IN 242 HANDOUT 1

The Simple Past

The simple past tense

This page will present the simple past tense:

its form
and its use.

Before you continue the lesson read the following passage and try to see how the

verbs are formed and used.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was an Austrian musician

and composer. He lived from 1756 to 1791. He started
composing at the age of five years old and wrote more
than 600 pieces of music. He was only 35 years old when
he died.

The verbs "was, lived,started, wrote, died" are in the

simple past tense.

Notice that:

lived, started,died are regular past forms.

was, wrote are irregular past forms.

Regular verbs:

The verbs "lived, started, died" are regular past forms. The rule is the following:

Verb + ed
Examples:

The infinitive The simple past

live lived
start started
die died
visit visited
play played
watch watched
phone phoned
marry married

Irregular verbs:

The verbs "was, wrote" are irregular past forms. "Was" is the simple past of "to

be"; "wrote" is the simple past of "write".

There is no rule for these verbs. You should learn them by heart.

The infinitive The simple past

be was/were
write wrote
come came
do did
meet met
speak spoke

As you can see we cannot predict the simple past forms of these verbs. They are

Irregular. You should learn them by heart.

The forms of the simple past:

The Affirmative form of the simple past:

I, you, he, she, it, we, they played.

wrote
did.

Examples:

I played tennis with my friends yesterday.

I finished lunch and I did my homework.

The interrogative form of the simple past:

Did I, you, he, she, it, we, they Play?

write
do?

Examples:

Did you play basketball yesterday?

Did you watch television?
Did you do the homework?

The negative form of the simple past:

I, you, he, she, it, we, they did not/didn't play

write
do

I didn't like the food in the wedding last Saturday.

I didn't eat it.

Remember:

didn't is the short form of did not. You can say either:

I did not play basketball, or

 I didn't play basketball.

Put the verbs into the simple past:

Last year I (go) --------------------------------- to England on holiday.

1. It (be) _-------------------------------------_ fantastic.

2. I (visit) ------------------------------- lots of interesting places. I (be)
________________________ with two friends of mine .
3. In the mornings we (walk) ____________________ in the streets of
London.
4. In the evenings we (go) -___________________________ to pubs.
5. The weather (be) ______________________________- strangely fine.
6. It (not / rain) -______________________ a lot.
7. But we (see) ____-_________________ some beautiful rainbows.
8. Where (spend / you) ---------------------------------- your last holiday?

II. Write the past forms of the irregular verbs.

Infinitive Simple Past

1. meet .

2. drive .

3. speak .

4. put .

5. write .

6. sing .

7. do .

8. sit .

9. stand .

10. run .

III. Complete the table in simple past.

 Affirmative Negative Interrogative
He wrote a book.

He did not sing

Was she pretty?

IV. Write sentences in simple past.

1. Janet / miss / the bus -----------------------------------------------------------------

2. she / tidy / her room ------------------------------------------------------------------
3. Nancy / watch / not / television -------------------------------------------------------
4. she / read / a book ---------------------------------------------------------------------

V. Choose "Was or "Were:

1. The teacher ------------------------------------------- nice.

2. The students ------------------------------- very clever.
3. But one student ---------------------------- in trouble.
4. We --------------------------- sorry for him.
5. He ----------------------------------- nice though.

VI. Exercise on Simple Past. Exercise on negative sentences

Rewrite the sentences in the negative.

1. They collected postcards. -------------------------------------------------------------------

2. You jumped high. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
3. Albert played squash. ------------------------------------------------------------------------
4. The teacher tested our English. ------------------------------------------------------------
5. Fiona visited her grandma. -----------------------------------------------------------------
6. He washed the car. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
7. You were thirsty. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
8. He had a computer. --------------------------------------------------------------------------
9. I bought bread. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

10. You saw the house. --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sally, Ruth, Tom, Mary, Susan

bread, tea, coffee, milk, juice

airplane, bird, rocket, cat, jet

shirt, bag, pants, tie, hat

Which Word Is Different?

