1. Past Simple There are two types of verbs: regular and irregular
Over 2,000 years ago, Shi Huangdi
completed the Great Wall of China
Stonehenge is about 4,800 years old
But nobody knows who built it.

2. Regular verb forms Add -ed for all persons play played listen listened
work worked
After verbs ending in-e add -d
live lived
hope hoped

3. Spelling
Doubling:
One vowel + one consonant → double consonant + ed stop → stopped
Two vowels → don’t double → seem → seemed
Two consonants → don’t double → want → wanted
Only double in stressed syllables → preFER → preferred
WONder→ wondered

4. Spelling Verbs ending in –y
vowel (a, e, o) + y → -yed play → played enjoy → enjoyed
consonant (d, l, r, etc) +y → ied try → tried reply → replied
Practice:
Write the past tense of the following verbs:
shop …… visit….. study….help….. answer…… develop…..comply….
refer….. cry…..annoy…..live……watch…..stay……like…..refer…..

5. Spelling check
shop shopped …. visit visited …... study studied …..help helped
answer answered ….. develop developed …..comply complied
refer referred …. cry cried …..annoy annoyed …..live lived…..
watch watched ……stay stayed …..like liked …..refer referred

6. irregular verbs
There are lots of irregular verbs which you have to learn one by one.
Verb TO BE
I you
he we
she was they were
it you
Top 10 irregular verbs – the most common verbs. Learn these immediately!!!
to be, to have, to do, to go, to say, to see, to take to get,
plus the auxiliary verbs can and will.

7. learning irregular verbs
memorise
be – was, were
have – had
do – did
go – went
say – said
see – saw
take – took
get – got
can – could
will - would
Listen and repeat
watch and listen to this video
if that one seems boring, try this one:
Do grammar exercises
Do exercises in grammar
manual and extra exercises
posted on Moodle.

8. simple past forms: negative
Negative sentences with the verb to be.
Was/were + not
I was not (wasn’t) at work yesterday.
They were not (weren’t) in the office at 6:00.
Negatives with with all other verbs use did not/ didn’t + infinitive (without to)
The meeting started early. The meeting didn’t start early.
John went to Rome. John didn’t go to Rome.

9. simple past forms: interrogative
Verb to be
Was/ were + subject + rest of sentence
Was Ms. Brown in the office yesterday?
Were the goods delivered on time?
All other verbs
Did + subject + main verb + rest of sentence
Did you answer Ms. Brown’s ?
Yes, I did. or No, I didn’t

10. content questions Questinos that ask
who, what, where, why, when, how, how much, how many
Remember to use the acronym: Q A S I
question word + auxiliary + subject + infinitive (main verb without ‘to’)
What did you learn at the seminar?
How did you get to Milan?
How much did it cost?
How many pieces did they order?