Simple Past

O Simple Past é o equivalente ao nosso passado em português. E neste artigo vou te mostrar como ele pode ser simples.

Leia também: Erros mais comuns em inglês

Quando usar o Simple Past?

Quando vamos usar o Simple Past, muitas expressões temporais são utilizadas nas frases.  Os exemplos mais usuais são: yesterday (ontem), the day before yesterday (anteontem), last night (ontem à noite), last year (ano passado), last month (mês passado), last week (semana passada), ago (atrás), etc. 

Vamos usar o Simple Past para indicar:

1. Ação na passado finalizada que aconteceu em um ponto específico:

She did not go to school yesterday. (Ela não foi para a escola ontem.)

2. Descrever sequências de eventos:

I took out my key, opened the door and went out. (Eu tirei a chave, abri a porta e sai)

3. Falar de hábitos no passado:

Did your parents read the newspaper when they were young? (Os seus pais liam o jornal quando eram mais jovens?)

4. Falar de estado no passado:

When I was a kid, I didn’t enjoy playing video games. (Quando eu era criança, eu não gostava de jogar video game)

Formação do Past Simple

Afirmativas

Para fazer afirmativas com o past simple  temos duas opções dependendo do verbo. Se o verbo for regular colocamos -ed para transformá-lo em passado. Não existe nenhuma conjugação especial para terceira pessoa no past simple:

My wife and I rented a movie, so we watched it

I stayed home, played video game, listened to music

Caso o verbo seja irregular temos que memorizar a forma do past simple. É recomendável começar a decorar desde já porque os verbos mais utilizados são irregulares. Existem milhões de listas disponíveis e é muito fácil achá-las:

I did my homework (did é o passado de do)

I went to the supermarket (went é o passado de go)

Ortografia

Para usar os verbos regulares em frases afirmativas no Simple Past, basta mudar a terminação do verbo de acordo com as seguintes regras:

1. Aos verbos regulares terminados em –e, colocamos somente o –d no final do verbo:

• to love (amar) – loved
• to lie (mentir) – lied
• to arrive (chegar) – arrived
• to like (gostar) – liked

2. Aos verbos regulares terminados em consoante+vogal+consoante (CVC), duplica-se a última consoante e acrescenta-se o –ed:

• stop (parar) – stopped
• control (controlar) – controlled
• plan (planejar) – planned
• prefer (prefer) – preferred

3. Aos verbos terminados em –y precedido de consoante, retira-se o y e acrescenta-se o –ied:

• to study (estudar) – studied
• to worry (preocupar-se) – worried
• to cry (chorar) – cried
• to try (tentar) – tried

4. Aos verbos terminados em –y precedido de vogal, acrescenta-se somente o –ed:

• enjoy (aproveitar) – enjoyed
• stay (ficar) – stayed
• play (brincar; jogar) – played

Forma interrogativa:

Para fazer perguntas usamos o do só que no passado, portanto, did. Como o did já está no passado, o verbo principal não vai para o passado, ele permanece na forma normal. 

Então, você vai ter: 

DID + Sujeito + Verbo principal na forma base + Complementos?

Vejamos alguns exemplos:

What did you do last night?

Where did you go with your friends?

Forma negativa

A forma negativa segue a mesma lógica da forma interrogativa. Vamos usar o did not ou didn’t prar fazer negativas e colocaremos o verbo principal na forma base:

I didn’t like it much.

I didn’t do anything special. 

Short Answers

Para fazer respostas curtas, usaremos o auxiliar did nelas. Como nos exemplos abaixo:

Did you do anything special? Yes, I did / No, I didn’t.

Did she like the movie? Yes, she did / No, she didn’t.

Veja também: Como aprender inglês depois dos 30 anos? Confira o manual passo a passo!

