Series ID: EDKS-BASIC-ZH-0021 · Lesson No.021 · 零基础英语第二十一课 · Pre-A1 → A1

Yesterday and Past Time | 昨天与过去时间

I was tired yesterday. I worked in the morning. I went home at six.
我昨天很累。我早上工作了。我六点回家。

Past English tells us what happened before now. The beginner goal is not to memorise hundreds of verb forms at once. It is to build a small, reliable past-time system.

过去时间英语的目标，不是一口气背几百个过去式。先建立一套小而可靠的系统：时间词、was/were、规则动词、常见不规则动词、did 问句和 didn’t 否定句。

Chinese Edition Hub · 中文版入口 · ← Lesson No.020 · Plans and Future Time

The past-time map | 过去时间路线

yesterday / last / ago
was / were
wasn’t / weren’t
regular verbs with -ed
common irregular verbs
did / didn’t
Did you…?
What did you…?
past sequence words
morning → afternoon → evening timeline
past routines and one-time events
telling a short story
Mandarin 了/过/context vs English past forms
-ed pronunciation recognition

1. Yesterday | 昨天

yesterday morning
yesterday afternoon
yesterday evening
yesterday at three

Example: I worked yesterday.

2. Last night | 昨晚

I studied last night.
We watched a film last night.

Say last night, not “yesterday night” in standard English.

3. Last week / month / year | 上周 / 上月 / 去年

last week
last month
last year

No preposition is normally needed before these basic expressions.

4. Two days ago | 两天前

two days ago
three weeks ago
one year ago

ago counts backward from now.

5. The first past machine: was / were | 第一套过去：was/were

Present	Past
I am tired.	I was tired.
She is at home.	She was at home.
We are busy.	We were busy.
They are late.	They were late.

6. Was with I/he/she/it | was

I was tired.
He was at work.
She was happy.
It was cold.

7. Were with you/we/they | were

You were early.
We were at school.
They were busy.

8. Wasn’t / weren’t | be 过去否定

I wasn’t tired.
She wasn’t at home.
We weren’t late.
They weren’t ready.

wasn’t = was not; weren’t = were not.

9. Was…? / Were…? | be 过去问句

Were you tired?
Was she at home?
Were they busy?

Short answers:

Yes, I was. / No, I wasn’t.
Yes, she was. / No, she wasn’t.

10. Where were you? | 你在哪里？

Where were you yesterday?
I was at home.
Where was she last night?
She was at work.

11. The second past machine: regular -ed | 规则过去式

Many English verbs form the simple past with -ed.

work → worked
play → played
clean → cleaned
watch → watched
visit → visited

12. I worked yesterday | 昨天工作了

I worked yesterday.
She worked last Saturday.
They worked late.

The past form does not change with he/she/they: I worked / she worked / they worked.

13. Spelling: live → lived | e 结尾

live → lived
love → loved
move → moved

If a verb already ends in e, normally add only d.

14. Study → studied | 辅音 + y

study → studied
try → tried

But: play → played because a vowel comes before y.

15. Stop → stopped | 双写预览

stop → stopped
plan → planned

Some short stressed verb patterns double the final consonant. Learn common verbs as whole forms at first.

16. The third past machine: irregular verbs | 不规则过去式

Some high-frequency verbs do not use regular -ed.

go → went	come → came
have → had	do → did
get → got	make → made
take → took	see → saw
eat → ate	drink → drank

17. Go → went | 去

I went home at six.
We went to the shop.
She went to school.

Remember: go home, but go to school / go to the shop.

18. Come → came | 来

He came home late.
She came to class yesterday.

19. Have → had | 有 / 吃 / 经历

I had breakfast at seven.
We had a meeting.
She had a busy day.

had has several meanings depending on the noun that follows.

20. Do → did | 做

I did my homework.
She did the shopping.

did can be a main verb or a question/negative helper.

21. See → saw | 看见

I saw Anna yesterday.
We saw a film.

22. Eat → ate / drink → drank | 吃喝

I ate noodles for lunch.
She drank tea.

23. Take → took | 乘坐 / 拿

I took the bus.
He took an umbrella.

24. Get → got | 到达/得到等

I got home at eight.
She got a message.

get has many meanings. Learn it in chunks.

25. The fourth past machine: did questions | did 问句

With ordinary past verbs, English uses did + subject + base verb.

Did you work yesterday?
Did she go home?
Did they eat lunch?

After did, use the base verb.

26. Did you go? not “Did you went?” | did 后用原形

Did you went? ✗
Did you go? ✓
Did she worked? ✗
Did she work? ✓

Past marking is already carried by did.

27. Did short answers | did 简答

Did you work? — Yes, I did. / No, I didn’t.
Did she call? — Yes, she did. / No, she didn’t.

28. What did you do? | 你做了什么？

What did you do yesterday?
I worked in the morning and rested in the evening.

This is one of the highest-value past-time questions.

