A. Study this example:
Wolfgang
Amadeus Mozart was an Austrian musician and composer. He lived from 1756 to
1791. He started composing at the age of five and wrote more than 600 pieces of
music. He was only 35 years old when he died.
Lived/started/wrote/was/died are all past simple.
B.
Very often the past simple ends in -ed (regular verbs):
* I work
in a travel agency now. Before that I worked in a shop.
* We
invited them to our party but they decided not to come.
* The
police stopped me on my way home last night.
* She
passed her examination because she studied very hard.
For
spelling (stopped, studied etc.), see Appendix 6.
But many
verbs are irregular. The past simple does not end in -ed. For example:
write
-> wrote
* Mozart
wrote more than 600 pieces of music.
see
-> saw
* We saw
Rose in town a few days ago.
go ->
went
* I went
to the cinema three times last week.
shut
-> shut
* It was
cold, so I shut the window.
For a
list of irregular verbs, see Appendix 1.
C. In
questions and negatives we use did/didn't + infinitive (enjoy/see/go etc.):
I/she/they: enjoyed/saw/went
Did:
you/she/they: enjoy?/see?/go?
I/she/they: didn't: enjoy/see/go
* A: Did
you go out last night?
B: Yes,
I went to the cinema but I didn't enjoy the film much.
* 'When
did Mr Thomas die?' 'About ten years ago.'
* They
didn't invite her to the party, so she didn't go.
* 'Did
you have time to write the letter?' 'No, I didn't.'
Be
careful when do is the main verb in the sentence:
* What
did you do at the weekend? (not 'what did you at the weekend')
* I
didn't do anything. (not 'I didn't anything')
D. The
past of be (am/is/are) is was/were:
I/he/she/it was/wasn't
we/you/they were/weren't
was I/he/she/it?
were we/you/they?
Note
that we do not use did in negatives and questions with was/were:
* I was
angry because they were late.
* Was
the weather good when you were on holiday?
* They
weren't able to come because they were so busy.
