Unit 4: Holidays
Topic Information: Dates and Past Events
In this unit, we talk about holidays, dates, and what we did in the past. To talk about dates, we use ordinal numbers (1st, 2nd, 3rd) and months. Remember that the names of months and days always begin with a capital letter (e.g., January, Monday). We use specific prepositions for time: use in for months, years, and seasons (in July, in 2015, in winter); use on for specific dates and days (on Friday, on May1st); and use at for precise times and night (at 6 o’clock, atnight),.
Grammar: The Past Simple
We use the past simple to talk about completed actions in the past. We often use time expressions like yesterday, last month, 3 weeks ago,or in 1999.
- Regular Verbs: Add -ed to the verb (e.g., play → played, watch → watched).
- Irregular Verbs: These do not follow a rule andmust be memorized (e.g., go → went, see → saw, have → had).
- Negatives: Use didn’t + base verb (e.g., I didn’t go).
Advanced Info: Spelling and Pronunciation
When writing regular past tense verbs, spelling changes can occur. For verbs ending in a consonant + y, change the y to i and add -ed (e.g., study → studied). For short verbs ending in a vowel + consonant, double the final consonant (e.g., stop → stopped). Pronunciation of the -ed ending varies: it can sound like /t/ (walked), /d/ (played), or /id/ (wanted).
Exercise 1: Categorizing Time Words
Sort the following words into the correct group: Months,Seasons, or Days. [1, 9]
Words: August, Tuesday, Winter, September, Friday, Spring, March, Sunday, Autumn, Summer, Wednesday, December
- Month: __________________
- Season: __________________
- Day: __________________
- Month: __________________
- Season: __________________
- Day: __________________
- Month: __________________
- Season: __________________
- Day: __________________
- Month: __________________
Exercise 2: Prepositions of Time
Complete the sentences with at, in, or on. [2, 3]
- My birthday is ______ May.
- We go to the beach ______ Sundays.
- The party is ______5 o’clock.
- School starts ______ September 5th.
- We went to Paris ______ 2018.
- I sleep well ______ night.
- The weather is cold ______ winter.
- I will see you ______ lunchtime.
Exercise 3: Regular Verb Spelling
Write the past simple form of these regular verbs. Watch your spelling! [7, 10]
- stop →__________________
- cry → __________________
- live → __________________
- plan → __________________
- study → __________________
- like → __________________
- walk → __________________
- cook → __________________
Exercise 4: Irregular Verb Match
Match the base form of the verb with its irregular past form. [11, 12]
Base forms: go, see, buy, have, do, make, eat, take
- took → __________________
- went → __________________
- had → __________________
- saw→ __________________
- made → __________________
- ate → __________________
- bought → __________________
- did → __________________
Exercise 5: Writing Dates
Write the following dates in words. [13, 14]
- 01/01 → __________________
- 14/02 → __________________
- 04/07 → __________________
- 31/10 → __________________
- 25/12 → __________________
- 02/05 → __________________
- 03/09 → __________________
- 22/11 → __________________
Exercise 6: Past Activities
Complete the sentences with a verb from the box in the past simple. [15, 16]
Box: visited, played, watched, cooked, listened, walked, cleaned, rained
- We ______ football in the park yesterday.
- She ______ a delicious dinner last night.
- I ______ my grandmother last weekend.
- They ______ to music at the party.
- It ______ all day on Saturday.
- We ______ TV until midnight.
- He ______ his room this morning.
- The children ______ to school yesterday.
