Simple Past

ON A LONDON BUS

A strange thing happened to Henri yesterday. He was on a bus and wanted to get off. So he stood up and rang the bell. To make sure the driver hears him he rang it twice, but the bus didn´t stop and the conductor came and shouted at him.

The conductor was so annoyed, and spoke so fast, that Henry didn´t understand a word. The bus stopped at the next bus stop and Henri got off. As he got off he heard someone say: “I think he´s a foreigner.”

When Henri got home, he told his landlady about the incident.

“How many times did you ring the bell?” she asked.

“Twice,” said Henry.

“Well, that´s the signal for the driver to go on,” his landlady explained.

“Only the conductor is allowed to ring the bell twice. That´s why he got so annoyed.”

Henri nodded. “I see,” he said.

A Oral questions

1. Where was Henri?

2. What did he want to do?

3. How did Henri indicate to the driver that he wanted to get off?

4. How many times did he ring the bell?

5. Why did he ring it twice?

6. Did the bus stop?

7. What did it do?

8. What did the conductor do?

9. Why couldn’t Henri understand the conductor?

10. Was the conductor annoyed?

11. What did Henri do when the bus stopped?

12. What did he hear someone say?

13. Who did he tell about the incident?

14. Who is allowed to ring the bell twice?

15. What did Henri do to show his landlady that he understood?

B Note how we form the negative of SIMPLE PAST:

… the bus didn´t stop …

… Henri didn´t understand a word.

Use the ideas below to make up negative statements in the past:

1. Henri/ring bell/four times

2. Henry/try to open/door

3. The driver/shout at Henri

4. The conductor/smile at Henri

5. The conductor/speak very slowly

6. When Henri/home/tell his father/incident

C Note this sentence:

He wanted to get off

Think of possible answers to the following questions beginning:

I wanted to …

1. Why did you go into that café?

2. Why did you take that book out of the library?

3. Why did you go into that telephone box?

4. Why did you go into that pub?

5. Why were you so annoyed that you couldn´t go into the cinema?

6. Why were you so angry when you couldn´t get tickets for the football match?

7.Why did you bring your camera?

8. Why were you upset when you found out there wasn´t any hot water?

9. Why did you bring your tennis racket?

10. Why did you go to the supermarket?

D Think about last Saturday. Can you remember six things you did, and six things you didn´t do?

Things you did

Things you didn´t do.

E Look at this conversation between Maria and her landlady, Mrs Robinson:

MARIA: Oh dear. I got home very late last night. I hope I didn´t disturb you.

MRS ROBINSON: No, I didn´t hear a thing.

MARIA: George and I went to the pictures and we missed the last train.

MRS ROBINSON: That was bad luck. What did you do?

MARIA: Well, we tried to find the all-night bus stop, but nobody could tell us where it was, so finally we took a taxi.

MRS ROBINSON: My goodness, that was expensive, wasn´t it?

MARIA: Yes, he charged us $ 20.

Note how we ask questions in the simple past:

Did you enjoy the film?

Yes, we did. or No, we didn´t.

Now do this exercise:

1. Ask if Mrs Robinson heard Maria come in.

2. Answer the question.

3. Ask id Maria came home late.

4. Answer the question.

5. Ask who Maria went to the picture with.

6. Answer the question.

7. Ask how they came home.

8. Answer the question.

9. Ask why they didn´t come home by bus.

10. Answer the question.

11. Ask how much the taxi driver charged them.

12. Answer the question.

F Idea for discussion

Losing things can be very annoying: a key perhaps, or theatre tickets. Think of something you lost. Did you find it again? Talk about the incident.

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Note how we form the SIMPLE PAST:

STATEMENTS

IYOU

SHE

YOU

THEY

missed

the train yesterday.

NEGATIVES

IYOU

SHE

YOU

THEY

did not

(didn´t)

miss

the train yesterday.

NEGATIVES

Did

IYOU

SHE

YOU

THEY

miss

the train yesterday?

Many verbs add -ed to form the SIMPLE PAST:

A strange thing happened to Henri …

… his landlady explained …

However there are also many verbs that form their past y changing their spelling in other ways. You have already met:

to stand He stood up.

to hear The driver heard him.

to ring He rang it twice.

to come The conductor came.

to speak He spoke so fast.

These verbs just have to be learned and it is a good idea to keep a list and learn them carefully as you meet them.

Special points to note

We use the SIMPLE PRESENT to talk about an action that took place at a definite point of time in the past.

Examples:

A STRANGE THING HAPPENED TO HENRI YESTERDAY.

