The document provides information about the simple past tense in English. It discusses using regular and irregular verbs in the past tense. It also covers forming negative and yes/no questions in the past tense. The document uses examples from the life of Wangari Maathai, a Kenyan environmentalist and Nobel Peace Prize laureate, to illustrate using the simple past tense. It provides exercises for learners to practice forming sentences and questions in the past tense.

1. The Simple Past:
8 Regular and Irregular
Verbs
The Life of Wangari
Maathai
Focus on Grammar 1
Part VII, Units 21 & 22
By Ruth Luman, Gabriele Steiner, and BJ Wells
Copyright © 2006. Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

2. The Life of Wangari Maathai
4:
1 966: in -200 llion
1976 0 mi
1960- school 3
o nted Kenya
w ent t U.S. pla s in
the tree
Past Now
: 2004:
:
1940 rn 1971 .D. bel
o taP e
h wo n the No
as b a go ze
w y h
om t y of P eace Pri
in Ken fr it
ivers i
Un irob
Na

3. The Simple Past
Use the simple past to talk about an event
that happened in the past.
Now
:
1971 . from
a Ph.D ity of
Got nivers
the U airobi
N

4. Regular Verbs
Regular verbs in the simple past end in -ed. If the base form
ends in -e, add only –d. If the base form ends in -y after a
consonant, change the y to i and add -ed.
She moved back to Kenya.
She planted trees.
She studied biology.

5. Verb Forms
Use the same verb form for all persons.
I
you
he studied
she worked
it lived
we
they

6. Negative 1
Use did not + the base form of the verb for
negative statements in the simple past.
Base Form
Verb
He did not have a lot of money.
Base Form
Verb
She didn’t go to school in England.

7. Time Expressions
Time expressions come at the beginning or at
the end of a sentence.
Last week, she traveled to Norway.
Her parents visited the capital city a year ago.
This morning, we listened to the news about her award.

8. Tell a partner about the things
Practice 1 you did or didn’t do at the times
listed. Use the words in the box.
1. last weekend
Last weekend, I
2. two days ago watched TV. I
3. this morning didn’t study English.
4. last night
5. last year
cook watch visit listen
study work clean travel
play exercise fix stay

9. Irregular Verbs
Irregular verbs have different forms in the
simple past.
win
Wangari won many awards for her work.
teach
She taught at several universities.

10. Negative 2
Be careful! Don’t use did or didn’t with the past
tense form of the verb.
Regular Verbs Irregular Verbs
She didn’t planted trees She didn’t went to England in 1966.
in the U.S.
She didn’t plant trees inShe didn’t go to England in 1966.
the U.S.
She planted trees in Kenya. went back to Kenya in 1966.
She

11. Work with a partner. Describe your
Practice 2 life to your partner. Use the simple
past and these verbs.
1. be born  was born
2. grow up  grew up
3. begin college  began college
4. fall in love  fell in love
5. go to school  went to school
6. leave home  left home
7. come to this city  came to this city
8. choose a major  chose a major

12. Yes / No Questions
To make a yes / no question in the simple past, use
did + the subject + the base form of the verb.
Base Other
Did Subject
Form Verb Words
Did she finish college?
her
Did parents help her?

13. Short Answers
You can use did or didn’t in the short answer
in the simple past tense.
Did Wangari return to Kenya?
Yes, she did.
Did she plant trees in the U.S.?
No, she didn’t.

14. Work with a partner. Practice
Practice 3 asking and answering questions
about the past. Use did and time
expressions.
Example: pass the exam / last week
Yes, I did. Did you pass the
OR exam last week?
No, I didn’t
1) watch TV / last night 3) do your homework / yesterday
2) eat breakfast / this morning 4) go shopping / last month

15. References
Copyright © 2006 Pearson Education and its
licensors. All rights reserved.
Photo Credit:
The Green Belt Movement