Unit 11 Simple past(I did)

a.Study this example:

• I enjoyed the party very much.
  

• Mr. Brown died ten years ago.
  

• When I lived in Athens, I worked in a bank.
  
  

b. Very often the simple past ends in -ed:

• We invited them to our party, but they decided not to come.
  
• The police stopped me on my way home last night.
  
• She passed her exam because she studied very hard.

For spelling rules see Appendix 3.

But many important verbs are irregular. This means that the simple past does not end in -ed:

leave -> left      We all left the party at 11:00.

go -> went         Last month I went to Rome to see a friend of mine.

cost -> cost         This house cost $75,000 in 1980.

The past of the verb be(am /is/ are) is was/were:

For a list of irregular verbs see Appendix 2.

c. In simple past questions and negatives we use did/didn't + the base form (do/open, etc.):

• Ann : Did you go out last night, Tom?
  

  Tom: Yes, I went to the movies. But I didn't enjoy it.

• When did Mrs. Johnson die?
• What did you do over the weekend?
• We didn't invite her to the party, so she didn't come.
• Why didn't you call me on Tuesday?

Note that we normally use did/didn't with have:

• Did you have time to write the letter?
• I didn't have enough money to buy anything to eat.
  

But we do not use did with the verb be(was/were):

• Why were you so angry?
• Was Mark at work yesterday?
  
• They weren't able to come because they were very busy.
  

For the simple past see also Units 12, 19, and 20.

UNIT 11 Exercises

11.1 Read a sentence about the present and then write a sentence about the past.

Example: Carol usually gets up at 7:30. Yesterday she got up at 7:30.

1. Carol usually wakes up early. Yesterday morning she waked up early.
   
2. Carol usually walks to work. Yesterday she walked to work.
   
3. Carol is usually late for work. Yesterday she was late for work.
   
4. Carol usually has a sandwich for lunch. Yesterday she had a sandwich for lunch.
5. Carol usually goes out in the evening. Yesterday evening she went out in the evening.
6. Carol usually sleeps very well. Last night she slept very well.

11.2 Put one of these verbs in each sentence:

hurt         teach         spend         sell         throw         fall         catch         buy         cost

Example : I was hungry, so I bought something to eat at the store.

1. Tom's father teached him how to drive when he was 17.
   
2. Don fell down the stairs this morning and hurt his leg.
   
3. We needed some money, so we sold our car.
4. Ann spent a lot of money yesterday. She bought a dress that costed $80.
5. Jim catched the ball to Sue, who threw it.
   

11.3 Write questions. A friend has just come back from vacation and you are asking about it.

Example: where / go? Where did you go?

food / good? Was the food good?

1. how long / stay there? How long did you stay there?
   
2. stay in a hotel? Did you stay in a hotel?
   
3. go alone? Did you go alone
4. how / travel? How did you travel?
   
5. the weather / nice? Was the weather nice?
6. what / do in the evenings? What did you do in the evenings?

7. meet any interesting people? Did you meet any interesting people?

11.4 Put the verb into the correct form. Use the simple past.

Example: I didn't go (not / go) to work yesterday because I wasn't (not / be) well.

1. Tom didn't shave (not / shave) this morning because he didn't have (not / have) time.

2. We didn't eat (not / eat) anything because we weren't hungry.

3. I didn't rush (not / rush) because I wasn't (not / be) in a hurry.
4. She wasn't (not / be) interested in the book because she didn't understand (not / understand) it.
   

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