PAST SIMPLE: Regular Verbs (Part 1)  

We use the Past Simple to talk about:

• An event that happened at a particular time in the past:

The party was yesterday at 9 pm.

• Something that continued for some time in the past:

We traveled across America for a month.

• Something that happened several times in the past:

We went to the park every weekend.

For regular verbs, just add -ed: Play > played.

There are some exceptions in spelling when adding -ed:

• After a final e, only add d: Love > loved.
• With a final consonant after a short, stressed vowel; double the consonant:Admit > admitted.
• A final y after a consonant becomes i:Hurry > hurried.

Keywords:

• Yesterday or yesterday morning/afternoon...
• Ago (three days ago, a year ago...)
• Last week/month/year...
• In 1990/2008...

Practice:  Go to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S09F5MejfBE. Play the song and fill in the gaps with Past Simple form of the following verbs:

YESTERDAY

by John Lennon

Yesterday, all my troubles ______ so far away

Now it looks as though they're here to stay

Oh, I believe in yesterday

Suddenly, I'm not half the man I ______ to be

There's a shadow hanging over me.

Oh, yesterday ______ suddenly

Why she had* to go I don't know she wouldn't say

I ______ something wrong, now I long for yesterday

Yesterday, love was* such an easy game to play

Now I need a place to hide away

Oh, I believe in yesterday

Why she had to go I don't know she wouldn't say

I ______ something wrong, now I long for yesterday

Yesterday, love was such an easy game to play

Now I need a place to hide away

Oh, I believe in yesterday

Mm mm mm mm mm mm mm

*Had is the past simple form of the irregular verb to have: have - had - had (past participle).

*Was and were are the past simple forms of the irregular verb to be: be - was/were - been(past participle).

We are going to study irregular verbs next month!

Answer key: seemed; used (used to refers to things that happened in the past and no longer happen now); came; said (x 2).

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