Past tense

The past tense is used to describe an activity or an event that has happened in the past or a past state of being and needs to include a time marker for when the event or action took place.

Structural formula:

Subject + verb (2nd form) + object.

Examples:

• We met yesterday.
• He bought a new laptop last week.

There are different ways to form the past tense in English, depending on the regularity of the verb and its ending.

1. Regular Verbs: Most verbs follow a simple pattern to form the past tense by adding “-ed” to the base form of the verb. For example:
   • Base Form: walk -> Past Tense: walked
   • Base Form: talk -> Past Tense: talked
     
2. Irregular Verbs: Some verbs don’t follow the regular pattern and have unique past tense forms. These are called irregular verbs. Here are some examples:
   
   Click: Table of irregular verbs
   
   • Base Form: go -> Past Tense: went
   • Base Form: eat -> Past Tense: ate
   • Base Form: see -> Past Tense: saw
     
3. Spelling Rules: There are some spelling rules to consider when forming the past tense. For example:
   • If the base verb ends in “e,” you generally just add “-d” to form the past tense: dance -> danced.
   • If the base verb ends in a consonant followed by “y,” change the “y” to “i” and add “-ed”: carry -> carried.
   • If the base verb ends in a single vowel followed by a single consonant, and the stress is on the last syllable, double the final consonant and add “-ed”: stop -> stopped.
     
4. Regular Past Tense Negation and Questions: To create negative and question forms in the past tense, you typically use the past tense form of the auxiliary verb “to do,” which is “did.”
   • Affirmative: She talked to him.
   • Negative: She did not (didn’t) talk to him.
   • Question: Did she talk to him?

Remember that English has many irregular verbs, so it’s important to learn their past tense forms individually.

Title: A Fun Day at the Park

Characters:

• Emma
• Mike

Scene: Emma and Mike are talking about their day at the park yesterday.

Emma: (excited) Mike, yesterday was so much fun at the park, right?

Mike: (smiling) Yes, Emma, it was a great day. What did you do first?

Emma: (enthusiastic) Well, I played on the swings. I swung really high!

Mike: (impressed) That sounds exciting. I climbed the big tree over there.

Emma: (curious) Did you see the cute squirrels in the tree?

Mike: (nodding) Yes, I did. They were quick and playful.

Emma: (remembering) After the tree, I had a picnic. I brought a delicious sandwich.

Mike: (hungry) I wish I had some of that sandwich. I only had a snack.

Emma: (giggling) It was really good. Then, we flew kites, and mine went really high!

Mike: (laughing) I remember that. Your kite was like a colorful bird in the sky.

Emma: (content) It was such a fantastic day. I can’t wait to go to the park again.

Mike: (agreeing) Me neither, Emma. It was a memorable day.