One of his most famous paintings

Vincent Van Gogh is a much-celebrated artist today.He was an unknown in his

time. He was poor and lived in a cramped room. All he possessed was his easel,
paint, brushes, a little money and talent. He used different kinds of lines in his
artwork and painted landscapes, still life and portraits.
He always signed his paintings. However, he hardly sold any of his works.
Vincent lived a sad life. He slowly became insane. He even cut off his ear. Finally,
he shot himself in the chest when he was 37 years old. Today, his works,,
'Sunflowers' and 'Starry, starry night' are known as masterpieces. They cost a
foryune and often become the focus of attention at exhibitions and auctions.

Verbs in the Simple Past

Verbs are words that show actions, states or experiences.

'Be' Verb
It is used to show a state or experience. 'Be' verbs in the simple past are was (singular) and were
(plural). It is also followed by a noun, pronoun or adjective.
Examples: He was an unknown in his time, (noun)
Mr and Mrs Tan were happy to receive their grand prize - a brand new car.
(adjective)

That bicycle was mine until my father took it away from me. (pronoun) 'Do' Verb
It is used to show an action. All verbs other than 'be' verbs are considered 'do' verbs.
Examples: He used different kinds of lines in his artwork ...
She visited her cousin in Perth last month.

Regular Verbs
Regular verbs take on the suffix '-ed' or'd' in the past form. Look at the following examples that
can be found in the passage on Van Gogh.
VERB
Live
Possess
Sign
Paint
Use

SIMPLE PAST FORM

Lived
Possessed
Signed
Painted
used

Irregular Verbs
These are action words that are spelt and pronounced differently in the
simple past form. Look at the examples that can be found in the passage on
Van Gogh.

VERB

SIMPLE PAST FORM

Is

Was

Sell

Sold

Cut

Cut

Become

Became

Shoot

shot

|'NOTE:
Some words like 'cut', 'put' and
'hit' are also classified as
irregular verbs. The spelling
and pronunciation of these
words do not change no
matter which tense they are
in.
Some words have two simple past
forms, e.g. burn - burned/burnt
learn - learned/learnt

Simple Past Tense

This tense is used to talk about events, actions or situations which

happened in past and are now finished.

We have to say or imply when the action happened, so we use time

references si as yesterday, last etc.
Example: I forgot to shut the windows last night.

Regular verbs are changed to the past tense by adding -d or -ed to the
end of the words.

Questions in the Simple Past

Verbs for questions in the simple past tense are in the simple past or
infinitive form (basic form).
Example: Who brought you here? (simple past)

If the question contains 'did', the subsequent verb would be in the infinitive
form Example: When did m come in? (infinitive form)