Past Time Expressions

Last month, we studied some prepositions of time. Now we are studying the past, it’s time to add some new expressions:

Time Expressions Often Used in the Past

last- used when speaking about the previous week, month or year

Example: They went on holiday last month.

yesterday- used when speaking about the previous day

Example: I was with my best friend yesterday.

ago- used when speaking about X days, weeks, months, years before. NOTE: ‘ago’ follows the number of days, weeks, etc.

Example: We went to Cleveland three weeks ago.

for- used with a period of time.

Example: We lived in Paris for three years.

when- used with a past time clause

Example: I played tennis when I was a teenager

And, of course, the prepositions of time we studied in January:

Example: She was in Merbourne in 1976.

 I was at school on Monday.

We were at home at 7pm.

Ready to try some exercises? Exercise 1, exercise 2, exercise3

Source: EOI Elx

The past simple: irregular verbs

Every language has irregular verbs and English is no exception ! Unfortunately there is no magic formula, you simply have to learn them by heart!

Here is a list. Try to learn the most useful ones first and then learn the others little by little.

Here is a game for you to practise and a crossword .

Some more activities:

regular or irregular verbs?

interactive exercise 1

interactive exercise 2

Finally a fantastic song by the Beatles

Source: EOI Elx

Past Simple: -ed pronunciation

In the Simple Past, we add -ed to regular verbs. But the question is: How do we pronounce the -ed?

The answer is: In 3 ways – / id/ or / t/ or / d/

* note that it is the sound that is important, not the letter or spelling. For example, “fax” ends in the letter “x” but the sound /s/; “like” ends in the letter “e” but the sound /k/.

If the verb ends in one of these sounds:		example :	-ed:	-ed pronunciation:	Do you add an extra syllable?
1.	/t/	want	wanted	/ id/	yes, the -e changes to [ɪ]
	/d/	end	ended
2.	/p/	stop	stopped	/ t/	no, the -e is silent.
	/f/	laugh	laughed
	/s/	fax	faxed
	/ʃ/	wash	washed
	/ʧ/	watch	watched
	/k/	like	liked
3.	all other sounds	play	played	/ d/
		follow	followed
		rain	rained

NEVER pronounce /ed/!!!  Whenever you see a word ending in –ed, visualize the “e” as crossed out, if you want to increase your chances of pronouncing it correctly!

Is it clear enough? What’s the final sound of the following verbs? Choose the right one here.

Do you need more practice? Choose the correct “ed” ending sound in these multiple choice exercises. Exercise 1 – Exercise 2 -  Exercise 3 – Exercise 4 – Exercise 5- Exercise 6. Don’t worry if you don’t know the meaning of some verbs, focus on their pronunciation.

Final Exam – Practice what you have learned by choosing the correct pronunciation for multiple words written in a paragraph.

Now you are ready to practise some listening. Try this site or this one and, finally, this onecombines present and past pronunciations.

Source: EOI Elx 

Past Simple: -ed spelling

We have two different groups to form the Simple Past:

You have to know all forms of the irregular verbs very well. For the Simple Past you need the form of the verb which can be found in the 2nd column of the table of the irregular verbs. Example: go – went.

90% of verbs are regular verbs so let’s start with regulars first.

Simply add -ed with regular verbs. Example: wait – waited

SPELLING EXCEPTIONS

Sometimes there are exceptions in spelling when adding -ed:

1) verbs with final stressed consonant +vowel+consonant–> double the consonant. Example: stop – stopped

If the final syllable of the word is not stressed, we do not double it. Example: listen- listened (Here we stress the first syllable, not the second.)

If the final consonant in the group consonant+vowel+consonant is x or w, we do not double the consonant. Examples: fix-fixed, show-showed

In British English we ALWAYS double one -l at the end of the word. Example: travel – travelled

2) verbs with -e at the end of the word –> add only -d. Example: love – loved

3) verbs ending in consonant+y –> change ‘y’ to ‘i’ +ed. Example: cry – cried

Careful! verbs ending in vowel +’y' –> add -ed as usual. Example:  play – played

Are you ready to use regular past forms? Try exercises 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5.

Source: EOI Elx

The simple past: regular verbs

When you form the regular past tense in English you need to pay attention to two things: pronunciation and spelling.

PRONUNCIATION

To form the simple past you simply add -ed to the end of the infinitive and you have the simple past.

-ed can be pronounced in three different ways: /t/, /d/ and /id/.

“T” is a voiceless consonant what we called “sorda” in Spanish that means you will feel no vibration in your throat, just a short explosion of air as you pronounce. These are some voiceless consonants : p, t, k, s, sh, ch, th (as in thing)

“D” is a voiced consonant what we called “sonora” in Spanish that means you feel a vibration in your throat when you pronounce it. These are some voiced consonants : b, d, th (as in then), v, l, r, z, j (as in Jane)

Vowels are always voiced.

