Grammar

The Simple Past Tense

Context
Flying
The Wright Brothers—Men with a Vision
Before
You
Read 1. Do you like to travel by airplane? Why or why not?
2. What are the names of some famous inventors?

Read the following textbook article. Pay special attention to simple-

CD 2, TR 01
past-tense verbs.

Over 100 years ago, people only dreamed

Did You about flying. The Wright brothers, Wilbur and
Know? Orville, were dreamers who changed the world.
The Wright Wilbur Wright was born in 1867 and
brothers never Orville was born in 1871. In 1878, they
married. Their received a paper flying toy from their father.
only love was
aviation.
They played with kites and started to think
Wilbur Wright, 1867–1912; about the possibility of flight.
Orville Wright, 1871–1948 When they were older, they started a bicycle
business. They used the bicycle shop to design their airplanes. They studied
three aspects of flying: lift, control, and power. In 1899, they constructed
their first flying machine—a kite made of wood, wire, and cloth. It had no
pilot. Because of wind, it was difficult to control. They continued to study
aerodynamics.1 Finally Wilbur designed a small machine with a gasoline
engine. Wilbur tried to fly the machine, but it crashed. They fixed it and
flew it for the first time on December 17, 1903, with Orville as the pilot.
The airplane remained in the air for twelve seconds. It traveled a distance of
120 feet. This historic flight changed the world. However, only four
newspapers in the U.S. reported this historic moment.
The Wright brothers offered their invention to the U.S. government,
but the government rejected2 their offer at first. The government didn’t
believe that these men invented a flying machine. Finally, President
Theodore Roosevelt investigated their claims and offered the inventors a
contract to build airplanes for the U.S. Army.
December 17, 2003, marked 100 years of flight. There was a six-day
celebration at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, the location of the first
flight. A crowd of 35,000 people gathered to see a replica3 of the first
plane fly. The cost to re-create the plane was $1.2 million. However, it
rained hard that day and the plane failed to get off the ground.
You can now see the Wright brothers’ original airplane in the Air and
Space Museum in Washington, D.C.

1
Aerodynamics is the branch of mechanics that deals with the motion of air and its effect on things.
2
Reject means not accept.
3
A replica is a copy of an original.
224 Lesson 8
8.1 The Simple Past Tense of Regular Verbs
EXAMPLES EXPLANATION
The Wright brothers started a bicycle business. To form the simple past tense of
They dreamed about flying. regular verbs, we add -ed to the base
They designed an airplane. form.
The president offered them a contract. Base Form Past Form
start started
dream dreamed
design designed
offer offered
The Wright brothers wanted to fly. The past form is the same for all persons.
They continued to study aerodynamics. The verb after to does not use the past
The Wright brothers invented the airplane form.
over 100 years ago. We often use ago in sentences about the
We celebrated the 100th anniversary of past. Ago means before now.
flight a few years ago.

EXERCISE Read more about the Wright brothers. Underline the past tense
verbs in the following sentences.
EXAMPLE The Wright brothers lived in Dayton, Ohio.

1. Their father worked as a Christian minister.

2. The boys learned mechanical things quickly.
3. They loved bicycles.
4. They opened the Wright Cycle Company repair shop, where
they repaired bicycles.
5. They started to produce their own bicycle models.
6. The first airplane weighed over 600 pounds.
7. They succeeded in flying the first airplane in 1903.
8. Wilbur died nine years later, of typhoid.4
9. Orville lived to be 76 years old.

4
Typhoid is a serious infection causing a fever and often death.

The Simple Past Tense 225

8.2 Spelling of the Past Tense of Regular Verbs
RULE BASE FORM PAST FORM
Add -ed to most regular verbs. start started
rain rained
When the base form ends in e, add -d only. die died
live lived
When the base form ends in a consonant + y, change y carry carried
to i and add -ed. study studied
When the base form ends in a vowel + y, add -ed. stay stayed
Do not change the y. enjoy enjoyed
When a one-syllable verb ends in a consonant-vowel- stop stopped
consonant, double the final consonant and add -ed. hug hugged
Do not double a final w or x. show showed
fix fixed
When a two-syllable verb ends in a consonant-vowel- occúr occurred
consonant, double the final consonant and add -ed permi permitted
only if the last syllable is stressed. ´t
When the last syllable of a two-syllable verb is not opened
stressed, do not double the final consonant. ópen offered
óffer

EXERCISE Write the past tense of these regular verbs. (Accent marks show you
where a word is stressed.)
EXAMPLES learn learned clap clapped
love loved l´isten listened

1. Play Played 11. enjoy enjoyed

stopped
2. study studied 12. drag dragged
3. decide decided 13. drop dropped
4. want wanted 14. start started
Decided
5. like liked 15. follow followed
6. show showed 16. prefér preferred
7. look looked 17. like liked

