3. Paco ordered some Indian food to take away

Icono IDevice Reading activity

Paco got up early the following day of his arrival. He felt excited with such a big city. There were so many places to visit that he didn't know where to begin. He wanted to see all the museums and famous buildings in town, so he ordered some Indian food to take away by midday. He ate his meal in Hyde Park, one of the largest green spaces in Central London. He stayed there a couple of hours, he relaxed and then walked along the drives and ways of the park.


By Ben Leto. Creative Commons By Panos Asproulis. Creative Commons

He had too many days to visit museums and other places. He preferred to spend some time in the park. Besides, there were lots of attractions. He went to the Speaker's Corner , where a lot of people listened to the speakers' speeches about Politics, social critics and other topics. Paco was astonished.


Can you recognize the regular verbs in the Past Simple affirmative tense?
And what about the irregular ones? Sure you can.


Icono IDevice Important

It is important for you to know how the different verbs form their Past Simple tense. Have a look at this chart:

 

 

Verb ending in... How to make the simple past Examples
e Add -D live > lived
date > dated

Consonant +y

Vowel + y

Change y to i, then add -ED

Just add -ED

try > tried
cry > cried

play > played

One vowel + one consonant
(but NOT w or y) 		Double the consonant, then add -ED tap > tapped
commit > committed
anything else including w Add -ED boil > boiled
fill > filled
hand > handed
show > showed

 


Icono IDevice Listening activity

 


Listen carefully to the song La Isla Bonita by Madonna and notice how some regular verbs are formed in the Past Tense.


Icono de iDevice Solved exercise
1) Paco a film. (to watch)

2) He a box. (to carry)

3) They their father. (to help)

4) Andrés and Alex things. (to swap)

5) I to Andrew. (to talk)

6) Susan with Peter. (to dance)

7) The boys basketball. (to try)

8) Paco a trip. (to plan)

9) She her hair. (to wash)

10) The car at the traffic lights. (to stop)

 

Put the correct forms of the verbs into the gaps. Use the Simple Past in the statements.

Icono de iDevice Actividad de Espacios en Blanco
Read the paragraph below and fill in the missing words.
My grandfather had a very exciting life. When he was young, he (live) on a farm in the country. His parents (raise) cattle, and he (look) after the cows. When he was eighteen, he went to university, where he (study) Philosophy. He also (play) the trumpet in a jazz band. When the war started, he (try) to join the Air Force, but he (end) up in the Navy. In the Atlantic, a German torpedo (rip) a hole in the side of his ship, and the ship sank. Only five men (escape). They (sail) in a lifeboat back to England. Then he met my grandmother, and they (marry) after only three weeks. He says now that he (want) to marry her very quickly in case he (die) in the war.
  

Icono de iDevice AV - Reflexión

We mainly use the Past Simple Tense:

1) action finished in the past:

I visited Berlin last week.

2) series of completed actions in the past, one after the other:

First I got up, then I had breakfast.

3) together with the Past Progressive/Continuous - The Past Simple interrupted an action which was in progress in the past:

They were playing cards when the telephone rang.

Icono IDevice Further knowledge
If you are interested in having a look at this list of 450 regular verbs, then click here.
 
Useful exercises to improve your knowledge about the uses and forms of regular verbs in the past.

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