6. Which one is different?

Italy

Argentina

Bolivia

Peru

7. Which one is different?

mirror

stereo
 newspaper

book

8. Which one is different?

rain

sunshine

farm

cloudy

Count Nouns
Noun Plural
apple apples
car cars
music No plural form
furniture No plural form

Count Nouns
Typically, count nouns refer to things that you can easily count.

bananas
boats
 bottles
cars
countries
houses
pencils
ships
sticks
students

Noncount Nouns
Noncount nouns refer to things that by their nature are not easily countable. Often
they are things in liquid or mass form or abstract ideas.

sand
beauty
butter
electricity
honesty
music
sand
satisfaction
truth
water

Other Noncount Nouns

Other noncount nouns are not as easy to determine and can lead to confusion.

advice
behavior
bread
chaos
clothing
dirt
 equipment
food
fruit
furniture
grammar
homework
housework
information
jewelry
luck
luggage
mail
money
music
news
permission
progress
scenery
slang
stuff
traffic
vocabulary
weather
work

Nouns That Can Be Both Count and

Noncount
Some nouns can be both count and noncount nouns. Usually there is a difference
in meaning.

John has some chickens on his farm. (the whole birds)

Mary ate some chicken for dinner (the stuff you eat)
John has a fish in his aquarium. (the whole fish)
Mary had some fish for lunch. (the stuff you eat)
 There are two hairs in my soup. (two individual hairs)
Your hair is pretty. (all of the hair on your head)

Test your knowledge

Directions: The phrase a lot of is used before noncount nouns and plural count
nouns. Choose the best answer to fill in the blank. (10 problems)

Much and Many

We use much with noncount nouns and many with count nouns.

Many cars are equipped with GPS systems.

I ate too many apples.
How many trees did you plant this weekend?
I don't know how many girls there are at our school.
I don't have much money.
Our teacher gives us too much homework.
How much sugar do we have?
I don't know how much water I drank.

A lot of
We use a lot of with noncount nouns and plural count nouns.

I ate a lot of apples.

A lot of people like to swim at night.
That dog has a lot of fleas.
Mary bought a lot of furniture.
The man gave us a lot of advice.
Our teacher gave us a lot of homework.

Practice 2

Complete the Paragraph

 1. Select the response from the list that best completes the
sentence.

2. Compare your response to the feedback by clicking the "check

11-22" button at the bottom.

2. Common Nouns: Countable or Uncountable?

Choose A , B, C or D.

uncountable.gifwater, hair, love

Some things are sometimes considered to be

countable and sometimes not, depending on the situation.

For example:

"Cheese is made from milk."

but

"There are a lot of different French cheeses."

Here's a short list.

Show questions one by one

People who ride .......................... don't often eat .......................... .

? horse horse

? horse horses

? horses horse

? horses horses

You've got some .......................... on your face.

? egg

? eggs

The young woman had beautiful .......................... , but her father was
almost bald - he had only a few white .......................... left on his
head.

? hair hair

? hairs hair

? hair hairs

? hairs hairs

If you do your .......................... you can watch .......................... .

? homework television

? homework televisions

? homeworks television

? homeworks televisions

How many .......................... do you speak?

? language

? languages
If you ask me what distinguishes human beings from animals, I would
say, .......................... .

? language

? languages

For the picnic, my girlfriend and I took some .......................... ,

.......................... , .......................... and .......................... .

? chicken, fruit, bread and egg

? chicken, fruit, bread and eggs

? chickens, fruits, breads and eggs

? chicken, fruits, bread and eggs

The factory was full of the most modern .......................... and

.......................... .

? tool equipment

? tool equipments

? tools equipment

? tools equipments

When I'm in a foreign country, I prefer to carry traveller's

.......................... rather than .......................... .

? cheque cash

? cheque cashes

? cheques cash

? cheques cashes

Before he left home, his mother gave him some good ..........................
.

? advice

? advices
Sometimes he's aggressive, sometimes he flatters, sometimes he is
silent; I don't like his .......................... .

? behaviour

? behaviours

The .......................... he took required a great deal of ..........................

.

? decision courage

? decisions courage

? decisions courages

? decision courages

I had a lot of .......................... in deciding where to go.

? difficulty

? difficulties

The employees' .......................... and .......................... were defined in

the agreement.

? right duty

? rights duty

? right duties

? rights duties

The social worker said that in her .......................... by the age of 20

most young people had had several sexual .......................... .

