LANGUAGE REFERENCE
104
2
GRAMMAR
G1
PAST SIMPLE: REGULAR AND
IRREGULAR VERBS
Use the past simple to talk about actions and
situations that are finished.
Isa and I
trained
for the marathon last year.
The past form of the verb
be
is
was
or
were
.
We
were
here last night.
I
was
n’t at the school this morning.
With other verbs, you use just the main verb in
affirmative past simple statements. Regular past
simple verbs add
-ed
to the infinitive.
train – train
ed
,
watch – watch
ed
The past simple verb does not change, i.e. it is the
same after
I
,
you
,
he
,
she
,
it
,
we
and
they
.
!
Note these spelling changes:
•
Verbs ending in -
e
, add
-d
:
die
–
di
ed
,
live
–
liv
ed
•
Verbs ending in consonant +
-y
, change
-y
to
-ied
:
study
–
stud
ied
,
marry
–
marr
ied
•
Verbs ending in vowel + consonant, double the
consonant and add
-ed
:
stop
–
stop
ped
Many common verbs in the past simple are irregular.
¬
irregular verb list, page 166
You often say when the action happened, e.g.
in
(+ year/month),
on
(+ day) or
at
(+ time).
The first modern Olympics were
in 1896
.
I watched a great documentary
on Sunday
.
We arrived
at two o’clock
.
TIME EXPRESSIONS
You often use time expressions with the past simple,
e.g.
ago
,
last night (week/month/year)
,
yesterday.
We moved to this house two years
ago
.
G2
PAST SIMPLE: NEGATIVES, QUESTION FORMS
AND SHORT ANSWERS
Use
did
to form past simple negatives and questions.
She
did
n’t give up hope.
Did
she paint every day?
Past simple short answers use
did
.
Yes, she
did
. / No, she
didn’t
.
QUESTION WORDS
Use
who
to ask about people.
Who
came to class yesterday?
Who
did you speak to?
Use
what
to ask about things.
What
did you do yesterday?
Use
when
to ask about time.
When
did you start English classes?
Use
where
to ask about places.
Where
did you go yesterday?
KEY LANGUAGE
KL1
ASKING ABOUT PEOPLE
What’s he/she like?
What does he/she look like?
What does he/she like?
KL2
DESCRIBING PEOPLE
He seems (honest and shy).
She certainly isn’t (chatty).
He’s (hard-working).
He’s got (short brown hair).
He looks like (that actor).
She wears (nice clothes).
He likes (watching sport on TV).
He has similar interests to me.
VOCABULARY
V1
PERSONALITY ADJECTIVES (1) AND NOUNS
brave: bravery
confident: confidence
creative: creativity
determined: determination
friendly: friendliness
happy: happiness
hard-working: hard work
kind: kindness
ordinary: ordinariness
sociable: sociability
nervous: nervousness
V2
TIME EXPRESSIONS AND PHRASES
last weekend, on Thursday, the day before yesterday,
three days ago, yesterday, when he was a child, at the
age of 16, in the early 1950s, over a period of 40 years
V3
PERSONALITY ADJECTIVES (2)
chatty, cheerful, clever, confident, horrible, lazy,
miserable, nice, polite, quiet, rude, shy, stupid,
unfriendly
V4
LINKERS
afterwards, at first, at the moment, then, until
