Lessons ~ Grammar

watched/went/arrived etc. (past simple)

A

He plays tennis every Saturday. (present simple)

He played tennis last Saturday. (past simple)

played is the past simple

B

There are two types of verbs in English - regular verbs and irregular verbs.

In the past simple, regular verbs end in -ed. For example:

• I watch TV every day. I watched TV yesterday.

• Katie worked in Barcelona in 1996.

• We loved the film. It was fantastic.

• They really enjoyed their holiday in Paris. They visited the Eiffel Tower.

• The conference started at 9 am and finished at midday.

Spelling !

Some regular verbs ending in consonant + 'y' (~dy, ~py, ~ry...) change the 'y' to 'i' and then add 'ed' in the past simple.

study è studied          copy è copied          fry è fried

cry è cried          try è tried

Some short regular verbs ending in vowel + consonant (~op, ~an, ~i...) double the consonant and add 'ed'.

plan è planned          tin è tinned          stop è stopped

pet è petted          gut è gutted

C

In English, some verbs are irregular. In the past simple, irregular verbs do not end in ~ed.

Here are some of the most important irregular verbs in English:
 

• Peter went to Australia and met a lot of kangaroos!

• She gave me a kiss and I sang a song.

• I got up early today, ate two croissants and drank some coffee.

• My mother bought me a new book and I read it in two days!

• Maggie lost her glasses last week but I found them for her.

Exercises

1.1

Type the verbs, in the past simple, into the gaps.

1.2

Write the past simple form of these irregular verbs:

O             P             T             I             M             I             S             E