8. stop stopped 18. mix mixed

9. háppen háppened 19. adm´it adm´ited

10. carry carried 20. propél propélled

226 Lesson 8
 8.3 Pronunciation of -ed Past Forms
PRONUNCIATION RULE EXAMPLES
/t/ Pronounce /t/ after jump—jumped kiss—kissed
voiceless sounds: /p, k, f, s, cook—cooked wash—washed
š, cˇ/ cough—coughed watch—watched
/d/ rub—rubbed name—named
Pronounce /d/ after voiced drag—dragged learn—learned
sounds: /b, g, v, d¯, z, ž, ˇj, m, love—loved bang—banged
n, ŋ, l, r/ and all vowel bathe—bathed call—called
sounds. use—used care—cared
massage—massaged free—freed
charge—charged
/ d/
Pronounce / d/ after /d/ wait—waited add—added
/t/ sounds. or hate—hated decide—decided
want—wanted

EXERCISE Go back to Exercise 2 and pronounce the base form and past form of
each verb.

EXERCISE 4 Fill in the blanks with the past tense of the verb in parentheses ( ).
Use the correct spelling.
EXAMPLE The Wright brothers received a flying toy from their father.
(receive)
played
1. They with kites. about flying.
(play) everything they could about flying.
2. They dreamed
Played
(dream) a bicycle business.
3. They studied
(study) the bicycle shop to design airplanes.
started
4. They
(start) to fly their first plane in 1899.
used
5. They
(use)
tried
6. They
(try)
crashed

fixed
7. Their first .
(crash)
plane
8. They it.
(fix) stayed
9. In 1903, their plane (stay)

offered The Simple Past Tense 227

 in the air for 12 seconds.
10. The their invention to the U.S. government.
y (offer)

11. The government decided

to offer them a contract.
(decide)
(continued)

228 Lesson 8
 12. Wilbur Wright died in 1912.
(die)
13. Orville Wright lived
for many more years.
(live)
14. Their invention changed the world.
(change)

Charles Lindbergh and Amelia Earhart

Before
You 1. When was the first time you traveled by airplane?
Read
2. Do you recognize the people in the photos below?

Read the following textbook article. Pay special attention to the

past-tense forms of be.
CD 2, TR 02

At the beginning of the twentieth century,

flight was new. It was not for everyone. It was
only for the brave and adventurous. Two
adventurers were Charles Lindbergh and Amelia
Earhart.
Charles Lindbergh loved to fly. He was born
in 1902, one year before the Wright brothers’
historic flight. In 1927, a man offered a $25,000
reward for the first person to fly from New York
Charles Lindbergh,
to Paris nonstop. Lindbergh was a pilot for the
1902–1974 United States Mail Service at that time. He
wanted to win the prize.
He became famous because he was the first person
to fly alone across the Atlantic Ocean. His plane
was in the air for 33 hours. The distance of the
flight was 3,600 miles. There were thousands of
people in New York to welcome him home. He
was an American hero. He was only 25 years old.
Another famous American aviator5 was Amelia
Earhart. She was the first woman to fly across
the Atlantic Ocean alone. She was 34 years
Amelia Earhart,
old. Americans were in love with Earhart. In 1897–1937
1937, however, she was on a flight around the
world
when her plane disappeared somewhere in the Pacific Ocean.
No one really knows what happened to Earhart.

The Simple Past Tense 229

 5
Aviator means pilot.

230 Lesson 8
8.4 Past Tense of Be
The verb be has two forms in the past: was and were.
EXAMPLES EXPLANATION
Subject Was Complement I
I interested in the story. He
Charles a pilot. She ∂ was
He brave. It
Amelia was a pilot too. singular subject
She popular.
The airplane new in 1903.
It in the air for 12 seconds.
Subject Were Complement We
We interested in the story. You
You in class yesterday. They ∂ were
Amelia and Charles we brave. plural subject
They adventurous.
There Was Singular Subject
There + was + singular noun
There was a celebration in 2003.
There Were Plural Subject
There + were + plural noun
There were thousands of people.
Charles Lindbergh was not the first person to
To make a negative statement, put
fly. We were not at the 2003 celebration.
not after was or were.
I wasn’t here yesterday.
The contraction for was not is wasn’t.
You weren’t in class yesterday.
The contraction for were not is weren’t.

EXERCISE Fill in the blanks with was or were.

EXAMPLE Lindbergh and Earhart were very famous.

1. The Wright brothers were the inventors of the airplane.

2. The first airplane was in the air for 12 seconds.
3. Lindbergh and Earhart were aviators.
4. There were thousands of people in New York to welcome
Lindbergh home.
5. Earhart was the first woman to fly across the Atlantic Ocean.
6. I was interested in the story about Earhart and Lindbergh.
7. were you surprised that a woman was a famous aviator?
8. Lindbergh was in Paris.
9. We were happy to read about flight.
10. There was a celebration of 100 years of flight in 2003.
The Simple Past Tense 231
11. There were
thousands of people at
the celebration.