DID YOU SEE THAT PROGRAMME ABOUT TELEPATHY LAST NIGHT?

YES, IS DID or NO, I DIDN´T.

Very often the point of time is understood rather than actually stated in the sentence. Look at this example:

“YESTERDAY WE WENT TO WINDSOR.”

“DID YOU SEE ANY OF THE ROYAL FAMILY?”

“NO, BUT WE HAD A VERY INTERESTING DAY.”

The YESTERDAY in the sentence establishes the time so that all the other verbs used in the conversation are in the simple past as well, and all the statements refer to what happened (or did not happen) yesterday.

Here are some more typical points of time in the past:

Last week/last night/on Tuesday/in 2010/a couple of hours ago/last month/last year/

There is also the expression AGO. We shall practice using this in Unit 4.

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A COSTUMER PAYS HIS BILL

Last week the manager of an old-established jeweller´s shop received a letter market `personal´, so of course his secretary gave it to him unopened. As he was very busy, the letter lay on his desk until tea-time it and a $ 10 note fell out onto his desk. With the note was a short letter. This is what it said:

Dear Sir

In 1935 I got engaged. But unfortunately at that time there was a lot of unemployment and I lost my job. I was six months without a job and then I got work again, but of course, I was very short of money.

I came to your shop to buy a wedding ring. The assistant brought some rings for me to look at, but she was called away for a moment, and I put one of the rings in my pocket. When she came back, I said I did not know the size of my girl-friend’s finger. So I left the shop without buying a ring.

My wife died a short while ago and the fact that I never paid for her ring has been on my conscience all these years. At the time the ring cost S2, so I reckon that is about $ 10 at today´s prices, and I am sending you that amount.

Yours truly,

A customer.

“Well, well, well, “said the manager, “life is full of surprises!”

A Write short answers to the following questions:

1. What sort of shop is this story about?

2. Who received the letter?

3. Why didn´t the secretary opened?

4. What fell of the letter?

5. What happened to the writer of the letter in 1935?

6. What was there a lot of at that time?

7. What happened to the man´s wife a short time ago?

8. What fact has been on the writer´s conscience for many years?

B Now write some questions about the story and answer them, using as few words as possible.

1. Ask what the manager received.

2. Ask where it lay ‘till tea-time.

3. Ask what the letter contained.

4. Ask what the writer lost in 1935.

5. Ask why the customer came to the shop.

6. Ask why the assistant left him alone with the rings.

7. Ask where the customer put one of the rings.

8. Ask what the customer said about his girl-friend´s finger.

9. Ask what the ring cost in 1935.

10. Ask what the manager said, after reading the letter.

C Now write ten sentences about yourself. Mention:

1. Someone you met yesterday.

2. A place you visited last year.

3. The name of the last film you saw, and where you saw it.

4. An interesting programme you watched on television, and when you watched it.

5. Where you spent last Christmas.

6. How you slept last night.

7. What you had for breakfast this morning.

8. What you had for dinner last night.

9. Somewhere you didn´t go last night.

10. Somebody you didn´t see yesterday.

Composition

You are a detective. In your area there is a firm specialising in crash repairs. The police are suspicious. They believe this firm may be handing stolen cars. You are given the job of watching their yard, and reporting on everything that happens.

You have a cassette recorder with you. This is what you put on your tape this morning:

8.00 a.m. 4^th October. I took up my position ten minutes ago. Rather a cold morning.

8.15 a.m. A blue Cortina is pulling up. A short, dark man with a big mustache is getting out. He´s opening the gates to the yard.

8.35 a.m. An orange Datsun is stopping. A tall, thin man is getting out. He´s gone into the yard too.

9.15 a.m. The dark man is driving out of the yard in an old, green breakdown truck.

10.10 a.m. The breakdown truck is returning. It´s towing a green Fiat. The front of the Fiat is badly damaged.

11.15 a.m. Two West Indians have just driven up in a red Cortina. The side is damaged. The dark man is coming out. He´s looking at the damage. They´re discussing it. They´re leaving it and walking off.

12.10 p.m. A very old grey van has stopped. The driver is a small man, wearing an old bull pullover and jeans. He´s gone into the Yard. Now he´s coming out with the dark man. They´re looking at the rust on the side of the van. The dark man is examining it. He´s shaking his head. The little man is getting in the van again. He´s driving off.

12.30 p.m. The tall man and the dark man are coming out. The dark man is locking the gates. Both men are getting into the blue Cortina. They´re off to dinner.

Now you write your report on what happened during the morning. Begin like this: I took up my position shortly before 8.00 a.m. It was …

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