LIFE010 · Past Simple: The Grammar of That First Day

📖 Past Simple: My First Day in Sydney

Level: A2  |  Time: 5 min  |  Focus: Grammar — Past Simple regular & irregular

📖 From Sourov’s world: I arrived in Sydney in 2005. I got off the plane. I sat on the kerb outside the terminal for three hours. I didn’t know anyone. I didn’t have a phone. I just waited, with a bag and a word of English that was, as I later described it, “horrible.” That day was the longest of my life — and the most important.

🔑 Past Simple — Form

Type	+	−	?
Regular	I arrived	I didn’t arrive	Did you arrive?
Irregular	I got (get)	I didn’t get	Did you get?

⚠️ In negative and question forms: always use the base verb (not the past form):
“Did he go?” ✓   “Did he went?” ✗

🔀 Irregular Verbs (key ones)

✏️ Quick Activity

Put the verbs in brackets into the past simple:

1. I _______ (arrive) at the airport at midnight.
2. She _______ (not / know) the address.
3. _______ they _______ (go) to the hotel?
4. He _______ (sit) and _______ (wait) for an hour.

👀 Show Answers

1. arrived   2. didn’t know   3. Did / go   4. sat / waited

⭐ Takeaway: Past simple = finished time. If you know when it happened, use past simple. “I arrived in 2005.” That “in 2005” is your signal.