Present and past tenses

Tense is the form of a verb that shows the time the action occurred

Present and past tenses

Present tense names an action that is occurring now or occurs regularly.

John wins an award.Also expresses general truths…

Michelle is funny.

If the subject is a singular noun like he, she or it, an –s is added to the

verb.I walk

you talkhe talksthey run

PAST TENSENames an action that already happened

Denny joined the team.

Add an –ed to show that it is past tense.

Tale of mr. mortonTale of Mr. Morton in Song

Past Simple – things that have finishedlook

lookslooked

talkstalked

He passeshe pass +edhe passed

Yesterday he passed his exams.

She workswork +ed

She worked in a shop when she lived in Florida.

When doesn’t this work?

WHEN DOES THIS NOT WORK?When the infinitive word ends in

–e, add –dShe changes the nappy

Another exception –When the infinitive verb ends in a

consonant, preceded by one vowel.

Consonant letter is a letter that is NOT a vowel (letters a,e,i.o or u are

vowels)

STOPdouble last consonant

and add -edI stop

Yesterday, I stopped

Another exampleTo planplanned

I planned a trip to New York last year.

Another exception is when an infinitive ends in –cThen you add –ked

For examplepanic =kedThey panic

Yesterday they panicked.She wrecked the car.

Last exceptionInfinitive ends in –y

y turns into i and add –edshe carries

carrycarried

Yesterday she carried the suitcase to the airport

When to use? When something has happened in the

past and has finishedfor example: A few years ago I worked in

the supermarket

2. Indicate a time in the pastWe lived in Holland in 1991.

3. Habit in the pastI collected stamps when I was a child

4. Telling a storyOnce upon a time there was a

farmer, who lived in a small village

So, when to use past simple?When something is completely

finished

Have a look at the grammar sheet and try some exercises