GRAMMAR SPOT: SIMPLE PAST TENSE

Read and study the following dialog!

Tasya   : Hi! How was your weekend?

Rendy   : Great! I made a beautiful painting!

Tasya   : Wow! Where did you make the painting?

Rendy   : Well, I went to the park and I found a wonderful view

Tasya   : Then?

Rendy   : I went home and took my paints, canvas, and brushes

Tasya   : Did you spend the whole day for painting?

Rendy   : Yes, I finished at about three p.m.

Tasya   : What did you do then?

Rendy   : I went home and showed my painting to my mom

Tasya   : Did she like it?

Rendy   : Yes,she loves flowers very much. I painted colorful flowers in the park and she loved it!

 Answer the following questions!

1. What did Rendy do last weekend?
2. Where did Rendy make the painting?
3. What did Rendy need to make the painting?
4. What did he do after the painting finished?
5. Did his mother like his painting?

In the dialog above, we can find the use of Past Tense. Past Tense is used for:

• Explain past activities.
• Describe an event that began and ended before the present time.
• Describe an action that completed before now.

Past Tense takes the pattern of the following form:

Affirmative	S + Verb 2 + O + Adverb of time
Negative	S + did not + Verb 1 + O + Adverb of time
Interrogative	Did + S + Verb 1 + O + Adverb of time

The time indicators in Past Tense are as follows:

- Yesterday

- Just now

- Last night, last week, last month, last year

- Two days ago, a month ago, two weeks ago

Study the following example:

1. (+) She woke up late this morning.

(-) She didn’t wake up late this morning.

(?) Did she wake up late this morning.

1. (+) They wrote a letter yesterday.

(-) They didn’t write a letter yesterday.

(?)Did they write a letter yesterday.

Rewrite the sentences by changing the verbs in the brackets in the correct form!

1. Sandra (meet) her favorite singer last night.

………………………………………………………………………………

1. This morning before school, I (sweep) the front yard.

………………………………………………………………………………

1. Jack (not – study) well last semester.

………………………………………………………………………………

1. Ellya (? – read) a new novel lately?

………………………………………………………………………………

1. Sofyan (run after) the thief yesterday.

……………………………………………………………………………