INSTRUCTIONAL MODULE IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING By: Quennie N. Quiobe
Title: Using the Simple Past and Present Tense of Verbs
Overview: Perhaps one of the most common dilemmas of students is the confusion between using the simple past and simple present tenses of verbs both in the oral and written communication. Such confusion leads to the frail development of the communicative abilities of students. Thus, this instructional module will help students absolutely comprehend the rules governing the use of the simple past and simple present tenses of verbs, along with the situations in which such tenses of verbs are used.
Objectives After completing this module, you should be able to: a) distinguish verbs in simple past and simple present tenses. b) construct sentences using simple past and simple present tenses of verbs appropriately.
You will surely learn so many things on this module (“ (“,) ,) Read now.
Instructions to the Learners: 1. Take the pretest before working or answering the module. 2. Perform the activities as suggested. 3. Answer all the exercises found in the module. 4. Check your answers against the Key to Correction or see your teacher for proper guidance. 5. Take the posttest.
Prerequisite Skills: 1. The simple present tense is constructed this way: subject + auxiliary verb + verb + main verb or subject + main verb. Look at these examples: I live in New York. The Moon goes round the Earth. John drives a taxi. He does not drive not drive a bus. We meet every Thursday. We do not work not work at night.
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2. To make the past simple tense, we use: past form only or auxiliary did auxiliary did + + base form Look at these examples: I lived in that house when I was young. He didn't like didn't like the movie. What did you did you eat for dinner? John drove to London on Monday. Mary did Mary did not go not go to work yesterday. Jeminah was at work yesterday.
PRETEST Complete the following sentences by indicating the correct form of verb in the space provided. 1. Hikari _____________ classes the whole day. (attend) 2. He ____________ to Tokyo University. (go) 3. The 3. The students ____________ excited for the school festival. (be) 4. Every student ____________ a journal or a diary. (keep) 5. Lilia _____________ of becoming a famous painter. (dream) 6. Yuji _____________ in every fencing competition. (participate) 7. The 7. The UAAP ___________ every first week of July. (start) 8. Jin 8. Jin and China always ______________ on cosplay competitions. (join) 9. It ______________ hard yesterday. (rain) 10. The 10. The teacher ____________ the class early. (dismiss) 11. One student ______________ her bag in class. (leave) 12. Shiro ____________ his wallet. (lose) 13. The 13. The tsunami really _______________ problems. (bring) 14. Romeo _____________ Juliet in the party. (meet) 15. King Arthur ____________ many battles. (win)
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You are about to start with the learning activities. Enjoy learning!
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Learning Activities I.
Simple Present To form the Present Simple Tense we use the verb's base form (go, work, speak, study). In 3rd person singular (he, she, it), the base form of the verb takes -s/es. (Auxiliary verbs "be," "do," "have", which can also be used as main verbs, are exceptions.) Study the discussion below, it explains the uses of the simple present tenses of verbs. The examples provide corresponding explanation why it is in the simple present tense. A. USE #1 Repeated Actions Use the Simple Present to express the idea that an action is repeated or usual. The action can be a habit, a hobby, a daily event, a scheduled event or something that often happens. It can also be something a person often forgets or usually does not do. Examples: I play the violin. (a hobby) Sakura plays tennis. (a hobby) The train leaves every morning at 8 AM. (a daily event) When does the train usually leave usually leave? ? (a daily event — in in question form) Arthur always brings his sword. (a habit) Every twelve months, the Earth circles the Sun. (scheduled event)
B. USE # 2 Facts or Generalizations The Simple Present can also indicate the speaker believes that a fact was true before, is true now, and will be true in the future. It is not important if the speaker is correct about the fact. It is also used to make generalizations about people or things. Examples: Cats like milk. The Earth is spherical. Tokyo is in Japan. The sun rises in the east. Water freezes at 0°C (32°F). The sky is sky is blue.
C. USE # 3 Scheduled Events in the Near Future Speakers occasionally use Simple Present to talk about scheduled events in the near future. This is most commonly done when talking about public transportation, but it can be used with other scheduled events as well.
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Examples: We arrive in Rome at 6 p.m. The train leaves in five minutes. The course starts next Thursday. The party starts party starts at 8 o'clock. The bus does not arrive at 11 AM, it arrives at 11 PM. When do we board the plane? (question form)
D. USE 4 Now (Non-Continuous Verbs) Speakers sometimes use the Simple Present to express the idea that an action is happening or is not happening now. This can only be done with Non-Continuous Verbs and certain Mixed Verbs. Examples: I am here now. She is not here now. He needs help right now. He does not need help now. He has his passport in his hand. Do you have your passport with you?
EXERCISE 1 Complete the following sentences by picking out the correct form of the verb from the parentheses. 1. Rubeilyn ___ four languages. (speak, speaks) 2. Danica is a teacher. She ___ in Korea. (teach, teaches) 3. When the kettle ___, will you make ma ke some tea? (boil, boils) 4. I always ___ the window at night because it is cold. (close, closes) 5. Those costumes ___ too much. (cost, costs) 6. The food in Japan is expensive. It ___ a lot to live there. (cost, costs) 7. His job is great because he ___ a lot of people. (meet, meets) 8. My watch is broken and it ___ to be fixed again. (need, needs) 9. I ___ to watch animes. (love, loves) 10. I always ___ cosplay conventions. (attend, attends) 11. They 11. They never ___ tea in the morning. (drink, drinks) 12. We both ___ Mai Nakahara’s songs in the KTV. (sing, sings) sings) 13. The 13. The earth ___ round the sun, doesn't it? (go, goes) 14. Sweet Incantations Café ___ at 5:30 pm. (close, closes) 15. Apple Pages ___ more than a thousand paperbacks now. (has, have)
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II.
