THE SIMPLE PAST TENSE

We use simple past tense to talk about actions that were completed / finished in the past.

How to form a sentence

I studied last night. I didn’t watch TV or play video games. Did you also study?
She washed the dishes, but she didn’t wipe the kitchen counter.
Did your father work as a biology teacher?
In English, there are two types of verbs: regular and irregular.

Now go to the website below and do the spelling exercise:

https://agendaweb.org/exercises/verbs/past-simple-regular

What did you do last weekend?

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Match the people with the sentences and fill in the blanks with the past form of the verbs in
the brackets.

1. Roald a) __________ (win) seven Formula

Amundsen One World Championships.

2. George b) ___________ (study) the social and family

Washington interactions of wild chimpanzees in Tanzania
for 60 years.

3. Alexander c) ___________ (serve) as the first president of

Fleming the United States from 1789 to 1797.

4. Michael d) ____________ (receive) Nobel Prize in

Schumacher chemistry twice, in 1903 and 1911.

5. Jane e) __________ (die) of alcohol poisoning on

Goodal 23 July 2011, at the age of 27
l

6. Mary Shelley f) ____________ (work) with Thomas Edison

for a year, and impressed him with his
intelligence and diligence.

7. Marie Curie g) _____________ (lead) the first expedition to

the South Pole in 1911.

8. Nikola Tesla h) _____________ (have) an important

influence on both feminist
existentialism and theory.

9. Simone i) ____________ (write) the famous Gothic

de novel, Frankenstein.
Beauvoi
r

10. Amy j) ____________ (discover) penicillin in 1928.

Winehou
se

Read the text about Jane Goodall and fill in the blanks with the simple past forms of the verbs.
Jane Goodall is a famous primatologist and anthropologist. She was born on April 3, 1934 in London,
England. Her father (1) ________________ (be) a businessman and her mother an author. In her
childhood, Jane (2) ________________ (love) animals. She (3) ________________ (dream) of going
to Africa and seeing some of her favorite animals in the wild. Jane (4) ________________ (spend) her
late teens and early twenties saving money to go to Africa. She (5) ________________ (work) as a
secretary and a waitress. When she was 23, Jane finally (6) ________________ (have) enough money to
visit a friend in Kenya. Jane (7) ________________ (fall) in love with Africa and (8)
________________ (decide) to stay. She (9) ________________ (meet) British archaeologist Louis
Leakey, and Leakey (10) ________________ (offer) her a job studying chimpanzees. Jane was so
excited. She (11) ________________ (move) to the Gombe Stream National Park in Tanzania and (12)
________________ (begin) to observe the Chimpanzees.
When Jane (13) ________________ (start) studying chimpanzees in 1960, she (14) ________________
(have) any formal training or education, but she was very good at observing and recording the chimps’
actions and behaviors. Jane (15) ________________ (stay) in Tanzania for 40 years and (16)
________________ (discover) many new and interesting things about these mammals. She (17)
________________ (give) each chimp a name. Jane (18) ________________ (learn) a lot about
chimpanzees and (19) ________________ (make) some important discoveries. Over time, Jane's
relationship (20) ________________ (grow) closer and closer to the chimpanzees. For nearly two years,
she (21) ________________ (live) as a member of a chimpanzee group. When a male chimp called
Frodo (22) ________________ (become) the leader of the group, he (23) ________________ (kick) out
Jane because he (24) ________________ (like) her.

Jane (25) ________________ (write) several articles and books about her experiences with
chimpanzees, such as In the Shadow of Man, The Chimpanzees of Gombe, and 40 Years at Gombe. Jane
(26) ________________ (win) many awards for her environmental work including the J. Paul Getty
Wildlife Conservations Prize, the Living Legacy Award, Disney's Eco Hero Award, and the Benjamin
Franklin Medal in Life Science. She (27) ________________ (establish) the Jane Goodall Institute in
1977.
TENSE REVIEW - Fill in each blank with the correct form of the verb.
I (1) ____________________ (reply / always) my work-emails after dinner, but yesterday there (2)
____________________ (be) a power-cut, so I (3) ____________________ (have) wi-fi, and I couldn’t
reply them.
***
Every Saturday, we (3) ____________________ (invite) our friends for dinner. Last night our friends
(4) ____________________ (come) over as usual, so we (5) ____________________ (go) to bed quite
late. Now we (6a) ____________________ (wash) the dishes and (6b) ____________________ (tidy)
up the flat.
***
My mother-in-law (7) ____________________ (visit) us two months ago. She (8)
_________________ (stay) for three weeks. And now she (9) ____________________ (want) to visit
again!
***
Yesterday I (10) ____________________ (wake) up later than usual, so I (11) ____________________
(have) time for breakfast. I (12) ____________________ (drink / even) coffee. I (13a)
________________ (have) a shower, (13b) ____________________ (get) dressed and (13c)
____________________ (leave) for work quickly. Because I (14) ____________________ (miss) the
bus, I (15a) ____________________ (take) a taxi and (15b) ____________________ (pay) a lot of
money. I (16) ____________________ (arrive) at the office half an hour late, so I (17)
____________________ (run) up the stairs two at a time. There (18) ____________________ (be) no
one in the office except for the cleaning lady. She (19) ____________________ (say) “It’s Sunday.
What (20) _________ you _____________ (do) here?”
***
In the past, kings (21) ____________________ (collect) high amount of taxes from people, but they
(22) ____________________ (spend) this money on their people’s welfare. Instead, they (23)
____________________ (build) huge palaces for themselves, (24) ____________________ (give)
some of it to their relatives and friends, and (25) ____________________ (buy) expensive things. In
today’s modern democratic countries, people (26) ____________________ (pay / also) tax, but the
state (27) ____________________ (use) this money for people’s needs. For example, now the UK
government (28) ____________________ (pay) 80% of people’s wages in the second lockdown.
***
A- Where (29) ______ you __________ (go) yesterday afternoon? (30) _____ you __________
(play) chess with Tom again?
B- No, I (31) ______________. Tom (32) ____________ (be) in town at the moment. He (33)
__________________ (fly) to Peru last week.