Exercícios

1. Complete the sentences with the past simple of the verbs. Be careful with irregular verbs, have a list of irregular verbs with you for this exercise:

1. I _______ (play) a video game.
2. I _______ ( not/ want) to work yesterday.
3. My best friend _______ (call) me. We _______ (chat) for a while.
4. It ________ (rain), so I ________ (not/ want) to go out.
5. My friend and I ________ (practice) guitar together. 
6. My mom _______ (buy) a new seater for me.
7. My sister ________ (have) piano lessons yesterday.
8. We _______ (see) some movies together, but I ________ (not/ like) them very much.
9. My friends ________ (read) a couple of good books last month and then they _______ (lend) them to me. I’m really excited.
10. Last night I ______ (go) to a party and I really ________ (enjoy) it.
11. I _______ (not/study) for the exam, but I ________ (get) an A still.
12. My sister _______ (take) the same exam as I did, but she ________ (fail).
13. We _______ (go) to a bar together last night and I _______ (meet) some interesting people.
14. My father _______ (say) he _______ (have) a lot of work yesterday, he ________ (write) three reports. 

B. Transform the sentences below into negatives and questions:

1. I went to bed at 9 yesterday.
2. My sister did a lot of homework yesterday afternoon. 
3. My little brother went to bed early last night.
4. I had a busy schedule last month.
5. I went out with my friends last Friday.
6. My brother and I made a cake for our sister’s birthday. 

C. Read the story below and answer the questions:

I bought a ring for Sophie on a Saturday morning – I wanted to ask her to marry me that night. So I invited her over, cooked a special dinner, and made her favorite dessert. I felt nervous, but when she arrived, she said she had a cold and felt tired. Not the right mood for “Marry me”. She had to go home after dinner and she didn’t even eat the chocolate cake.

Since now I have a new job, we decided to have dinner at a good restaurant to celebrate. The problem is that when we arrived at the restaurant, Sophie saw her friends and they decided to invite Sophie and I to eat together. And I didn’t want to ask her in front of her friends. 

After we left the restaurant she borrowed my jacket, but then I remembered the ring box was in the pocket and she accidently put her hands in the pocket and found the box. She opened the box and I quickly dropped to one knee and said: “Will you marry me?” 

1. What did the author buy for his girlfriend?
2. Why did she not eat the chocolate dessert?
3. What went wrong at the restaurant?
4. Why did Sophie find the ring accidently? 

09. Respostas:

A.

I played a video game.

I didn’t want to work yesterday.

My best friend called me. We chatted for a while.

It rained, so I didn’t want to go out.

My friend and I practiced guitar together. 

My mom bought a new sweater for me.

My sister had piano lessons yesterday.

We saw some movies together, but I didn’t like them very much.

My friends read a couple of good books last month and then they lended them to me. I’m really excited.

Last night I went to a party and I really enjoyed it.

I didn’t study for the exam, but I got an A still.

My sister took the same exam as I did, but she failed.

We went to a bar together last night and I met some interesting people.

My father said he had a lot of work yesterday, he wrote three reports. 

B.

I went to bed at 9 yesterday => I didn’t go to bed at 9 yesterday => Did you go to bed at 9 yesterday?

My sister did a lot of homework yesterday afternoon. => My sister didn’t do a lot…=> Did your sister do a lot of…

My little brother went to bed early last night. => My little brother didn’t go to bed…=> Did your little brother go to bed…

I had a busy schedule last month. => I didn’t have a busy…=> Did you have a busy schedule…?

I went out with my friends last Friday. => I didn’t go out…=> Did you go out with…?

My brother and I made a cake for our sister’s birthday. => My brother and I didn’t make a cake…=> Did you and your brother make a cake…?

C.

What did the author buy for his girlfriend?

He bought a (wedding) ring.

Why did she not eat the chocolate dessert?

Because she felt sick and had to go home. 

What went wrong at the restaurant?

Their friends invited them to eat together and the author didn’t want to ask her in front of their friends.

Why did Sophie find the ring accidently? 

Because she put her hands in the pocket of the author’s jacket.