| 1. Past Tense - 2. Pronouncing -ed - 3. Irregular Verbs - 4. Past Tense With Did & Didn’t - 5. Contractions |
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1. PAST TENSE |
The past tense is used to talk about events in the past that have finished. |
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| We add ed to verbs to show this. I study at the university. (present) I studied at the university. (past) This means I do not study at the university any more. |
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| JOHN He stopped going to lectures. |
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| Here are some more examples. I work in a bank. (present) I worked in a bank. (past) He walks to the shops. (present) He walked to the shops. (past) |
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more information: past tense - episode 6 |
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2. PRONOUNCING -ed |
| The ed on the end of verbs is usually a short sound pronounced d or t. But when ed is added to words with a d or t sound on the end we pronounce it ed |
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t |
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| s mess / messed (mest) He messed her hair. p sip / sipped (sipt) She sipped her drink. |
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| JOHN He stopped going to lectures. |
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k pick / picked (pikt) |
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| b mob / mobbed (mobd) He was mobbed by fans. g beg / begged (begd) I begged for mercy. l fill / filled (fild) I filled the tank. z quiz / quizzed (quizd) The police quizzed him for hours. v love/ loved (lovd) I loved the movie. m hum / hummed (humd) We hummed the tune. n thin / thinned (thind) I thinned out the weeds. |
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| ANNE Does he know what happened? |
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j judge/ judged (jujd) |
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| I fry / fried I fried an egg. |
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| JOHN I spoke to his professor, the head of the course he studied. |
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3. IRREGULAR VERBS |
Irregular verbs do not have ed added to form the past tense. |
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| JOHN I found out something else. |
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| The past tense of speak is spoke: |
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| JOHN I spoke to his professor... |
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| The past tense of tell is told: |
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| JOHN But he told me David had left the university. |
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| Two important verbs have very different past tenses. The past tense of go is went. I go to school. (present) I went to school. (past) |
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| JOHN I went to the University. |
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| The past tense of is is was or were. He is late. He was late. They were late. |
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4. PAST TENSE WITH DID & DIDN'T |
Another way of talking about the past is using the words did and didn’t. What did he say? The word did is used to ask about the past with the verb say. But we don’t use the past tense of say with did. We don’t say: What did he said? X We say What did he say? |
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| ANNE And what did he say? |
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| The negative, or opposite of did is did not We usually say and write did not as didn’t I didn’t say anything. (past) |
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| JOHN He didn’t tell anyone. |
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| So there are two main ways of forming the past tense. One changes the verb. I tell you. (present) I told you. (past) |
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| JOHN But he told me David had left the university. |
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| The other uses did or didn't with the verb. I did tell you. (past) |
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| ANNE Really! He didn’t tell me. |
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| Remember that we mostly use did like this in questions. When did he stop going to classes? (past) |
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| ANNE When did he stop? |
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| And change the verb in answers and statements. He stopped going to classes because he was bored. (past) |
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| JOHN He stopped going to lectures. |
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more information: asking questions about the past |
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5. CONTRACTIONS |
Contractions are two words that are said together very quickly. When we write these words we put them together and use an apostrophe where there is a missing sound. do not don’t |
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| JOHN Well, I don’t know yet... |
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will not wouldn’t would not |
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| JOHN He wouldn’t give it to me because it was addressed to you. |
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| I’ll I will |
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| ANNE I’ll go and see him. |
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| I’m I am |
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| JOHN Well, I don’t know yet, but I’m sure I can find her. |
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| we’re we are |
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| JOHN We’re closing in Ms Lee. |
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