232 Lesson 8
8.5 Uses of Be

EXAMPLES EXPLANATION
Lindbergh was an aviator. Classification of the subject
Lindbergh was brave. Description of the subject
Lindbergh was in Paris. Location of the subject
Earhart was from Kansas. Place of origin of the subject
She was born in 1897. With born
There were thousands of people in New York With there Lindbergh.
to welcome

Lindbergh was 25 years old in 1927. With age

EXERCISE
6 Read each statement. Then write a negative statement with the
words in parentheses ( ).
EXAMPLE
The Wright brothers were inventors. (Earhart and Lindbergh)
Earhart and Lindbergh weren’t inventors.

1. The train was common transportation in the early 1900s. (the airplane)
The airplane wasn´t common transportarion...

2. Earhart was from Kansas. (Lindbergh)

Lindbergh wasn´t from kansas
3. Lindbergh’s last flight was successful. (Earhart’s last flight)
Earthat's lady flight wasn´t successful
4. Lindbergh’s plane was in the air for many hours. (the Wright
brothers’ first plane)
The Wright brother's first planes was not in the air for many hours
5. The Wright brothers were inventors. (Earhart)
Earhart weren´t inventors
6. There were a lot of trains 100 years ago. (planes)
There weren´t many planes 100 years ago
7. Lindbergh was born in the twentieth century. (the Wright brothers)
The Wright brother's wasn´t born in the twentieth century
8. The 1903 flight at Kitty Hawk was successful. (the 2003 flight)
The 2003 flight wasn´t successful

The Simple Past Tense 233

 8.6 Questions with Was/Were
EXAMPLES EXPLANATION
Was the first flight long? Yes/No Questions
No, it wasn’t.
Was/were + subject . . . ?
Was the first flight successful?
Yes, it was. Short answers
Were the Wright brothers inventors? Yes, + subject + was/were.
Yes, they were. No, + subject + wasn’t/weren’t.

Were there a lot of people at the 100-year There Questions

celebration?
Was/were + there . . . ?
Yes, there were.
Short Answers
Was there a lot of rain that day?
Yes, there was. Yes, there was/were.
No, there wasn’t/weren’t.
Wh- Questions
How long was the first
Wh- word + was/were + subject . . . ?
flight? Where was the first
flight? Negative Questions
Why wasn’t Amelia successful? Why + wasn’t/weren’t + subject . . . ?
Why weren’t you there? Subject Questions
Who was with Earhart when she Who + was . . . ?
How many . . . + were . . . ?
disappeared? How many people were in the
airplane?
Compare affirmative statements and questions.
Wh- WordWas/Were
Subject Was/Were Complement Short Answer
Amelia she she
was born before 1903. born in the U.S.? born?
Was was famous. inventors? Yes, she was. In 1897.
When with Amelia. with Amelia?
at the celebration. at the celebration?
Charles and Ameliawere
Were they No, they weren’t.
Someone Who was was
A copilot.
Many people were
How many peoplewere Thousands.

Compare negative statements and questions.

Wh- Word Wasn’t/Weren’t Subject Wasn’t/Weren’t Complement

Air travel wasn’t safe 100 years ago.
Why wasn’t it safe?
The Wright brothers weren’t afraid of flying.
Why weren’t they afraid?
234 Lesson 8
EXERCISE Read each statement. Then write a yes/no question with the words
in parentheses ( ). Give a short answer.
EXAMPLE The Wright brothers were inventors. (Lindbergh)
Was Lindbergh an inventor? No, he wasn’t.

1. The airplane was an important invention. (the telephone)

Was the telephone an important invention? Yes, it was

2. Thomas Edison was an inventor. (the Wright brothers)

Were the Wright brothers an inventor? Yes, they were
3. Amelia Earhart was American. (Lindbergh)
Was Lindbergh america? No, he wasn´t
4. Travel by plane is common now. (100 years ago)
was 100 years ago it not common to travel by plane? No, it wasn´t
5. There were telephones 100 years ago. (airplanes)
was there airplanes 100 years ago? Yes, it was
6. You are in class today. (yesterday)
Were you in class yesterday? Yes, I was
7. I was interested in the story about the aviators. (you)
Were you interested in the life of the aviators? No, I was
8. I wasn’t born in the U.S. (you)
Were you born in the U.S? yes, I was

EXERCISE Interview a classmate who is from another

ABOUT YOU country.

1. Where were you born? In yajalon

2. Were you happy or sad when you left your country? I was a little sad
because I left mi family
3. Who was with you on your trip? My dad and mom just came to leave
Me and then they came back
4. Were you happy or sad when you arrived? I was sad
5. What was your first impression of your new home? Well, at first I didn't
get used to it because it wasn't the same as being at home, but over
time I got used to it.
6. Were you tired when you arrived? Yes much
7. Who was at the airport to meet you? My uncles on my mother´s side
8. How was the weather on the day you arrived? It was sunny and it
was a very happy day

The Simple Past Tense 235

236 Lesson 8