1. Business: Succcessful Business People
Copyright © 2007 by Thomson Heinle, a part of The Thomson Corporation.  All rights reserved. 
Lesson Plan
The Simple Past Tense and The Negative Simple Past Tense of Regular Verbs
Spelling of The Simple Past Tense Verbs
Pronunciation of The Simple Past Tense Verbs

2. Grammar in Content Read about Arthur and Karen.
Hey! How was your summer?
It was great! I was at a business seminar in Florida. Bill Gates was there! I talked to him for a few minutes. I also dropped in on a friend for lunch. We didn’t cook anything. Instead, we walked to a café near his house.

3. The Simple Past Tense
Complete the chart with positive and negative statements.
What about Contractions?
Subject
verb I
in Tokyo last night. He
She It
hard yesterday.
You* We
They
Denise last week.
arrived
did not arrive
didn’t
worked
did not work
didn’t
called
did not call
didn’t
*You is either singular or plural.

4. Notes
We use the simple past to talk about events that happened and are now finished.
I worked.
I studied.
I called.
last week
yesterday
last night
today

5. Exercise A Raise your hand if the statement is false. Answers: False
True
Arthur’s summer wasn’t good.
Bill Gates was there.
Arthur didn’t drop in on his friend.
Arthur and his friend cooked lunch.
Arthur’s friend drove them to lunch.

6. Spelling Verbs in the –ed Form
Look at the chart.
Base form
-ing form
Rules
work walk
worked
walked
For most verbs: add ed.
live
dance
lived
danced
For verbs ending in a consonant + e: add d only.
study
cry
studied
cried
For verbs that end in a consonant +y: change y to i and add ed.
play
enjoy
played
enjoyed
For verbs that end in a vowel +y: add ed.
Continued on next slide.

7. Spelling Verbs in the –ed Form
Look at the chart.
Base form
-ing form
Rules
drop
hug
dropped
hugged
For one-syllable verbs that end in a consonant + vowel + consonant: double the final consonant and add ed.
show
relax
showed
relaxed
For verbs ending w or x: do not double the final consonant. Just add ed.
happen
open
distract
happened
opened
distracted
For two-syllable verbs that end in a consonant + vowel + consonant: if the first syllable is stressed, add ed. Do not double the consonant.
prefer
admit
commit
preferred
admitted
committed
For two-syllable verbs that end in a consonant + vowel + consonant: if the second syllable is stressed, double the consonant and add ed.

8. Exercise B
Raise your hand if the statement is in the present progressive tense.
Answers:
walked
cried
Correct
4. played
I walkt 12 miles yesterday.
He cryed at the end of the movie.
She danced when she was younger.
They plaid with the children.

9. Grammar in Content Read about Arthur and Karen.
Hey! How was your summer?
This time, try saying these verbs:
It was great! I was at a business seminar in Florida. Bill Gates was there! I talked to him for a few minutes. I also dropped in on a friend for lunch. We didn’t cook anything. Instead, we walked to a café near his house.

10. Pronunciation Notes Complete the chart. Verbs that end in
Pronounce the third person -s
the sounds f, k, p, s, ch, or sh
the sounds b, g, j, l, m, n, ng, r, th, v, z, or zh
d or t
/t/ as in “cooked” and “helped”
/d/ as in “played” and “used”
/id/ as in “wanted” and “needed”

11. Exercise C Practice aloud with a partner. Use these verbs in a past
tense sentence. Help and correct each other.
walk
cook
admit
work
cry
play

12. Grammar in Content Read about Alison.
Let’s see… what did I do yesterday? I took a test in English. I ate dinner. I bought a new computer. I needed toothpaste, so I went to the convenience store. I called my house, but I didn’t speak to my sister.

13. Irregular Verbs
Complete the chart with positive and negative statements.
Subject
verb I
in a restaurant last night. He
She It
You* We
They
ate
did not eat
didn’t eat
*You is either singular or plural.

14. Notes
Irregular verbs do not have the –ed ending in the past tense. Here are some common irregular verbs and their past tense forms.
be / was, were
buy / bought
come / came
do / did
get / got
give / gave
go / went
have / had
leave / left
make / made
sell / sold
speak / spoke
meet / made
pay / paid
put / put
see / saw
take / took
write / wrote
See appendix 4 on page 232 for more irregular verbs and their simple past forms.

15. ? Exercise D Ask a partner the question. Next, answer for yourself.
What did you do
When did you
last night?
last Thursday?
this morning?
yesterday?
last Summer?
eat breakfast?
study?
write a letter?
shop?
meet your friend? ?
last week
yesterday
last night
today

16. Review Subject verb I in Tokyo last night. He She It hard yesterday.
You* We
They
Denise last week.
arrived
did not arrive
worked
did not work
called
did not call
*You is either singular or plural.