same for all persons (I, you, he, she, etc.)
I finished university in 2010 and I started a job in a bank.
Then he left that job and went to live in Japan.
We lived there for a year.
Past simple negative

We make the negative form with didnt (did not) + infinitive without to.
I didnt like working in a bank.
He didnt go to the US. He went to Japan.
Past simple questions

Past simple wh-word questions are made from question word + did + subject + infinitive.
Where did you go last night?
The question word how is usually combined with other words when asking for information,
such as size, time, or the price of something.
How long did it take to cook dinner?
Past simple yes/no questions are made from did + subject + infinitive without to.
Did you like living in Japan?
What did your children do there?
We can use short answers:

Did you go to Anjalis party last night? Yes, I did. / No, I didnt.
Take note: spelling changes

Some regular verbs end in -ed, but have some spelling changes in the past simple.
stop stopped
travel travelled
marry married
study - studied
Take note: time expressions

We often use the past simple with time expressions like yesterday, last month, six years
ago, when I was a child.
Did you travel a lot when you were young?
He married Sonya three years ago.
Irregular verbs
Infinitive - Past simple - Past participle
fall - fell fallen (Caer, caerse)
feel - felt - felt
get - got - got
go - went - gone/been
have - had had
put - put - put

run - ran - ran
take - took - taken
tell - told - told
hurt - hurt hurt (perjudicar,
hacer dao).
keep - kept kept (guardar,
mantener)
6 Minute Vocabulary
-ing and -ed adjectives
Catherine
In todays programme were going to look at i-n-g and e-d adjectives.
Finn
So if youre interested in vocabulary, but you find some adjectives confusing, keep
listening
Catherine
I must say Finn, youre looking very relaxed today.
Finn
Thats because I was on holiday last week. It was very relaxing. Speaking of holidays, here
are two people who had a bad time on holiday. What went wrong?
Man
The train was horrible. Big gangs of teenagers playing music on their phones I got
very annoyed.
Woman
The flight was delayed and we had ten really boring hours in the airport with nothing to do.
Catherine
the man was annoyed, or angry, about teenagers playing music. And the woman had a long
and boring wait in the airport.
Finn
Now adjectives ending with i-n-g, like boring, usually describe things or events that make us
have a particular feeling.
Catherine
boring describes all those hours and hours in the airport.
Catherine
and there are lots of i-n-g adjectives we can use to describe things or events. We can talk
about a confusing problem, a surprising piece of news or an exciting film with lots of
action. Whats the most exciting film you have ever seen?
Finn
what is your idea of a relaxing holiday?
Catherine
Now lets look at e-d adjectives. We're going to hear from a woman who got a very cheap
holiday.
Catherine
We use e-d adjectives to say how we feel about something. In our example, the
adjective surprised describes
how
the
woman
feels
about
the
price.
We got a great deal. I was surprised at how cheap it was.

Finn
If I say: I get annoyed by loud music, the word annoyed describes my feelings about the
music. The music is annoying, and I feel annoyed.
Catherine
And if I say: long lectures make me bored, the word bored describes my feelings about the
lecture. The lecture is boring, and I feel bored. So, Finn, what makes you bored?
Finn
A long commute is very boring and it makes me feel bored.
Catherine
And a word of warning here: dont confuse bored and boring because if you say Im very
boring, youre actually saying that you make other people feel bored!
Finn
And its time for a quiz. Listen to these sentences and choose whether they need an i-ng or e-d adjective. Catherine will tell you the answers. Ready? Number one: I enjoy taking
long hot baths. They make me feel really a) relaxed or b) relaxing?
Catherine
youre describing your feeling, so its a) relaxed.
Finn
Thats right: they make me relaxed. Number two: The discovery of life on Mars would be
a) surprised or b) surprising?
Catherine
Were talking about a discovery, which is a thing, so its b) surprising.
Finn
And the last one: Those students are very a) annoying or b) annoyed?
Catherine
And this one is a trick question, because both of them are possible: Those students are very
annoying is correct if we are describing the students. But Those students are very
annoyed is what we say if we are talking about the students feelings.
Finn
both are possible. Heres todays top tip for learning vocabulary: i-n-g and e-d adjectives are
easy to confuse, so write down pairs of example sentences in your notebook.
Vocabulary points to take away

Both ing and ed adjectives help us to talk about our feelings.
The main difference is that ing adjectives are usually used to talk about the person,
place or thing that is making us feel a certain way:
Yawn! This lecture is really boring!
But ed adjectives are used to talk about how we feel:
Ive been listening to him for hours Im so bored.
Be careful: If you say I am boring its grammatically correct, but it means that you make
other people feel bored!
Here are some common pairs of -ed and -ing adjectives:
1) exciting and excited
We have seen some exciting developments in technology recently.
We are excited about our new range of smartphones.
2) surprising and surprised
It is surprising how little we know about our oceans.

