The Past Indefinite Tense (Past Simple )
Sentence Patterns
Key examples to be memorized:
-
He took an excellent mark.
Did he take an excellent mark?
He did not take an excellent mark.
Illustrative Examples
They missed a lecture yesterday .
Did they miss a lecture yesterday?
Yes, they did. No, they didn’t.
They didn’t miss a lecture yesterday.
When did they miss a lecture?
They missed a lecture yesterday .
Who missed the lecture yesterday?
They did.
Past Indefinite Tense
-
Affirmative+
I liked Physics at school Ved
He left school in 2000 V2
Interrogative
?
Did you like physics at school? Did ….Ved?
Did he leave school in 2000? Did…V2?
Negative
-
I did not(didn’t) like Physics at school Did not Ved
He did not(didn’t) leave school in 2000. Did not V2
Adverbial Modifier of time
ago, yesterday, in March , in1990, last day / night /week /month / summer / year, on Monday/the day before yesterday , the other day, then, formerly, previously
Exercise 1. Put the verbs given below in the Past Indefinite Tense. Explain the reading of ending – ed([d],[t],[id]) in the regular verbs . Make 2 columns : 1 Regular Verbs, 2 Irregular Verbs.
to become, to do well, to give a lecture, to attend a language laboratory, to miss a lecture, to make poor progress, to be behind, to catch up, to graduate from, to get grant, to loaf, to enter the university, to sit for exams, to pass exams, to fail, to resit for an exam, to take marks, to go in for sports, to play sport games, to have a good time, to make up one’s mind, to carry away the audience, to learn with ease, to look forward to, to teach, to last, to listen to with great interest, to arrive, to hunger for knowledge.
Exercise 2. Complete the following:
-
Infinitive
Past Tense
Pats Tense Interrogative
Past Tens Negative
To see
I saw
Did I see?
I didn’t see
to speak
to go
to tell
to come
to take
to give
to write
to hear
to do
to get up
to read
to know
to buy
to spend
to leave
Exercise 3. Express your agreement with the following statements. Use the phrases: Certainly, it is really so. You are right. I agree with you as in the model:
I left secondary school in 2000.
It is really so. I left secondary school in 2000.
1. I made up my mind to enter the University.
2. My friend passed all the exams successfully.
She became a first-year student.
They took satisfactory marks yesterday.
She was good at Physics last week.
We decided to go to the café after classes.
Exercise 4. Object to the sentences. Use the phrases: No , it is not so. I am afraid you are wrong. I can’t agree with you. On the contrary as in the model:
He came from
the country. —You are wrong. He didn’t come from the country.
1. He sat at the window in from of the instructor’s table.
2. My friend liked Physics at school.
3. My brother failed at his entrance exams.
4. I entered Lviv State University .
5. We took a preparatory course at the University.
6. His sister studied badly at school.
Exercise 5 . Express your surprise and give short affirmative (negative) answers as in the model:
My
cousin visited the preparatory courses last year. Did
your cousin visit the preparatory courses last year? — Yes , he
did. No, he did not
Model:
1. Her nephew got grant last week.
Our son went in for sports at the weekend.
A student read a paper yesterday.
We all looked forward to the studies at the University.
They went to the library the day before yesterday.
The other day I missed a tutorial.
Exercise 6. Add tag-questions to the following statements and agree or disagree with them as in the model.
b)
He did not leave the University two hours ago. He did
not leave the University two hours ago, did he? — Oh no, he
didn’t. a)
He
left the University two hours ago.
He
left the University two hours ago, didn’t he?
—Oh
yes, he did .
Model :
1. a) My niece studied English in the Language Laboratory yesterday .
b) My niece didn’t study English in the Language Laboratory yesterday.