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Lesson 7 Past Tense Basics

Talking about what already happened — regular -ed verbs, the irregular ones you just have to memorize, and asking questions with "did."

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Lesson: 7 of 10 — Past Tense Basics Clips: 37 Parts: 6

Part 1

Regular Past Tense — "-ed" Sound Families

Adding "-ed" is the regular pattern — most verbs just follow this rule.

Walked.
Watched.
Worked.
Played.
Cleaned.
Called.
Wanted.
Needed.
Started.

Listen closely — "wanted" and "needed" have an extra syllable that "walked" and "played" don't.

Part 2

Irregular Verbs — Present & Past Pairs

These don't follow the "-ed" rule. There's no shortcut — just memorize the pairs.

Go, went.
Eat, ate.
Have, had.
See, saw.
Do, did.
Get, got.
Come, came.
Take, took.

Part 3

Questions With "Did"

"Did" carries the past tense in a question, so the main verb goes back to its base form.

1 · Question

"What did you do yesterday?"

2 · Question

"Where did you go?"

3 · Question

"Did you eat?"

Part 4

Model Dialogue

Read aloud as a pair, then swap roles.

Line by Line

A "What did you do yesterday?"
B "I woke up late and I ate breakfast at ten. Then I went to work."
A "Did you have lunch with your sister?"
B "Yes, we had lunch together. We talked for an hour."
A "Did you watch TV last night?"
B "No, I didn't. I was too tired — I went to bed early."

Part 5

Practice: Check Your Answers

Try each one yourself first, then press play to hear the correct answer.

1 · Correct Past Tense Form

"Walk" →

Answer: Walked.

2 · Correct Past Tense Form

"Eat" →

Answer: Ate.

3 · Correct Past Tense Form

"Go" →

Answer: Went.

4 · Correct Past Tense Form

"Have" →

Answer: Had.

5 · Correct Past Tense Form

"Watch" →

Answer: Watched.

6 · Turn Into a "Did" Question

"You went to work." →

Answer: Did you go to work?

7 · Turn Into a "Did" Question

"She ate breakfast." →

Answer: Did she eat breakfast?

8 · Turn Into a "Did" Question

"They had lunch." →

Answer: Did they have lunch?

Part 6

Speaking Practice

Listen to the prompt, then pause the audio and answer out loud in your own words.

1 · Practice Prompt

"What did you do yesterday?"

Same question as Part 3 — now try answering it yourself.

2 · Practice Prompt

"Did you eat breakfast this morning? What did you eat?"

Pause after listening and answer out loud.

3 · Practice Prompt

"What time did you wake up today?"

Pause after listening and answer out loud.