Past simple tense – negative

ByZdenda 06/10/201406/10/2014

I have already published several posts on past simple tense. There are several posts on irregular verbs, a post on regular verbs in past tense and now I would like to explain how to make negative sentences in past simple. It is quite simple – you just add DIDN´T and the infinitive. To help you and your students absorb this concept there are two games and a graphical explanation.

Past tense negatives – video

In this short video a man ends up in prison because his grammar is bad. The aim of this video is to introduce the basic forms of negatives in past tense.
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Past tense negatives – mind map

In this mind map you can see how the past tense negatives are formed. There is the explanation and below there is a mind map depicting three frequently asked questions and their answers.

If you are a teacher it might be a good idea to let the students deduce the rules and complete the table. However, beware that this way of teaching is not suitable for weaker students.
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Past tense negatives – games

I firmly believe that practice makes perfect. If you practice the things you will understand the things better. That is why I think that students should go through the following games at least twice or three times.
The first game is in HTML5. Your task is to choose the correct form and if you pass the test you will play the game called Tower defence. This game will play on all mobile devices.

If you want to play the game on the full screen, click below:

Past tense negative – Tower defence

The second game will play only on your desktop. It is called a Penalty Shoutout and once you choose the correct option you will get a chance to kick a penalty. Will you score all ten penalties? Good luck.

Past tense negative – Penalty shootout

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English games | Grammar | Intermediate

In the end vs. at the end, in time vs. on time

ByZdenda 12/08/201412/08/2014

I have already dealt with the usage of prepositions in the posts Prepositions AT, IN and ON for time and Adjectives with prepositions. However, this post is different because it concentrates only on the phrases IN THE END, AT THE END, IN TIME and ON TIME which are frequently used incorrectly by students of English….

English games

Four speaking activities

ByZdenda 15/02/2016

In this post, I would like to share four speaking activities that worked very well in my classes. There are two games to practise comparatives and superlatives and two activities to practise describing people. The first two activities help your students practise the usage of comparatives and superlatives. The first one is a simple board…

English games

Must or Have to?

ByZdenda 09/05/201611/04/2023

Elementary students are taught that there is very little difference between the words MUST and HAVE TO. Little as it may be, it exists. And in this post I would like to give you several rules which will help you decide which one is better in the given sentence. <!– wp:more –> ADVERT: [showmyads] In…

Forming questions in the past simple tense

English games

Forming Questions in Past Tense

ByZdenda 23/09/201523/09/2015

It is really important that students learn to form questions in the past simple tense. If they don’t, they won’t be able to ask about the things that happened in the past. And as most conversations deal with the things that already happened it is vital to be able to ask about the details they…

English games | Intermediate | Vocabulary

Confusing words: BIG or LARGE, HIGH or TALL

ByZdenda 07/08/2014

For many learners of English the slight differences between the words BIG vs. LARGE and HIGH vs. TALL are very difficult to understand. In this post I will try to make the differences clearer and easy to remember. To achieve this, I have come up with two videos, two quizzes and two mind maps. I…

English games | Grammar | Intermediate

Irregular verbs with Fluency MC 4

ByZdenda 30/05/201505/11/2021

This is the last post in which we try to teach the irregular verbs mentioned in the rap song by Fluency MC. This time there are 15 irregular verbs and to help you teach or learn them there is an infographic, a quiz and a game. First, listen to the following song and complete the…

5 Comments

Anonymous says:

17/10/2014 at 4:09 pm

Can we say: I didn’t do and steal it?
Zdenda says:

18/10/2014 at 4:45 am

No. You have to say: I didn´t do it. I didn´t steal it.
Mary Lane-Jones says:

28/10/2014 at 2:51 pm

One of the tests was a sentence….”Me and my friend…”.

As the subject of the sentence, it should read “My friend and I…”

With this fundamental error I can’t use this exercise for my students. Otherwise it is great !
Zdenda says:

31/10/2014 at 3:49 am

When I was at school we learnt My friends and I too. But no one uses this. Everyone says Me and my friends.
ytmp3official says:

22/11/2024 at 1:10 am

This post is really helpful! I love the game ideas for practicing the past simple tense in negative form. They make learning so much more fun and interactive. Can’t wait to try them out with my students!