How to write about a memorable evening in English (A2 elementary): past simple, “ago” and events in order

A memorable evening in four parts

Answer four questions: when, where, who and what happened. Open with a time phrase, give the events in order and end with how you felt:

• “Last Friday I went to a small concert with two friends.” – when, where and who
• “We heard a great band and danced.” – the first events
• “After that, we had a late dinner.” – the next event, with a linking phrase
• “I got home at one, tired but happy.” – the end and a feeling

Past simple: regular verbs with -ed

Regular verbs add -ed for every person: I, you, she, we and they all “waited”. Negatives and questions use “did” and the base form.

• “We danced.” “I waited for a taxi.” – affirmative
• “I didn’t wait.” “They didn’t stay.” – negative: didn’t + base form
• “Did you call her?” – “Yes, I did.” / “No, I didn’t.” – question and short answers
• “dance” → “danced”, “stop” → “stopped”, “study” → “studied” – spelling

Irregular verbs for an evening out

The most useful verbs for a night out are irregular, so learn them in pairs. Questions and negatives still use “did” and the base form.

• “go” → “went”, “have” → “had”, “get” → “got”
• “leave” → “left”, “wear” → “wore”, “take” → “took”
• “hear” → “heard”, “say” → “said”, “think” → “thought”
• “What did you do at midnight?” – “We went outside and had a drink.”
• “be”: “was” with I, he, she and it; “were” with you, we and they. “The band was great.” “Were you tired?” – “No, I wasn’t.”

Time words: last night, three days ago, in 2017

Put the time phrase at the start or the end of the sentence:

• “five minutes ago”, “three days ago”, “a year ago” – “ago” after the amount
• “last night”, “last week”, “last month”, “last summer” – “last” with no “the” and no “in”
• “yesterday morning”, “yesterday afternoon” – “yesterday” + part of the day; but “last night”, not “yesterday night”
• “the day before yesterday” – two days ago
• “in 2017”, “in June”, “on Friday” – “in” for years and months, “on” for days

A short conversation: the way home

Listen for when he left, how long he waited and how he got home. “Instead” means in place of the first plan; “leave” means both to go away from a place and to not take something with you.

Clock time, waiting time and getting home

Keep these times apart; each has its own question:

• “What time did you leave?” – “I left at one.” – a clock time, with “at”
• “How long did you wait?” – “Twenty minutes.” / “I waited for twenty minutes.” – a length of time, with “for”
• “What time did you get home?” – “At about two.” – the arrival time
• “How did you get home?” – “By bus.” / “I got a bus.” – “by” + transport, with no “the”
• “Home” takes no “to”: “go home”, but “get to the station”.
• Also useful: “go out”, “have dinner”, “have a good time”, “get a taxi”.

Common mistakes

Each is easy to fix:

• “Did you went?” “I didn’t saw it.” → “Did you go?” “I didn’t see it.”
• “Before three days” → “three days ago”.
• “Yesterday night” → “last night”; “in last week” → “last week”.
• “I went to home.” “We arrived to the party.” → “I went home.” “We arrived at the party.”
• “I waited a taxi.” → “I waited for a taxi.”
• “Then we go to a bar.” → “Then we went to a bar.”

A 10-minute daily practice routine

Say everything out loud.

• 2 minutes: play the conversation and repeat each line.
• 2 minutes: say five sentences, each with a different time word: “I moved here in 2017.”
• 3 minutes: write four sentences about a recent evening: when, where, who, three events and a feeling.
• 3 minutes: answer the three time questions aloud: “What time did you leave?” “How long did you wait?” “What time did you get home?”

What comes next

Next, use the same past forms to describe a home as it is now and as it was years ago, then write yesterday’s food diary with clear amounts.