If a verb ends in t or d then the -ed will be pronounced as a whole new syllable /id/

So the sound of the past : -ed will assimilate the sound of the preceding sound and so if it is a voiced sound the pronunciation of -ed will be voiced /d/ and if voiceless it will go to /t/.

To sum up, you have three options with the pronunciation of the regular past tense -ed: /t/, /d/ or /id/

Here you have a video to practise

and some interactive exercises:

Choose the right sound

Try again

Number 3

Nice one from the BBC

SPELLING

With most regular verbs, the simple past is created simply by adding -ed. However, with some verbs, you need to add -d or change the ending. Here are the rules:

Verb ending in…	How to make the simple past	Examples
e	Add -D	live  lived date  dated
Consonant +y	Change y to i, then add -ED	try  tried cry  cried
One vowel + one consonant (but NOT w or y)	Double the consonant, then add -ED	tap  tapped commit committed
anything else including w	Add -ED	boil  boiled fill  filled hand  handed show  showed

Source: EOI Elx

Past Simple of TO BE

The verb TO BE is irregular

exercise 1, exercise 2, exercise 3, exercise 4,  exercise 5, exercise 6 

Now, watch the video.

And you? Were you good at school?

Source: EOI Elx

St George's Day

The 23rd of April is St. George’s Day, and is England’s national day. St. George is the patron saint of England and his emblem is the red cross on a white background, which forms part of the Union Jack.

Who was St George? The history books say he was born in Turkey and he lived in the 3rd century. He became a Roman soldier and he protested against Rome’s persecution of Christians. He died for his beliefs. For more information  click here.

• There is a story that says he killed a dragon and rescued a princess and most images of him are on horseback killing the dragon.
• The tradition on St George’s day is to wear a red rose, the national flower.
• Saint George is also the patron saint of Aragon, Catalonia, Ethiopia, Georgia, Greece, Lithuania, Palestine, Portugal, and Russia.
• Did you know that Shakespeare was born on 23 April 1564 and he died on the same day in 1616?

Finally try this quiz to see how much you now know!

Source: EOI Elx

What does April Fool's Day mean?

April Fish (literal translation from the French "poisson d'avril"or the Italian "pesce d'aprile"), also known as April fools' day (which in Englishmeans day of April fools) is a festival dedicated to the jokes to be held in France, Germany, Italy, Belgium, United Kingdom, Portugal, United States, Brazil and other countries each year on 1 April.

In Spain and Latin America is a similar conclusion on December 28, the Day of the Holy Innocents.

Have offered many different explanations of this celebration, but the idea that the jokes that accompany this date began in the reign of Charles IX of France seems to be the most convincing.

A mid-sixteenth century, all France New Year's celebrations began on March 25 and ended a week later, on 1 April. In 1564, by decree of Roussillon, the king decreed the adoption of the Gregorian calendar and New Year was moved to January 1. The legend suggests that many French people opposed to change or simply forgot continued exchanging gifts and feasting in the week ending April 1. The pranksters decided to ridicule absurdities and inviting delivering gifts to parties exist, and thus was born the tradition of making jokes on the first day of April.

The name fish in April, the victim receives jokes, is associated with the zodiac: any event that happened on that date was related to the fact that the sun left the constellation of Pisces. Napoleon I was called "Aprilfish" when he married Marie Louise of Austria on January 1st of April. 

Español .El pescado de abril (traducción literal del francés «poisson d'avril» o del italiano «pesce d'aprile»), también conocido como April fools' day (que en inglés significa día de los bufones de abril), es una fiesta dedicada a las bromas que se celebra en Francia, Alemania, Italia, Bélgica, Reino Unido, Portugal, Estados Unidos, Brasil y otros países cada 1 de abril.

En España e Hispanoamérica hay una celebración similar el 28 de diciembre, el Día de los Santos Inocentes. 

Se han ofrecido muchas explicaciones diferentes acerca de esta celebración, sin embargo la idea de que las bromas que acompañan esta fecha comenzaron durante el reinado de Carlos IX de Francia parece ser la más convincente.

A mediados del siglo XVI, en toda Francia las celebraciones de Año Nuevo comenzaban el 25 de marzo y terminaban una semana después, el 1 de abril. En 1564, por medio del decreto de Roussillon, el rey decretó la adopción del calendario gregoriano y el Año Nuevo se trasladó al 1 de enero. La leyenda sugiere que muchos franceses opuestos al cambio o que simplemente lo olvidaron siguieron intercambiando regalos y festejando en la semana que concluía el 1 de abril. Los bromistas decidieron ridiculizarlos entregando regalos absurdos y convidando a fiestas inexistentes, y así nació la tradición de hacer bromas el primer día de abril.

El nombre pescado de abril, que recibe la víctima de las bromas, está relacionado con el zodiaco: todo acontecimiento que acaecía en esa fecha era relacionado con el hecho de que el Sol abandonaba la constelación de Piscis. Napoleón I fue llamado "pescado de abril" cuando se casó con María Luisa de Austria un 1 de abril.