? experience experience

? experience experiences

? experiences experience

? experiences experiences
The .......................... of these countries is made up of the tragic
.......................... of many individuals.

? history history

? history histories

? histories history

? histories histories

We listened to the .......................... on the radio but we didn't get any

.......................... about the military coup.

? new informations

? new informations

? news information

? news informations

When I'm driving I don't have time to really appreciate the

.......................... .

? scenery

? sceneries

The play is divided into a number of .......................... .

? scene

? scenes

Sorry I'm late. It's because of the .......................... .

? traffic

? traffics

In the country the .......................... is better than in town.

? air

? airs
He can play some of the old country .......................... .

? air

? airs

Vittel, Vichy and Perrier are the names of some French mineral
.......................... .

? water

? waters

Do you drink a lot of .......................... ?

? water

? waters

Did you have good .......................... on your holiday?

? weather

? weathers

The Circus: Superlatives and

Comparatives
Read through the text about a circus, then answer the questions below.

The Rodriguez Brothers Circus is in town! Every year, the circus

arrives and stays for a week. Then they go to the next town.

There are not many animals in the circus. People told the circus
that they didn't like seeing animals performing. There is an
elephant called Jacob and two old lions, Hattie and Meg.
Most of the performers are human! There is Leopold, The
Strongest Man In The World. His father also worked in the circus,
but Leopold is stronger than him, he has bigger arms and bigger
legs too! Leopold performs his act every night for the town's
people who come to watch.

Another performer is Clara. She says she has the longest hair in
the world. It's about 4 metres long! She also has a daughter who
works in the circus. Her name is Sue-Ellen. Her hair is a lot
shorter, but she wants to grow it as long as her mother's. Sue-
Ellen helps look after the animals and she's also learning how to
juggle.

The highlight of the circus are the three clowns, Pit, Pot and Pat.
They all wear long red shoes, but Pat's shoes are the longest and
sometimes, he falls over because they're so long! They perform for
about twenty minutes and they are always the most popular act
with the audience, especially the children. Many people think Pit,
Pot and Pat are three brothers, but Pat is older than the other two
- he's their father! He's the oldest clown in the country, but he has
a lot of energy.

Tomorrow will be the longest day because the circus is leaving

town and everything must be packed away into big trucks.

1. The circus comes to the town twice a year.

True
False
2. There are not many animals in the circus.
True
False

3. People don't come to the circus because of the animals.

True
False

4. Leopold and his father work in the circus together.

True
False

5. Leopold's father is the strongest.

True
False

6. Clara's hair is longer than her daughter's hair.

True
False

7. Sue-Ellen wants to be a clown in the circus.

True
False

8. Pit is the father of the other two clowns.

True
False

9. The three clowns wear identical shoes.

True
False
10. Everyone is very tired on the day that the circus leaves town.
True
False

VIII. Ago and past tense. Put in order.

1. ago. Karen me five days phoned

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2. ago. to years the United We three went States

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3. hour I football friends my played with one ago.

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4. sister my I a weeks bought present ago. for two

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5.two months Paul book this read ago.

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6. His mobile three ago. days brother bought phone a new
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7. I learnt lesson hours my ago. history two
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8. ago. one painted We week the walls
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9. time cinema went to ago. the I a long
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10. her minutes Mary saw ago. thirty sister

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VIII. Ago and past tense. Put in order.

1. ago. Karen me five days phoned

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2. ago. to years the United We three went States

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3. hour I football friends my played with one ago.

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4. sister my I a weeks bought present ago. for two

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5.two months Paul book this read ago.

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10. His mobile three ago. days brother bought phone a new
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11. I learnt lesson hours my ago. history two
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12. ago. one painted We week the walls
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13. time cinema went to ago. the I a long
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10. her minutes Mary saw ago. thirty sister

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IX. Like or would like?

Complete the sentences.

