Past Simple Rules

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences Emphasize the most critical concepts continuously. Reiterate these concepts in lectures and assignments throughout the course. Include questions relating to these critical subjects on every exam, thus rewarding students for learning, retaining, and, hopefully, applying this knowledge in a variety of contexts. 1. Use visual aid 2. Organize in-class activities 3. Show that the content is related 4. Show the importance of the vocabulary 5. Praise 6. Challenge Are you ready to teach English to ESL students? Related Articles: This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Maurine M. S. Provide students with a "visual aid" when possible to explain abstract concepts. A significant proportion of today's students are visual learners. For these...  [Read more]

Register now & get certified to teach english abroad! Here's a fun English ESL worksheet to practice the past simple tense for ESL students.   Register now & get certified to teach english abroad!  [Read more]

Register now & get certified to teach english abroad! The simple past tense is used to talk about a completed action in a time before now. It indicates an action which is completed at a definite time in the past.   The simple past tense is used to talk about a completed action in a time before now. It indicates an action which is completed at a definite time in the past. Register now & get certified to teach english abroad!  [Read more]

Register now & get certified to teach english abroad! This is a fun worksheet to complete a summer holiday store with past simple tense.   Register now & get certified to teach english abroad!  [Read more]

Register now & get certified to teach english abroad! This is a fun board game for teaching or revising the past simple tense. Students advance on the board with dice, when they land on a square they are asked to make a sentence using the picture clue and the verb provided.   Register now & get certified to teach english abroad!  [Read more]

Register now & get certified to teach english abroad! Here is a collection of dialog cards to practice the correct usage of the past simple tense.   Cut out the dialog cards and hand them out to your students, who form answers using the past simple tense.   Register now & get certified to teach english abroad!  [Read more]

Register now & get certified to teach english abroad! Here's a fun past simple Wh questions ESL game to help you teach your students how to make questions in the past simple tense.   To play the game, divide the students into pairs (A and B) and give each student a corresponding part of the worksheet and each pair two dice. Student B begins by rolling the dice and adding up the numbers rolled. Student A then formulates the past simple question that corresponds to the number on their worksheet. For example, if Student B rolls a two, Student A asks question two on their worksheet, i.e. 'What did you wear yesterday?' If Student B answers correctly, Student A crosses off the question. If Student B makes a grammatical mistake or is unable to answer appropriately in the form...  [Read more]

Register now & get certified to teach english abroad! Here is a fun crossword puzzle for your EFL students to practice the past simple irregular verbs. Have fun!     Register now & get certified to teach english abroad!  [Read more]

Register now & get certified to teach english abroad! This board game is a great speaking practice on some past simple irregular verbs.   Students take turns asking and answering questions about actions which happened in the past. They can practice some prepositions of time as well for more advanced students.   Register now & get certified to teach english abroad!  [Read more]

Register now & get certified to teach english abroad! This worksheet is great for practicing the past continuous tense. Students need to use a verb in the simple past and a verb in the past continuous.   Register now & get certified to teach english abroad!  [Read more]

Register now & get certified to teach english abroad! This is a fun ESL printable writing activity worksheet for learners of English to practice the past simple tense with both regular and irregular verbs.   Register now & get certified to teach english abroad!  [Read more]

Having a variety of interesting and fun activities to draw on is an important part of keepingyour lessons fresh and your students engaged in learning, especially when it comes to teaching grammar points. In this graphic we look at 10 different activities for the past simple. The aim of these activities is to provide high student talking time using the target language. They should also encourage the students to produce the language themselves with varying amounts of creativity. Matching Pairs’ is a great activity for recognising irregular past simple verb forms. The activity helps students remember the different forms and encourages them to produce their own sentences. The ‘Diary’ activity encourages students to use the past simple with...  [Read more]

Register now & get certified to teach english abroad! This is a great ESL board game to practice using the present perfect and past simple tenses in English.   Register now & get certified to teach english abroad!  [Read more]

Register now & get certified to teach english abroad! This is a fun activity to practice the simple past. Students look at the images and talk about what Harry did on holiday.   Register now & get certified to teach english abroad!  [Read more]

