ESLSongs

Practice past simple verbs in your ESL class with this song, Love yourself by Justin Bieber. There are 12 different verbs in the simple past tense in this song (8 of which are irregular): rained, broke, didn’t want, didn’t see, told, hated, was, tried, came, made, fell & felt

There is a suggestion on how to use this song in your ESL classes below, but for more ideas, click here.

Lyrics

For all the times that you rained on my parade
And all the clubs you get in using my name
You think you broke my heart, oh girl, for goodness’ sake
You think I’m crying on my own, well I ain’t

[Refrain]
And I didn’t want to write a song
‘Cause I didn’t want anyone thinking I still care
I don’t, but you still hit my phone up
And baby, I’ll be moving on
And I think you should be something I don’t want to hold back
Maybe you should know that

[Pre-Chorus]
My mama don’t like you and she likes everyone
And I never like to admit that I was wrong
And I’ve been so caught up in my job, I didn’t see what’s going on
But now I know, I’m better sleeping on my own

[Chorus]
‘Cause if you like the way you look that much
Oh baby, you should go and love yourself
And if you think that I’m still holding on to something
You should go and love yourself

But when you told me that you hated my friends
The only problem was with you and not them
And every time you told me my opinion was wrong
And tried to make me forget where I came from

[Refrain, Pre-Chorus & Chorus]

For all the times that you made me feel small
I fell in love, now I feel nothing at all
I never felt so low and I was vulnerable
Was I a fool to let you break down my walls?

[Chorus]

Suggested activity: fill the gaps

Download this exercise (PDF)

Put the verbs (in brackets) in the past simple, then listen to the song to check. Be careful; there are two negative verbs!

For all the times that you ¹_______________ (rain) on my parade
And all the clubs you get in using my name
You think you ²_______________ (break) my heart, oh girl, for goodness’ sake
You think I’m crying on my own, well I ain’t

[Refrain]
And I ³_______________ (not want) to write a song
‘Cause I ⁴_______________ (not want) anyone thinking I still care
I don’t, but you still hit my phone up
And baby, I’ll be moving on
And I think you should be something I don’t want to hold back
Maybe you should know that

[Pre-Chorus]
My mama don’t like you and she likes everyone
And I never like to admit that I ⁵_______________ (be) wrong
And I’ve been so caught up in my job, I ⁶_______________ (not see) what’s going on
But now I know, I’m better sleeping on my own

[Chorus]
‘Cause if you like the way you look that much
Oh baby, you should go and love yourself
And if you think that I’m still holding on to something
You should go and love yourself

But when you ⁷_______________ (tell) me that you ⁸_______________ (hate) my friends
The only problem ⁹_______________ (be) with you and not them
And every time you ¹⁰_______________ (tell) me my opinion ¹¹_______________ (be) wrong
And ¹²_______________ (try) to make me forget where I ¹³_______________ (come) from

[Refrain, Pre-Chorus & Chorus]

For all the times that you ¹⁴_______________ (make) me feel small
I ¹⁵_______________ (fall) in love, now I feel nothing at all
I never ¹⁶_______________ (feel) so low and I ¹⁷_______________ (be) vulnerable
¹⁸_______________ (be) I a fool to let you break down my walls?

[Chorus]

Justin Bieber

Justin Drew Bieber is a Canadian singer. Regarded as a pop icon, he is recognized for his multi-genre musical performances. He was discovered by American record executive Scooter Braun in 2008 and subsequently brought to American singer Usher, both of whom formed the record label RBMG Records to sign Bieber in October of that year. He gained recognition following the release of his debut extended play (EP) My World (2009), which was quickly met with international commercial success and led to his establishment as a teen idol.