SPARROW READERSA2

Past Simple — Affirmative & Negative

Gold · Basic

Grammar summary

Subject / verb	Affirmative	Negative
I / You / We / They	worked / went	did not / didn't work or go
He / She / It	worked / went	did not / didn't work or go
be: I / He / She / It	was	was not / wasn't
be: You / We / They	were	were not / weren't

Use past simple for finished events: yesterday, last week, in 2020.

Regular: play - played; live - lived; study - studied; stop - stopped.

After did not / didn't, use the base verb: She didn't go.

01 Regular past forms

Complete with the past form of the verb in brackets.

Example: I worked yesterday. (work)

1.I football yesterday. (play)

2.She the classroom yesterday. (clean)

3.We a film last night. (watch)

4.They to school yesterday. (walk)

5.He his friend last week. (visit)

6.You the window yesterday. (open)

02 Choose the irregular past

Complete each gap with the correct past form.

1.I to the park yesterday. (go)

2.She a film last night. (see)

3.We pizza yesterday. (eat)

4.They a new ball last week. (buy)

03 After didn't

Complete with the base verb, using the clue in brackets.

1.I didn't to school yesterday. (go)

2.She didn't lunch yesterday. (eat)

3.We didn't the match last night. (watch)

4.They didn't a cake yesterday. (make)

Grammar summary

Base verb	Past form	Example
go / see	went / saw	We went home. We saw a film.
eat / buy	ate / bought	He ate lunch. He bought a book.
have / make	had / made	I had dinner. I made a cake.
take / write	took / wrote	She took a photo. She wrote an email.

Irregular past forms must be learned; they do not take -ed.

Negative: I didn't see it. With be: I wasn't there; they weren't there.

Choose the form from the finished past time and the instruction.

04 was or were?

Complete with was or were.

Example: They were happy yesterday.

1.I at home yesterday.

2.She tired last night.

3.We in the library yesterday.

4.You late yesterday.

05 Make it negative

Use did not / didn't + the verb in brackets.

1.I TV yesterday. (watch)

2.She the door yesterday. (open)

3.We the museum last week. (visit)

4.He to the park yesterday. (go)

5.They lunch yesterday. (eat)

6.You a pen yesterday. (buy)

06 A Saturday at home

Use the past simple of the verb in brackets.

1.I at home last Saturday. (be)

2.I my room in the morning. (clean)

3.I a sandwich for lunch. (make)

4.I out that evening. (not / go)