Worked, stopped, studied

  • A1 · Beginner
  • Grammar lesson
  • 60 min
  • past simple

The past simple of regular verbs: Norah waved at an old man in the store and asked him for a hug. The -ed spelling (stopped, worried, played), its three sounds (asked, called, visited) and time words (yesterday, two days ago). The student reads the true story of an old man and a little girl, and plays "Two true, one false" about last weekend.

Teach this lessonDownload PDF

Free, no card needed. The PDF has every slide, the homework and an answer key.

workedstoppedstudied

What's in the lesson

  1. 1Warm-up
  2. 2In this lesson
  3. 3Reading: Dan and NorahReading comprehension
  4. 4What does it mean?Grammar exercise
  5. 5Find the -ed verbsGrammar exercise
  6. 6The past simple: regular verbsGrammar rule
  7. 7How does -ed sound?Grammar exercise
  8. 8Spell it rightGrammar exercise
  9. 9A day at the parkGrammar exercise
  10. 10Now or the past?Grammar exercise
  11. 11Say it naturallySpeaking practice
  12. 12Two true, one falseSpeaking practice
  13. 13About youGrammar exercise
  14. 14Wrap-up

Homework

  1. 1Homework: find the spelling mistakeGrammar exercise
  2. 2Homework: an email to GrandmaGrammar exercise
  3. 3Homework: make sentencesGrammar exercise
  4. 4Homework: a kind strangerDiscussion

Two slides from the lesson

Warm-up

A few questions about you before we start.

  1. Do you talk to strangers in stores or on the bus?
  2. Do you know your neighbors well?
  3. Do you have friends of very different ages?

Grammar rule

The past simple: regular verbs

For finished actions in the past. The verb is the same for every person: I / you / he / she / we / they talked.

Spelling

Examples
most verbs: + -edtalk → talked · answer → answered
e at the end: + -dwave → waved · die → died
consonant + y at the end: y → iedworry → worried · marry → married
vowel + y at the end: + -edplay → played · pray → prayed
short verbs (one syllable) with one vowel + one consonant at the end: double ithug → hugged · nod → nodded (but not w, x or y: mix → mixed)

Longer verbs usually just add -ed: visit → visited, open → opened, travel → traveled (American spelling).

How to say -ed

SoundAfterExamples
tp, k, f, s, sh, ch, xasked, laughed, passed
dvowels and b, g, l, m, n, r, v, zcalled, played, hugged
id: one more syllablet and dwanted, visited

Time words

yesterday · yesterday morning · last night · last week · last year · two days ago · in 2016

Watch out

  • After a past time word, use the past: Yesterday, I called my aunt. (not Yesterday, I call my aunt)
  • Don't add a syllable: talked is one syllable ("tawkt"), not talk-ed. Only after t and d: want-ed.
  • be → was / were (lesson 22). Some common verbs have a different past (go → went): you meet them in A2, with questions and negatives (Did you…? I didn't…).

Teach it live with video and a whiteboard, or print it: the PDF has every slide, the homework and the answers.

Teach this lesson
← Unit 5Was and were