Past simple

Form

Affirmative
I played
You played
He/she/it played
We played
You played (plural)
They played

Negative
I did not play
You did not play
He/she/it did not play
We did not play
You did not play
They did not play

Question
Did I play?
Did you play?
Did he/she/it play?
Did we play?
Did you play?
Did they play?

Functions and examples

We use the past simple to talk about finished actions and time.
I went there last year.
You lived in Paris when you were younger, didn't you?
He worked there in 1980.
She saw him yesterday.
We didn't see Jack and Liz at the party last night.
What did they talk about at the meeting in Zurich?

See also: Past continuous / Past perfect

Teaching Past simple

  I first make statements in the present using a weekly schedule, then I tell students what I did last week.

She goes to the movies on Fridays.
She went to the movies last Friday

Did she go to the movies last Friday?
Yes, she did. Or Yes, she went to the movies last Friday.

Did she go to the movies last Thursday?
No, she didn't. Or No, she didn't go to the movies last Thursday.

When did she go to the movies?
She went to the movies last Friday."
Richard

  I play a game called " You did it!" In this game, I pretend to accuse students of doing miscellaneous naughty acts and ask them to defend themselves. For example:

T: You STOLE my cell phone!
S: No, I didn't STEAL your cell phone.

T: You ATE my cookie!
S: No, I didn't EAT your cookie.

This works best with irregular verbs. A brainstorming of irregular verbs and a simple review of past tense verbs using the did + ___ construction would precede the playing of this little game.

Another way I practice is by asking them about past events using did + ____ questions. I try to ask ridiculous questions so they will answer in the negative and practice using the correct verb conjugations. For example:

T: Where did you GO last summer?
S: I WENT to Mexico.
T: Did you EAT spaghetti there?
S: No, I ATE tacos, pozole, enchiladas, etc.
T: What kinds of animals did you SEE there?
S: I SAW chickens, donkeys, horses, and dogs.
Brad

  I show colorful pictures from a book with a well known story like Hansel and Gretel. The students take turns telling the story.
Jennifer

  'Tic-tac-toe' is a very good idea to practice the simple past in a funny and quite 'free' way. You divide the class in two groups (one is X the other is O) and then stick or draw the game on the board. Put verbs in the infinitive form with a question mark, a plus or a minus depending on whether you want your students to form interrogative, affirmative or negative sentences. This activity is a very good one to give your students a purpose to practice the form of the past simple. They will feel the need to choose and respond correctly in order to make tic-tac-toe.
Jessica

  One of the resources I use to reinforce the past tense is the song "Return to Sender" by Elvis Presley. (with lyrics in the wrong order) First, students have to find the past tense verbs, give me the infinitive and also the meaning in Spanish. We then practice pronunciation of the verbs in infinitive and the past. And finally, listen to the song and put the lyrics in the correct order. They have a lot of fun!
Paito

  Word Search Puzzles are very effective. First, you give the students a list of 20 or 30 verbs and ask them to write the past tense. Check if they did it correctly. Then, they have to search the past tense of each verb in the puzzle! This activity helps a lot with spelling and memory. Some students finish early, others have trouble finding them, but everybody loves it!
Marlen

  I think one of the best ways to practise irregular verbs is "Bingo". I make students write all the verbs they can remember on a piece of paper. Then, we distiguish the irregulars from regulars. They tell me the past forms of the verbs and write them on the board. Later, they prepare bingo cards for 10 words and tick the ones I say. It's also good for pronounciation. First one who completes the card wins a coffee ;)
Orçun

  Best way to talk about the simple past is by having a discussion about dreams with your students. Tell them a really over the top dream you had (if you didn't make it up!) and ask them to listen to the key points of the dream whilst taking notes. Then ask them questions about the dream, for example, did I eat a watermelon in the dream? Then review the simple past tense regular and irregular verbs. Next write the start of a dream on the board and have students continue, maybe give them a list of words they must use.
Lewy

  Another good idea is to draw two columns on the board - one side is for verbs and the other one is for nouns. For ex: marry and elephant. Students need to make a sentence with these two words giving the past form of the verb. "Suzie married an elephant. "This game is very fun they will enjoy it a lot... good luck and keep writing down your ideas... thanks!
Anonymous

  A good way to help students practice and remember Past Simple (verb form of irregular) is a pair card game.
Material: cards for irregular verbs, each pair consists of verb in base form and past simple form.
Divide students into groups of 4 or 5.
Each student in each group turns over two cards at a time. If the verbs go together, the student keeps them. If not, the cards remain where they were.
The person with the most pairs is the winner.
Lysrun

  I like playing a game I call "who was I?". One student thinks about someone famous who has died and the others ask him yes/no questions to try to find out who the person is. Ex: Was the person American? Was he a singer? Did he travel a lot?
Ana

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