1. I ------------------------------------ to have a car.

w ould like I * to have a car.
2. I --------------------------------- lions and
tigers very much.
like I * lions ans tigers
3. She ----------------------------- playing
tennis.
likes She * playing tenn
4. I-------------------------------- to eat a pizza
tonight.
w ould like I * to eat a pizza t
5. They --------------------- to buy a house
but they haven't got enough money.
w ould like They * to buy a h
6. My mother ------------------- a new dress
to go to Paul's birthday.
w ould like My mother * a new
7. I don't --------------------------- your tee-
shirt, it's awful.
like I don't * your tee-
8. My son ---------------------------- a video
game for his birthday.
w ould like My son * a video
9. Mike ----------------------------- children
very much.
likes Mike * children ve
10. Ann ---------------------------------------------
- to work for this company.

1. We move to a new house.

2. They bring a sandwich.
3. He doesn't do the homework.
4. They sell cars.
5. Does he visit his friends?

Exercise on Simple Past

Tom's Day Yesterday
Tom _______ very early yesterday morning and _____ a bath. Then he ____
down to the kitchen and ______ two pieces of toast and _____ a glass of milk.
Tom works in the local hospital and, yesterday he ____ the house at about 8
o'clock.

He _______ the number ten bus and he ______ at work at 8.30. He _____
'good morning' to his secretary, Maura, and then he _______ all the letters
that were on his table. Then he ______ Maura for a cup of coffee and he
_____ four very important letters.

At one o'clock, Tom ______ for lunch in a caf and _______ his newspaper. He
_________ to the office at two o'clock and ________ at six. He __________
the bus because a friend ________ him in the car.

In the evening, he _______ in the local swimming pool and _______ shopping
in the local supermarket where he _______ a lot of food. He _____ very tired
in the evening so he _______ television. He _______ to bed at 11 o'clock and
he ________ about winning the lottery.

What are countable nouns?

Countable nouns are individual objects, people, places, etc.

which can be counted.

books, Italians, pictures, stations, men, etc.

A countable noun can be both singular - a friend, a house, etc. -

or plural - a few apples, lots of trees, etc.
Use the singular form of the verb with a singular countable
noun:

There is a book on the table.

That student is excellent!

Use the plural form of the verb with a countable noun in the
plural:

There are some students in the classroom.

Those houses are very big, aren't they?

What are uncountable nouns?

Uncountable nouns are materials, concepts, information, etc.

which are not individual objects and can not be counted.

information, water, understanding, wood, cheese, etc.

Uncountable nouns are always singular. Use the singular form of

the verb with uncountable nouns:

There is some water in that pitcher.

That is the equipment we use for the project.

Adjectives with Countable and Uncountable Nouns.

Use a/an with countable nouns preceded by an adjective(s):

Tom is a very intelligent young man.

I have a beautiful grey cat.

Do not use a/an with uncountable nouns preceded by an

adjective(s):
That is very useful information.

There is some cold beer in the fridge.

Some uncountable nouns in English are countable in other

languages. This can be confusing! Here is a list of some of the
most common, easy to confuse uncountable nouns.

accommodation

advice

baggage

bread

equipment

furniture

garbage

information

knowledge

luggage

money

news

pasta

progress

research
travel

work

Count/Noncount Nouns

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Special Instructions:

After answering *all* the questions, press the 'submit' button,

and your answers will be automatically checked in seconds.
Have fun while you learn!

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1. __________ students are in the class?

How many of

How many

2. I don't have __________ about the Internet.

much knowledge

many knowledge
3. Can you give me __________ information?

a little

a few

4. Wow, what a large __________ of money!

number

amount

5. __________ time do you have?

How many

How much

6. I need _______ things for my new house.

a few

a little
7. I like to take __________ photos.

much

many

8. Dave wants to have __________ children.

much

many

much or many in Questions - Exercise 4

Explanation: much or many

Use much or many from the dropdown menu. Mind

countable and uncountable nouns.
Example: How _____ books do we have read at school this year?

Answer: How many books do we have read at school this year?

Toggle example

1) How many much players are in a handball team?

2) How many much pocket money do you get per week?

3) How many much time is left?

4) How many much sisters does Ella have?

5) How many much coins did you find yesterday?

6) How many much water is in this bottle?

7) How many much crosswords did she solve correctly?

8) How many much milk do they have for breakfast?

9) How many much bikes were stolen last year?

10) How many much coffee do your parents drink per day?
some, any in sentences - Exercise 1

Explanation: some, any

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Exercises on some / any

default 0

Exercise 1

Any/Some

Type any or some in the boxes below.

