Lesson 2

Past Indefinite Tense

The second tense – the Past Indefinite Tense. It always says: “I am used with the words: last year, last summer, yesterday, a week ago and so on in order to express an action in the past”.

Past Indefinite Tense

(for regular verbs)

… verb + ed ..

christen + ed = christened

marry + ed = married

die + ed = died

Past Indefinite Tense

(for irregular verbs)

… Past Indefinite ..

take – took

get – got

give – gave

Solomon Grundy,

Born on Monday,

Christened on Tuesday,

Married on Wednesday,

Took ill on Thursday,

Got worse on Friday,

Died on Saturday.

Buried on Sunday.

This is the end

Of Solomon Grundy.

·                     Curiosity killed a cat.

-          Did curiosity kill that cat?

-          Yes, it did.

-          Why did curiosity kill that cat?

-          I don’t know.

-          When did curiosity kill that cat?

-          Yesterday curiosity kill that cat.

awake – awoke – awoke

There was an Old Man of Peru,

Who dreamt he was eating his shoe.

He awoke in the night

In a terrible fright

And found it was perfectly true!

hear – heard – heard

speak – spoke – spoken

There was an Old Owl lived in an oak.

The more he heard, the less he spoke.

The less he spoke, more he heard.

Follow the example of that wise old bird.

be – was/were – been

sit – sat – sat

There was an Old Man of Pekin,

Who sat on the point of a pin,

He jumped up in pain,

Then sat down again.

That silly old man of Pekin.

say – said – said

read – read – read

Said a Booklover fellow from Siam:

“I frequently read Omar Khayyam.

His morals depress.

Butt nevertheless

He is almost as clever as I am”.

Proverbs

·                     Curiosity killed a cat.

·                     Care killed the cat.

·                     You made your bed, now lie in it.