Tuesday, 12 May 2015

GRAMMAR - PAST SIMPLE TENSE: FORMATION AND USES

REGULAR VERBS

IRREGULAR VERBS

AFFIRMATIVE SENTENCE

SUBJECT + V–ED*

AFFIRMATIVE SENTENCE

SUBJECT + 2nd COLUMN (TABLE)


Examples
:

Mike helped in the house.

They worked in Manchester.


Examples
:

Mike went to London.

I took the bus.

NEGATIVE SENTENCE

SUBJECT + DID NOT / DIDN’T + V


Examples
:

Mike did not / didn’t help in the house.

They did not / didn’t work in Manchester.


Examples
:

Mike did not / didn’t go to London.

I did not / didn’t take the bus.

INTERROGATIVE SENTENCE

DID + SUBJECT + V?


Examples
:

Did Mike help in the house?

Did they work in Manchester?


Examples
:

Did Mike go to London?

Did I take the bus?

SHORT ANSWERS

YES, SUBJECT PRONOUN + DID / NO, SUBJECT PRONOUN + DIDN’T


Examples
:

Yes, he did. / No, he didn’t.

Yes, they did. / No, they didn’t.


Examples
:

Yes, he did. / No, he didn’t.

Yes, I did. / No, I didn’t.


* SPELLING RULES:

1- Most verbs add -ED:

Appear → Appeared; Finish → Finished; Help → Helped; Present → Presented.

2- Verbs ending in  silent E →+D: 
Arrive → Arrived; Close → Closed; Dance → Danced; Decide → Decided.

3- Verbs ending in CONSONANT +Y → Y + IED:

Carry → Carried;  Study → Studied; Try → Tried. BUT: Play → Played ("a" is not a consonant).

4- Verbs ending in STRESSED VOWEL + CONSONANT → DOUBLE CONSONANT + ED: 

Ban → Banned;  Prefer → Preferred; Stop → Stopped. BUT: Open→ Opened  ("e" is not stressed). 

5- In BRITISH ENGLISH, verbs ending in VOWEL + L → DOUBLE L + ED: 

Cancel → Cancelled; Marvel → Marvelled; Travel → Travelled. BUT: Boil → Boiled (2 vowels, not 1).

* PRONUNCIATION: 

Click the following link on YouTube to practice the pronunciation of past tense sounds of regular verbs:


1. USES:

- Completed actions in the past.

- Actions that took place at a specific time in the past (i.e. description of a past event).

- Consecutive actions in the past (i.e. the main events in a story).


2. TIME EXPRESSIONS:

- ago

- yesterday, the day before yesterday

- last day / week / month / year

-in + year (in the past)

- then

- when + time clause (in the past)