Activities: “How to use the past simple in English?”
Activity 1: Patty’s letter
Patty took your English Writing 101 course last semester. She wrote a letter to her best friend from high school.
Select the correct form for the main verb in the simple past tense in the paragraph below.
Hint: Remember to use the root form with the auxiliary do!
How are you? I am fine. My mother ask / asked about you yesterday and it reminded / remound me that we didn’t get / got together last month because you are / were too busy with your new job. Did you finished / finish that special project on time? I remember that you wanted / wont to interview some important businessmen before you wrote / writed the final project report. Did the interviews went / go well? One of those businessmen worked / werk in the steel industry, right? What did he said / say about the future of steel production?
I signed / sought up for a creative writing course last month. The course start / started at the beginning of the month. For my first essay, I writed / wrote about climate change. The teacher liked / loukt my essay very much and gave me a 90% grade! I wought / worked very hard on that essay and it turned / turnt out very complete.
Well, that’s all for now. I have many things to do today. Yesterday I spended / spent all day with my mom, so I didn’t get / got anything done here at home!
Your friend,
Patty
Activity 2: How I became a salesman
John also took your writing class with Patty. This is one of his essays.
Use the following verbs to fill in the blanks in this story. Some verbs are used more than once. Be careful with irregular verbs!
 | be | get | go | explain |
have | help | knock | read | |
learn | make | stay | take | |
take | tell | try | become |
I a salesman last year.
First, I to a week-long training course in St. Louis. There five participants and the training leader. His name Bob. We at a hotel and the training place in a conference room.
The first two days, Bob how our product worked. We were selling a machine that makes pasta. Bob us that it was important for us to understand how to make different kinds of pasta. The class very interesting.
The next two days, we about sales. We a book about how to be friendly, topics to avoid talking about, and how to push a client to buy. We a lot of notes and practiced the techniques together.
The last day, Friday, we into a residential area of St. Louis and on doors. We to sell the pasta machine to strangers. None of us a sale, but we some experience from the exercise. That evening, we a final dinner together and the next morning we all home.
The entire experience to make me the salesman I am today!
Activity 3: Mark’s beautiful garden
Mike wrote this essay about his vegetable garden.
Can you find the errors he made with the past simple? Can you correct his errors in the margin?