Simple Past Tense The past simple tense of the most english verbs (regular verbs) is formed by adding "-ed"/"-d" to their base form. (If the verb ends in "-e", we add "-d" to form the past simple.) There are also some verbs called irregular verbs that have special past tense forms. To understand thoroughly how to use the simple past tense of verbs, study the following discussion. Simple past tenses of verbs are also used to express specific situations.
A. USE # 1 Completed Action in the Past P ast Use the Simple Past to express the idea that an action started and finished at a specific time in the past. Sometimes, the speaker may not actually mention the specific time, but they do have one specific time in mind. Examples: I watched a movie yesterday. I didn't see the play last Monday. Last year, I travelled to Japan. We arrived at 9:00 o'clock. This morning I went to the supermarket. Alec bought his little sister a book by Carly Philips. B. USE # 2 A Series of Completed Actions We use the Simple Past to list a series of completed actions in the past. These actions happen 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and so on. Examples:
I finished work, walked to the beach, and found a nice place to swim. The Gazette Band arrived from the airport at 8:00, checked into the hotel at 9:00, and met their fans at 10:00. C. USE # 3 Duration in Past The Simple Past can be used with a duration which starts and stops in the past. A duration is a longer action often indicated by expressions such as: for two years, for five minutes, all day, all year, etc. Examples: I lived in Brazil for two years. Shauna studied Japanese for five years. They sat They sat at the beach all day. They did They did not stay at the party the entire time. We talked on the phone for thirty minutes. The Rose Princess slept for fifty years.
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D. USE # 4 Habits in the Past The Simple Past can also be used to describe a habit which stopped in the past. It can have the same meaning as "used to." To make it clear that we are talking about a habit, we often add expressions such as: always, often, usually, never, when I was a child, when I was younger, etc. Examples: I studied Niponggo when I was a child. He played the violin. Did you Did you play a musical instrument when you were a kid? She worked at the movie theater after school. They never went to school, they always skipped class. Shana owned a car when she was in junior high school. E. USE 5 Past Facts or Generalizations The Simple Past can also be used to describe past facts or generalizations which are no longer true. As in USE # 4 above, above, this use of the Simple Past is quite similar to the expression "used to." Examples: She was shy as a child, but now she is very outgoing. He didn't like tomatoes before. Did you live in Texas when you were a kid? People paid much more to make cell phone calls in the past.
EXERCISE 2 Fill in the blanks with the simple past or past continuous form of the verbs. This is worth 15 points. A:
Hi, Mary. I _____________ (see/neg.) you at school last Monday.
B:
Hello, Bob. I _____________ (come/neg.) on Monday. I wasn't feeling well, so I ________ (decide) to go to to the doctor.
A:
Oh! ______ (be) it serious?
B:
No, the doctor __________ (examine) me and __________ (tell) me I had the flu. He ____________ (prescribe) some medicine and told me to go home and rest.
A:
Did you stay home all day last Monday?
B:
No, only in the morning. I __________ (have) to work in the afternoon, and guess what?
A:
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What?
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B:
When a friend ________ (drive) me home, he ________ (crash) his car. He didn’t see the red light.
A:
_______ anyone got hurt?
B:
Thank God, nobody ________ (do) .
A:
I'm happy to hear that. Well, Mary, I have to rush now. While I _______ (listen) to your story, I _________ (remember) that my wife __________ (ask) me to go to the mechanic to get our car. See you later. Take care.
B:
You too. Bye.
Here’s the meaning of your score. If you are able to get 20 points and above, you are ready for the posttest. Please flip the page and start answering it now. If you scored 15 or 14 points, you may take the posttest now, but it’ it’ s better if you review first the item exercises that you answered incorrectly. If you scored only 13 points and an d below, I suggest that, you go over the module again and take your time understanding the concepts being discussed once more. You may ask your teacher for guidance.
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POST TEST Fill in the blanks of the following sentences by using the simple past or simple present tense of the verb in the parentheses. 1. The 1. The sky _____ blue. (be) 2. I always __________ after I eat. (brush) 3. Bob ___________ TV every night. (watch) 4. Sara ________ 5 days a week. (work) 5. I _______ the train train coming. coming. (hear) 6. I _________ smoke. (smell) 7. My plane _________ at 8:30 tomorrow. (leave) 8. I ________ to work yesterday morning. (go) 9. After Bob _______ dinner, he drove to CEC. (eat) 10. The 10. The students __________ in class before the teacher. (arrive) 11. I used to _______ horses when I was a kid. (ride) 12. The 12. The car ___________ at 9.30am yesterday. (explode) 13. She __________ to the door. (go) 14. We did not _________ the telephone. (hear) 15. Did you _______ that car? (see)
If you are done answering the posttest, consult your teacher for the correct answers.
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KEY TO CORRECTION PRETEST 1. attends
6. participates
11. left
2. goes
7. starts
12. lost
3. are
8. join 8. join
13. brought
4. keeps
9. rained
14. met
5. dreams
10. dismissed
15. won
1. speaks
6. costs
11. drink
2. teaches
7. meets
12. sing
3. boils
8. needs
13. goes
4. close
9. love
14. closes
5. cost
10. attend
15. has
1. didn’ didn’ t see
6. told
11. did
2. didn’ didn’ t come
7. prescribed
12. did
3. decided
8. had
13. was listening
4. was
9. drove
14. remembered
5. examined
10. crashed
15. asked
1. is
6. smell
11. ride
2. brush
7. leaves
12. exploded
3. watches
8. went
13. went
4. works
9. ate
14. hear
5. hear
10. arrived
15. see
EXERCISE 1
EXERCISE 2
POST TEST
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