Register now & get certified to teach english abroad! This is a fun activity to practice the simple past. Students look at the images and talk about what Daisy did last Saturday. You can also have them figure out where Daisy forgot her umbrella.   Register now & get certified to teach english abroad!  [Read more]

  In this video, we provide you with a useful overview of the various past tenses. We focus here especially on the differences between the past simple and past continuous. Below you can read feedback from an ITTT graduate regarding one section of their online TEFL certification course. Each of our online courses is broken down into concise units that focus on specific areas of English language teaching. This convenient, highly structured design means that you can quickly get to grips with each section before moving onto the next. Register now & get certified to teach english abroad! Great unit for introduction to the intricacies of teaching English as a foreign language. As someone that has no prior experience, I already feel much, much more comfortable being at the front of a...  [Read more]

  The usage of the past simple tense as explained in this video is when you talk about completed actions at a definite time in the past. For example: I completed my TEFL course last year. When did you complete your TEFL course? ITTT's online TEFL courses cover tenses such as the past simple discussed in this video as well as other grammar points such as modal verbs, conditionals, reported speech etc. making sure that you as prepared as you can be before stepping into your first classroom. Once you have completed a TEFL course and are considering your options for teaching jobs it is worth considering becoming an online English teacher. As technology becomes increasingly more available around the world the demand for English lessons given solely over the internet is growing and working...  [Read more]

  The teaching idea covered here is one that would be appropriate for adult English language learners. It involves students writing a CV including personal data such as where they were born, their education history and their work experience. This activity could be a precursor to a job interview activity where students interview each other for different jobs using information from their CVs. By taking one of ITTT's TESOL Courses you will learn useful teaching ideas such as the one covered in this video. There are number of options available to study from short 60-hour introductory courses to longer 120-hour TESOL Courses. It is also possible to take ITTT's TESOL Courses in-class at any one of our training centres around the world. Please visit the link above for more information about...  [Read more]

  This video explores the structure and usage of the past simple tense. The different structures of this tense are: Positive: Add --ed or --d to the base form of the verb She worked last night. Negative: Add did not or didn't before the base form of the verb He didn't teach yesterday. Question: Add did plus the subject before the base form of the verb Did she drive yesterday? The past simple tense is used to talk about completed actions in the past. For example: I watched television last night. In order to be a confident and successful English language teacher in the classroom, it is necessary to have a good understanding of the various English language tenses such as the one shown above. The best way to achieve this understanding is to complete a high-quality TEFL course as offered...  [Read more]

  For the teaching idea in this ESOL video students are given a set of pictures that feature events in a person's day. In pairs the students will need to put the pictures in an order of their choosing and then create a story about the person's day using the past simple tense. For example: She woke up and had a cup of coffee. She went to be at 9 o'clock. If you would like to become an ESOL teacher and travel the world experiencing new cultures while enabling people to improve their opportunities in life, then you should take a TESOL course. Taking such a course will give you the knowledge and skills needed to make you an effective teacher of English. Visit our site by following the link above for more information on the courses available to you. Below you can read feedback from an...  [Read more]

  This video is part of our series on the past tenses in English. We start off the series with the past simple tense. In this video, we focus on the usages of the past simple tense, which mostly include completed actions at a definite time in the past. Below you can read feedback from an ITTT graduate regarding one section of their online TEFL certification course. Each of our online courses is broken down into concise units that focus on specific areas of English language teaching. This convenient, highly structured design means that you can quickly get to grips with each section before moving onto the next. Register now & get certified to teach english abroad! This Unit was as challenging as I expected it to be. I however learnt a lot of grammar points that I didn't...  [Read more]

  This video is part of our series on the past tenses in English. We start off the series with the past simple tense. In this video, we focus on useful teaching ideas for this tense. A great idea to practice this tense is a picture story. Here, the teacher provides the students with various photos or images and the students are asked to piece them together to make a story in the past. Below you can read feedback from an ITTT graduate regarding one section of their online TEFL certification course. Each of our online courses is broken down into concise units that focus on specific areas of English language teaching. This convenient, highly structured design means that you can quickly get to grips with each section before moving onto the next. Register now & get certified to teach...  [Read more]