29. Where did you go? | 你去了哪里？

Where did you go?
I went to the supermarket.

30. When did you arrive? | 什么时候到？

When did you arrive?
I arrived at nine.

31. The fifth past machine: didn’t | did not

I didn’t work yesterday.
She didn’t go out.
We didn’t see him.

didn’t + base verb.

32. Didn’t go, not “didn’t went” | 否定也回原形

I didn’t went. ✗
I didn’t go. ✓
She didn’t worked. ✗
She didn’t work. ✓

33. Sequence: first, then, after that, finally | 讲过去顺序

First, I had breakfast.
Then I took the train.
After that, I worked.
Finally, I went home.

Sequence words make a short story easier to follow.

34. Morning → afternoon → evening | 时间线

Build stories in time order:

In the morning, I went to work.
At noon, I had lunch.
In the afternoon, I had a meeting.
In the evening, I went home.

35. One-time event vs past routine | 一次事件 vs 过去习惯

Yesterday, I took the bus. — one event
When I was a student, I walked to school every day. — past routine

At A1, simple past can handle both when the time context is clear.

36. Last weekend | 上周末

I visited my family last weekend.
We stayed home last weekend.

37. A short past-day model | 一天过去式范文

Yesterday I got up at seven. I had breakfast and took the bus to work. I worked until five. After work, I went to the supermarket. I bought some food and went home. In the evening, I cooked dinner and watched television. I went to bed at eleven.

You do not need every past verb at once. Reuse a small set until it becomes automatic.

38. Bought / watched / went | 混合规则与不规则

Real stories mix both types:

buy → bought
watch → watched
go → went

Do not expect one spelling rule to cover every verb.

39. Pronunciation of -ed | -ed 发音认识

Written -ed has different spoken endings. You may hear roughly:

/t/ as in worked
/d/ as in played
/ɪd/ as in wanted

The exact pronunciation depends on the final sound of the verb. At beginner level, listen and imitate whole words.

40. Do not pronounce every -ed as a separate “ed” | 不要每个 -ed 都读成额外音节

worked ≠ work-ed with a full extra syllable
wanted does have an extra syllable

Use reliable audio models.

41. Mandarin transfer: 了 is not one English word | 了不等于一个过去式词

Mandarin can mark completed events with 了, time words, context, or aspect. English often changes the verb form.

我昨天工作了。 → I worked yesterday.
我昨天去了学校。 → I went to school yesterday.

Do not search for one English word that always equals 了.

42. Mandarin transfer: verb usually changes in English | 英语动词常变化

我今天工作。 → I work today / I’m working today depending on meaning.
我昨天工作。 → I worked yesterday.

English marks time partly inside the verb.

43. Mandarin transfer: 没 + past | didn’t + base verb

我昨天没工作。 → I didn’t work yesterday.
她没去。 → She didn’t go.

Do not say “didn’t went”.

44. Mandarin transfer: 去过 | experience is a different system

Chinese 过 often expresses experience. English may use present perfect forms such as have been or have visited, which belong to a later lesson. Do not force every 过 into simple past.

45. Listening: was/were vs is/are | 听现在与过去

She is tired. — now
She was tired. — past
They are busy. — now
They were busy. — past

46. Listening: did + base verb | 听 did 问句

Did you work?
Did she go?
What did they eat?

Once you hear did, expect a base verb later.

47. Reading practice A: yesterday | 阅读 A

Mei had a busy day yesterday. She got up at six thirty and took the train to work. She worked until five. After work, she met her sister for dinner. They ate noodles and drank tea. Mei got home at nine and went to bed early because she was tired.

What time did Mei get up?
How did she travel to work?
When did she finish work?
Who did she meet?
What did they eat?
Why did she go to bed early?

48. Reading practice B: weekend | 阅读 B

David didn’t work last Saturday. In the morning, he cleaned the kitchen and washed his clothes. At noon, he went to a café. He saw an old friend there. They talked for an hour. In the afternoon, David went home and watched a film.

Did David work?
What did he clean?
Where did he go at noon?
Who did he see?
What did he do in the afternoon?

49. Reading practice C: wrong train | 阅读 C

Anna took the wrong train yesterday. She noticed after two stops. She got off at the next station, checked the map, and took another train back. She arrived twenty minutes late, but she called ahead and explained the problem.

What mistake did Anna make?
When did she notice?
What did she do next?
How late was she?
Did she communicate the delay?

50. Writing practice: yesterday in six sentences | 写昨天

Write:

what time you got up
what you ate
where you went
what you did
who you saw
what time you went to bed

Use fictional information if you prefer privacy.

51. Writing practice: positive → question → negative | 三向转换

She worked. → Did she work? → She didn’t work.
He went home. → Did he go home? → He didn’t go home.

This reveals the whole simple-past control system.

52. Speaking practice: yesterday interview | 昨天采访

What did you do yesterday?
Where did you go?
What did you eat?
Who did you see?
Were you tired?