My whole family was there for my party I was so surprised!
3) annoying and annoyed
I hate popup adverts on the internet theyre annoying!
Im sorry, I know youre annoyed I wont make that mistake again!
4) relaxing and relaxed
Some people find listening to classical music very relaxing.
Doing yoga makes me feel more relaxed.
5) confusing and confused
I couldnt understand the story in that film it was too confusing.
If too many people are talking at the same time, I get confused.
Learn the Language: Past simple
When to use it
We use the past simple tense when an action or situation happens and finishes in the past.
We usually say or know when the past action happened.
Examples
She called me at the office yesterday.
Steve went to the US three times last year.
Usain Bolt won the 100 meters in the 2012 Olympics.
How to make positive past simple sentences

The past tense is made from subject + verb-ed. Irregular verbs have a different past form.
I finished university in 2010 and I started a job in a bank. Then I left that job and went to live
in Japan.
How to make past simple questions

Past simple wh-word questions are made from question word + did + subject +infinitive.
Yes/no questions are made with did + subject + infinitive.
Examples
Where did you go last night?
What did Roald Amundsen do in 1911?
Did JK Rowling write Harry Potter?
Past simple negatives

he didnt score his first goal in a professional team until a year later.
his family didnt see his England debut.
We make the past simple negative with subject + didnt (did not) + infinitive.
Peru did not qualify for the 2014 football World Cup in Brazil.
Last time we didnt win anything.
Danny Murphys family didnt see his England debut.
6 Minute Grammar
Past simple
Finn
The past simple is a tense in English that we use to talk about an event that happened and
finished in the past.
Neil
Jack Dorsey invented Twitter in 2006.
Sophie
we often find the past simple in stories like this:
Neil
The boy started running. Suddenly, he stopped and listened
Finn
And it had three past simple verbs: started, stopped, and listened.
Sophie
and they are all regular verbs. We make the past simple of regular verbs by adding an e
and a d to the infinitive.
Finn
so the past simple of start is started,
Sophie
the past simple of stop is stopped,
Finn
and the past simple of listen is listened
Finn
sometimes the e and d at the end sounds like a t. Stopped.
Sophie
Sometimes it sounds more like id. Started.
Finn
or like a d: Listened
Sophie
irregular verbs are not quite so simple.
Neil
I went to the interview yesterday and got the job!
Kurosawa made some wonderful films.
Finn
So the past simple of go is went.
Sophie
...get is got.
Finn
...and make is made.
Sophie
And Im afraid you just have to learn irregular verbs. There is no one simple rule for them.
Finn
But the good news is that the past simple is the same for all people.
Finn
Sophie, are you hungry?
Sophie I didnt have breakfast this morning.
Finn
You didnt have breakfast! you just put didnt in front of the main verb.
Sophie
Didnt plus the infinitive makes a past simple negative: I didnt have breakfast this
morning.
Finn
So remember: its not I didnt had, its I didnt have breakfast.
Sophie
I didnt have breakfast. I didn't have time!
Finn
Now, lets move on to past simple questions. Heres an example:
Neil
Did you make that cake? Its delicious!
Finn
So in past simple questions its did plus subject plus an infinitive: Did you make? Lets hear
that again - with an answer this time:
Finn
Yes, I did.
Sophie
Or we could say: No, I didnt. For short answers, just drop the verb and use the subject
with did or didnt, so its Yes, I did.
Finn
Or: No, I didnt.
Finn
Now for a quiz. Ill say a sentence in the present simple and you change it to thepast simple.
Here goes: We start work at 10 in the morning. We start work at 10 in the morning.
Sophie
Ok, in the past simple its: We started work at 10 in the morning.
Finn
Number 2. Heres a sentence in the past simple: you have to make it negative. Ready?
Scientists found a cure for the disease. Scientists found a cure for the disease.
Sophie
And the answer is: Scientists didnt find a cure for the disease. We change found to find and
put didnt in front of the verb: Scientists didnt find a cure for the disease.
Finn
And finally, Ill ask a past simple question. Can you give me a short answer.
How to pronounce past simple endings
Today we're going to look at how to say regular verbs in the past simple tense. There are
three ways to do this.
For verbs that end in /t/ or /d/ like want or decide the ending is /Id/. Want - wanted; decide decided.
For verbs that end in /k/ like look, /sh/ like wash, /ch/ watch, /s/ kiss and /p/ stop, the ending is
/t/: so, kiss - kissed; wash - washed; watch - watched.
For most other verbs, the ending is /d/. So, train - trained, love - loved, play - played.
Grammar tip: they & them

When we dont know if the person we are talking about is male or female, we can use the
subject pronoun they instead of he or she, and the object pronoun them instead of him or
her.
When you speak to the receptionist, they will ask you for your booking printout. Give
this letter to them.

Unit 6: Great Achievers: Past Simple

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Unit 6: Great achievers

Past simple positive

Past simple negative

Past simple questions

We can use short answers:

Take note: spelling changes

Take note: time expressions

put - put - put

We got a great deal. I was surprised at how cheap it was.

Vocabulary points to take away

It is surprising how little we know about our oceans.

Learn the Language: Past simple

How to make positive past simple sentences

How to make past simple questions

Past simple negatives

How to pronounce past simple endings

Grammar tip: they & them

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