Past simple in English (revision exercise).

The verb form in the past simple is usually 1) (different / the same) with the all persons:

I / you / she, he, it / we / they walked. ...

There is one exception - the verb ‘to be’:

I / he, she, it / was very hungry yesterday. ...
You / we / they / 2) (were / was) very hungry yesterday.  ...

We can classify the English verb into two groups: regular verbs and 3) (modal / irregular) verbs. All regular English verbs end in ‘ed’:

I worked, she waited, we played. ...

Irregular verbs are very common in English and sometimes difficult to use as some have different meanings. Examples of the irregular verb ‘get’:

I got angry ... = I 4) (looked / became) angry.
I got a cold ... = I fell ill with a cold.
I got my hair cut ... = I asked somebody to cut my hair.

It is a good idea to study not just the irregular verb forms but also the meanings of these verbs - essential for speaking colloquial English.

We use past simple tense to talk about 5) (finished / unfinished) actions in the past. These actions are connected to a time in the past. This past time can be explicit ie. we use a past tense time expression:

I had a lovely dinner last night. ...
I went jogging last weekend. ...
The world was a better place then. ...
I studied English verb tables 6) . (this week / two weeks ago) ...

On the other hand, the reference to past time can be 7) (implicit / explicit) ie. we’re thinking about a time in the past but we don’t use a past tense time expression.

I had a lovely dinner. (I’m thinking about last night.) ...
I went jogging. (I’m thinking about last weekend.) ...
The world was a better place. (I’m thinking about then.) ...
I studied the English verb tables. (I’m thinking: two weeks ago.) ...

To make a question in the past simple we use the auxiliary 8) (does / did) with most verbs. The verb after the auxiliary must be in its 9) (past / infinitive) form.

Nick and Emma saw a good film last night. ...
Did Nick and Emma see a good film last night? ...

She helped her friend with her English homework. ...
Did she 10) (help / helped) her friend with her English homework?  ...

To make a negative sentence in the past simple we use 11) (does / did) (+ not + infinitive. This becomes ‘didn't’ in informal written language or in speech.

Nick and Emma did not see the film last night. ...
Nick and Emma didn't see the film last night. ...

She did not help her friend with her homework. ...
She 12) (didn't / doesn't) help her friend with her homework. ...

The verb ‘to be’ and ‘to have’ in past simple are exceptions. ‘To be’ doesn't use ‘did’ in its past form. It inverts with the subject in 13) (affirmatives / questions) and ‘was’ and ‘were’ combine with ‘not’ in negatives without ‘did’:

The book was on the table yesterday. ...
Was the book on the table yesterday? ...
The book wasn't on the table yesterday. ...

The verb ‘to have’ can invert with the subject or use ‘did’ in past simple questions. With 14) , (negatives / affirmatives) the verb ‘have’ can use ‘did + not’ or just ‘had + not’. This sometimes depends on meaning:

They had a lot of money when they were younger. ...
Did they have a lot of money when they were younger? ...
Had they a lot of money when they were younger? ...

(‘Have’ has a possessive meaning in the examples above.)

The tourists had a meal in a local restaurant. ...
Did the tourists have a meal…? ...
Had the tourists a meal…?
The tourists didn't have a meal… ...
The tourists hadn't a meal…

(‘Have’ means ‘eat’ in these examples.)

From the above examples we can say that when ‘have’ has a possessive meaning, we can use 15) (either / only one) form. But we can only use the ‘did’ form with the verb 'have’ if the meaning is not possessive.