The past tense

1. We worked hard yesterday, and today we must look at something new.
2. You looked at the lesson and listened to the records (or tapes), so now you are ready to learn the past tense.
3. It is very simple. You add "ed" to the infinitive if it ends in a consonant;
4. and simply "-d" to the infinitive ending in "e".
5. For example: to look, I looked; to work, he worked;
6. To like, they liked; to smile, we smiled.
7. There are, of course, some irregular verbs, but they are not too complicated.
8. Lit's look at our old friends "to be" and "to have".
9. "To have" is extremely simple. It becomes "had": you had, he had.
10. "to be" has two forms: I was, he was; and; you were, they were.
11. You see how simple it is!
12. We had dinner at eight o'clock, John and Peter were there.
13. I had a cold last week and I was quite ill.
14. We hoped to see her but she was busy.