53. Error clinic | 常见错误诊所

Error	Better English	What broke?
Yesterday I work. ✗	Yesterday I worked. ✓	past marking
I goed home. ✗	I went home. ✓	irregular verb
Did you went? ✗	Did you go? ✓	base verb after did
I didn’t went. ✗	I didn’t go. ✓	base verb after didn’t
She were tired. ✗	She was tired. ✓	was/were agreement
We was late. ✗	We were late. ✓	was/were agreement
in last week ✗	last week ✓	time expression

54. First weak link diagnosis | 第一个卡点诊断

I know time words but keep present verbs → past-form control.
I add -ed to everything → irregular verb set.
I know past statements but questions fail → did + base verb.
I know did questions but negatives fail → didn’t + base verb.
I mix was/were → subject agreement.
I have events but no story flow → sequence words.
I write correctly but cannot hear -ed → pronunciation/listening.

55. Retrieval lab | 提取练习

我昨天很累。 → ______
我昨天工作了。 → ______
我昨天没工作。 → ______
你昨天工作了吗？ → ______
我六点回家了。 → ______
她去了学校。 → ______
我们吃了面。 → ______
他们迟到了。 → ______
你去了哪里？ → ______
你做了什么？ → ______

Suggested answers: I was tired yesterday. / I worked yesterday. / I didn’t work yesterday. / Did you work yesterday? / I went home at six. / She went to school. / We ate noodles. / They were late. / Where did you go? / What did you do?

56. Ten-minute daily practice | 每天十分钟

2 min	yesterday/last/ago	过去时间词
2 min	was/were	be 过去
2 min	five regular + five irregular verbs	动词
2 min	did/didn’t	问句否定
2 min	one short past story	叙述

57. Seven-day training cycle | 七天训练

Day 1	was/were	be 过去
Day 2	regular -ed	规则动词
Day 3	10 irregular verbs	不规则
Day 4	did questions	过去问句
Day 5	didn’t negatives	过去否定
Day 6	sequence words	时间顺序
Day 7	one-minute yesterday story	综合输出

58. Self-test: 35 questions | 35 题自测

Translate: 昨天。
Translate: 昨晚。
Translate: 上周。
Translate: 两天前。
Past of am/is?
Past of are?
Past of work?
Past of study?
Past of go?
Past of come?
Past of have?
Past of do?
Past of see?
Past of eat?
Past of take?
Translate: 我昨天很累。
Translate: 我昨天工作了。
Translate: 她去了学校。
Ask: 你工作了吗？
Ask: 你去了哪里？
Ask: 你做了什么？
Negate: I worked.
Negate: She went home.
Correct: I goed home.
Correct: Did you went?
Correct: I didn’t went.
Correct: She were tired.
Correct: We was late.
Correct: in last week.
Use first/then/finally in three sentences.
Explain why did uses a base verb.
Explain why 了 does not equal one English word.
Give one regular past sentence.
Give one irregular past sentence.
Tell yesterday in five sentences.

Answer key | 答案

1 yesterday; 2 last night; 3 last week; 4 two days ago; 5 was; 6 were; 7 worked; 8 studied; 9 went; 10 came; 11 had; 12 did; 13 saw; 14 ate; 15 took; 16 I was tired yesterday; 17 I worked yesterday; 18 She went to school; 19 Did you work?; 20 Where did you go?; 21 What did you do?; 22 I didn’t work; 23 She didn’t go home; 24 I went home; 25 Did you go?; 26 I didn’t go; 27 She was tired; 28 We were late; 29 last week; 30–35 answers vary.

59. For parents and teachers | 给家长和老师

Teach a compact irregular-verb core before expanding. Ten high-frequency past verbs used repeatedly are more valuable than a hundred-item list learned once.

For Mandarin speakers, explicitly show that English often marks past time on the verb, while Mandarin may rely on time expressions, aspect and context.

Use timelines. Put “now” on the right and yesterday/last week on the left. Visual time reduces abstract grammar load.

Mix statements, questions and negatives. A learner does not truly control went until they can also produce Did you go? and didn’t go.

60. Final real-world challenge | 最终真实任务

Use yesterday, last and ago correctly.
Use was/were correctly.
Use five regular past verbs.
Use ten common irregular past verbs.
Ask five did-questions.
Make five didn’t-negatives.
Use three sequence words.
Tell one past travel event.
Tell one past meal or shopping event.
Give a one-minute story about yesterday.

Next: Lesson No.022 | 下一课

Past, present and future language all appear in school and work. Next, build the English needed for classrooms, offices, tasks, schedules, instructions, deadlines and asking for clarification.

Lesson No.022 · Work and School · 工作与学校

Reference floor: British Council A1 Elementary · British Council A1–A2 Grammar · Cambridge Essential Grammar in Use A1–B1.

Small Group Tutorials

How to Learn Basic English (Chinese Edition) | Lesson No.021 | Yesterday and Past Time | 昨天与过去时间