1. We don't have milk.

2. I bought hamburgers for dinner.

3. They have videos in that shop.

4. She doesn't want beer.

5. He would like peanuts.

6. Can I have apples, please.

7. I haven't got money.

8. They're doing an exam. Don't make noise.

9. He has stamps for our letters.

10. She tried on new shoes yesterday.

Exercise on much and many

Exercise 4

Decide whether you have to use much or many.

1.There is too muchmany water in the bath tub.

2.How muchmany brothers and sisters has Anne got?

3.I don't receive muchmany letters nowadays.

4.How muchmany rice do you eat per week?

5.I put too muchmany salt in the soup.

6.How muchmany people were at the party?

7.It doesn't make muchmany sense.

8.There wasn't muchmany traffic on the motorway.

9.My grandfather does not have muchmany hair, anymore.

10.How muchmany plates do we need?

1) Write past simple forms of the following verbs:

write listen recognize swim break bring catch

1.

2. cry think hear fly want buy disappear

write

3.

2) Complete the sentences with Past Simple forms of the verbs in

brackets:

Dad a new car yesterday. (buy)

She a letter to her pen friend yesterday evening. (write)

I my arm two weeks ago. (break)

4. She very happy because she her examinations. (be)

(pass)

5. We in New York in 2008. (live)

6. Emma long hair when she young. (have) (be)

7. We outside the post office in Oxford Street. (meet)

8. We very early yesterday. (wake up)

Words and Meanings/ Choose the correct word.

quiet

author

adults

alone

interview

dreams

all over the world

1. Good things happened to Joanne.All her came true.

2. J.K.Rowling is an . She writes books.

3. Joanne was not a noisy child. She was .

4. Joanne lived .She didn't live with another person.

5. Joanne had a meeting about a new job. She had an .

6. People of all ages like Harry Potter: children and .

7. Harry Potter is famous in every country.

 It is famous .

Opposites/ Find the words in the text that are opposite in

meaning to:.

1. sad

2. poor

3. large

4. together

5. hate

6. begin

7. easy

8. same

9. noisy

10. right

Synonyms/ Find the words in the text that are synonyms in

meaning to:.

1. flat

2. kids

3. writer
4. shop

5. occupation

6. glad

7. no one

Comprehension/ True or False?:.

1. Joanne was an English teacher in Portugal.

2. Joanne married an English man in Portugal.

3. Joanne left her daughter in Portugal.

4. Joanne finished writing the first Harry Potter book after five
years.

5. Every publisher liked the book.

6. Harry Potter is in twenty-four languages.

Comprehension/ Choose the correct question word:.

1. did she finish the Exeter University? ....in 1987.

2. was J.K. Rowling happy? ....because her dream

came true.

3. is J.K. Rowling ? ....a famous writer

4. did she find a job in Portugal? ....she read a

newspaper

5. did she start writing her first book? ....in the coffee shop
cafe
 6. books were sold in 1999? ....over 100 million books

Rewrite the sentences and put the capital letters where

necessary :.

1. the name of the boy is harry potter.

2. johanne rowling lived in scotland.

3. you can read harry potter in german.

4. she was in united states in september.

5. joanne married a portuguese man.

6. today is saturday.

7. she lived near bristol in england.

Change the following into NEGATIVE sentences:

1. Karilis applied for a new job.

2. Alexis and Steven studied for the test.

3. Johanna cried becasue she was ill.

4. Jonathan and Gryselle were absent.

5. Melissa was here.

6. Moises and Carmen made themselves dinner.

7. You and David got a good mark on the quiz.

8. Celi and Gladys ate at Mc Donald's.

9. Kathyana and Michael went to the movies.

10. Lizbet and Yamilett did their work.

11. Alishka was scared.

12. Jordan and his family enjoyed the trip.

13. Marie and Vane began to cook for all of you.

Fill in all the gaps Look at what Mary did last week. Write
sentences using past simple with ago

Today is Monday.

Monday- football in the park // Tuesday - film // Wednesday -

karate lesson // Thursday - Science Museum // Friday -
skateboarding.

1. play football in the park : She .

2. have a karate lesson : She .

3. see a film: She .

4. go skateboarding: She .

5. visit the Science Museum: She .