Register now & get certified to teach english abroad! This is a fun worksheet to practice the Past Simple or the Past Continuous. Students look at the pictures and fill in the gaps with one of the linking words in the box in order to complete the story.     Register now & get certified to teach english abroad!  [Read more]

  In this video we look at the last of three teaching ideas for the past simple. This is a two part exercise that involves students initially guessing the answer to a given question before taking a poll on what the real answers is. This is idea is one of many that can be learned on one of ITTT's online TEFL courses. There are number of options available to study from short 60-hour introductory courses to longer 120-hour TEFL courses. It is also possible to take ITTT's TEFL courses in-class at one of many locations around the world. Please visit the link above for more information about the courses ITTT provides to help you become an English teacher. Below you can read feedback from an ITTT graduate regarding one section of their online TEFL certification course. Each of our online...  [Read more]

Register now & get certified to teach english abroad!   The majority of singular nouns are made plural simply by adding an S on to the end of the word. However, there are many different rules depending on what letter the word ends in.   A plural noun is a word that is used to indicate that there is more than one person, animal, place, thing, or idea etc. The majority of singular nouns are made plural simply by adding an S on to the end of the word. However, there are many different rules depending on what letter the word ends in. There are also many irregular nouns that don’t follow the rules and these need to be learned and memorized. The rules every EFL teacher needs to know so they can teach their students effectively are: 1 To make regular nouns plural, add ‑s to...  [Read more]

  This video is part of our series on the past tenses in English. We start off the series with the past simple tense. This tense is used to express completed actions in the past. In this video, we focus on the structure of the past simple. Below you can read feedback from an ITTT graduate regarding one section of their online TEFL certification course. Each of our online courses is broken down into concise units that focus on specific areas of English language teaching. This convenient, highly structured design means that you can quickly get to grips with each section before moving onto the next. Register now & get certified to teach english abroad! In this unit we look at different ways of evaluating students levels and progress, as well as some of the common external exams...  [Read more]

Register now & get certified to teach english abroad! This game can be used to practice irregular verbs. The rules are similar to a regular game of Ludo - the only difference is that when the counter lands on a new square, the students must give past forms of a given verb.   Register now & get certified to teach english abroad!  [Read more]

Register now & get certified to teach english abroad! Punctuation in English often differs in many ways from punctuation in other languages. This can be an issue, especially for non-native English learners all across the world. What is punctuation? Check out these useful punctuation rules in English below.   Here is our complete guide on punctuation rules and punctuation marks in the English language. Fnd out how and when to use different punctuation marks with useful examples. This is the most popular punctuation mark because you simply cannot write a single sentence without using it. There are two main uses of a full stop: to indicate the end of a sentence, or to follow an abbreviation. A comma is often used to separate different ideas in a sentence. However, it has many...  [Read more]

Register now & get certified to teach english abroad! This fun activity helps your students practice the verb to be in the past simple by playing a board game where they give true or false answers to questions.   Give each group of three or four a copy of the game board, a set of true or false cards, a dice and counters. The students shuffle the cards and place them face down in a pile next to the game board. The players then take it in turns to roll the dice and move their counter along the board. When a player lands on a square, they pick up a true or false card from the pile and look at it, without showing it to anyone. The player then answers the question on the square using was or were by giving either true or false information as indicated on the card. Next, the other...  [Read more]

  In this video for a teaching English second language teaching idea the students are given a sheet of paper with a series of pictures and each picture has a prompt with complicated verb structure as well as irregular verbs. The students will have to look at the prompts and order the pictures so as to make a story in the past simple tense. For higher level students you could remove the prompts and leave it up to them to create their own story. Teaching English as a second language is an increasingly popular career move. Not only do get the opportunity to help a variety of people around the world achieve their language learning goals but you also get to experience what it is like to live in another culture, often quite different to your own, which is always a rewarding experience. To...  [Read more]