O tempo PASSADO SIMPLES na língua inglesa é usado para se falar de coisas que já aconteceram ou já existiram. O Passado Simples indica que a ação mencionada já terminou, já aconteceu em um tempo determinado, no passado. Isso é muito importante ter em mente: “TEMPO DETERMINADO”. Por exemplo: um minuto atrás, há duas semanas, mês passado, ontem, ano passado, século passado, em 1950, etc.
Se quisermos comunicar um fato no passado, ocorrido em um tempo indefinido, ou seja, não há intenção de determinar quando o fato aconteceu, devemos usar outro tempo verbal: o tempo PRESENTE PERFEITO.
Usamos muito o Passado Simples para contar histórias, para falar sobre o último final de semana, ou sobre as últimas férias, ou sobre um evento importante que aconteceu (ex: casamento de alguém, festa de formatura, etc.).
Para formar o Passado Simples em Inglês, na grande maioria dos verbos, basta adicionar –ED no final, por exemplo: to work=workED/to play=playED. Estes são chamados de VERBOS REGULARES. Porém, há verbos que são usados com muita frequência no cotidiano e que não são regulares, apresentando formas diversas no passado. São os verbos irregulares, como por exemplo: to eat= ate, to have= had. Veja as tabelas a seguir.
Vamos conhecer a estrutura do SIMPLE PAST e praticar bastante.
The SIMPLE PAST TENSE is used to talk about things that happened or existed before now. The use of the Simple Past indicates that the mentioned action has already finished, that it has happened in a determined time in the past: a minute ago, two weeks ago, last month, yesterday, last year, last century, in 1950, etc.
If we want to express a fact in the past that happened in an indefinite time, i.e. time is not important to mention, we should use another verb tense: The PRESENT PERFECT.
We use the SIMPLE PAST to tell stories, to talk about the last weekend, or the last vacation, or an important event that happened (e.g., a wedding party, a graduation party, etc.)
The Simple Past in English, in the vast majority of verbs, is formed by just adding –ED, for example: to work = workED / to play = playED. These are called REGULAR VERBS. However, there are verbs that are used very often in everyday life and that are not regular, having different forms in the past. These are irregular verbs, for example: to eat = ate, to have = had. See the following tables.
Let’s study the SIMPLE PAST TENSE, and PRACTICE IT A LOT.
SIMPLE PAST - LANGUAGE IN USE
– Hi, Ann, how was your weekend?
– Hi, Dan, it was great! We went to the beach, played volleyball, swam a lot, and in the end of the afternoon we had a “pizza and ice cream party”.
– Grandpa, tell me about your childhood.
– Oh, dear, my childhood was happy but hard. We were six brothers and sisters, my father worked in a factory and my mother made cakes to sell. In the morning, we went to school until three in the afternoon. After school, we helped my mother make cakes. This moment was very fun and everyone used their imagination to decorate the cakes. At night, we were very tired, but we had to do our homework, and only after that, we went to sleep.
A letter to a friend
” Dear Mariana,
I arrived in New York last week. My host family is great, they are fun and welcoming. I also liked the school, I made new friends there, from all over the world. Last week, every day after school, my friends from Japan and I went to the movies and the mall. I had a lot of fun, they are very nice people.
Last weekend, I met some Brazilian friends and took a tour of New York. We took a self-guided walk from Times Square to Central Park. We visited the Rockefeller Center and the Museum of Modern Art and, in the end, we enjoyed Central Park to the fullest.
What a wonderful city! I hope you can visit New York soon,
Kisses,
Ann “
SIMPLE PAST TENSE TABLE
Let's Practice
To master this verb tense, it is important to practice many sentences and dialogues from our daily routine vocabulary.. Match the mini dialogues below:
** Check your answers: A4-B5-C1-D3-E2 /// PLUS: Create 20 other mini dialogues in the simple past tense.
IRREGULAR VERBS
Os verbos na língua inglesa, com relação ao tempo PASSADO, são divididos nos grupos dos VERBOS REGULARES (adicionam –d, -ed, -ied) e VERBOS IRREGULARES (verbos que têm uma variedade de formas no passado).
Os VERBOS IRREGULARES são muito comuns na linguagem do dia a dia, e devemos dominá-los através da prática constante. Por terem diferentes formas, é totalmente ineficiente tentar decorá-los (aliás, decorar não é um bom caminho de aprendizado). TREINAR é o segredo. USAR a língua é fundamental. Sua mente vai se acostumando com cada forma de se expressar no passado, e logo você terá internalizado esses verbos, naturalmente!
Veja a seguir uma lista de VERBOS IRREGULARES. Observe porque eles estão separados por cores diferentes e faça muitos exemplos de como você poderia usá-los na sua vida diária.
In English, there are two groups of verbs: the REGULAR VERBS (adding –d, -ed, -ied) and the IRREGULAR VERBS (the ones that have a variety of forms in the past tense).
IRREGULAR VERBS are very common in everyday language, and we must master them through constant practice. Because they have different forms, it is totally inefficient to learn them individually by heart (in fact, memorizing without meaning is not a good learning path). TRAINING is the secret! USING the language is essential. Your mind gets used to each way of expressing this kind of verbs in the past, and soon you will naturally have internalized these verbs.
Below is a list of IRREGULAR VERBS. Notice why they are separated by different colors and make many examples of how you could use them in your daily life.
Let's Practice
EXAMPLES:
I (buy) …………………… my house three years ago.
My daughter (get up) ……………….… early this morning.
Your dog (run)…………………… after me yesterday.
Last night, I (come) ………………… home on foot.
My grandma (make) ……………..… a delicious lasagna last Sunday.
Answer to this questionary:
What time did you go to school/work this morning?
Where did you spend your last vacation?
What did you do last Saturday?
Where did you meet your new friends?
When did you travel the last time?