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Talking about the past

Goal: use the past simple of common verbs, add time words like 'yesterday' and 'last week', and tell a short story about things you did in the past.

Yesterday I went to the market and bought injera.

ትናንት ወደ ገበያ ሄድኩና እንጀራ ገዛሁ።

Last week Almaz visited her family in Addis Ababa.

ባለፈው ሳምንት አልማዝ በአዲስ አበባ ያለ ቤተሰቧን ጎበኘች።

We drank buna and talked for an hour.

ቡና ጠጣንና ለአንድ ሰዓት አወራን።

Did you see Dawit at the office yesterday?

ትናንት ዳዊትን በቢሮ አየኸው?

slow
Time words help the listener. Use 'yesterday', 'last night', 'last week', 'two days ago', and 'in 2019' to show that something already happened.

Last Saturday Kebede had a busy day. In the morning he woke up early and walked to the market near his home. He bought tomatoes, onions and fresh injera for sixty birr. After that, he met his friend Sara at a small cafe, and they drank buna together. Sara told him about her new job, and Kebede was very happy for her. In the afternoon they went to Hanna's house, where the family cooked a big lunch. They ate, laughed, and listened to music until the evening. When Kebede came home, he was tired but glad, because it was a good day with good friends.

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Yesterday I went to the market and bought injera.