II) THE SIMPLE PAST TENSE

TENSE EXAMPLES MEANING

P

(c) It snowed yesterday.
(d) I watched television last night. At one particular time in the past, this happened. It began and ended in the past.


(c) It snowed yesterday.
(d) I watched television last night. At one particular time in the past, this happened. It began and ended in the past.


P


INTRODUCTION :

The simple past tense of a regular verb is formed by adding ed or d to the base form. The past tense of most irregular verbs is formed by an internal vowel change; the form is the same for all persons both singular and plural…Examples:


Regular Irregular
Talk Talked Speak Spoke
Agree Agreed Go Went

 An exception is the verb be, which has two past tense forms :
I was We were
You were You were
He/she/ it was They were


A) THE USES OF THE SIMPLE PAST TENSE ARE :

1) To express an activity that occurred at a time in the past. The time is specified by a definite time word such as: yesterday, last night, a year ago…Examples:
- It rained yesterday.
- He arrived last night.
- They came here a year ago.

2) To express an activity that occurred at an unspecified time in the past, the point of time is implied or understood from the context…Examples:
- He went to town.
- He came to see us about his schedule.
- He spoke to the captain about it.

3) To express an activity that occurred in the past over a continuous period of time but doesn't continue to the present moment of speaking…Examples:
- He studied French when he was in high school.
- He worked for that company for weeks.
- The student attended school during the spring for five years.

N.B.: If a sentence contains when and has the simple past in both clauses the action in the when clause happens first…Examples:
- I stood under a tree when it began to rain.
- When she heard a strange noise, she got up to investigate.

B) FINAL –ed PRONUNCIATION IN REGULAR VERBS :


INTRODUCTION:

Final d and t problems: When the final –ed is added to regular verb to form the past tense, it may be pronounced one of three ways: d, t or ed.
HERE ARE THE RULES:

A) Regular verbs ending in an unvoiced consonant: p, f, k, s, x, etc.:
the final ed is pronounced as t…Example:

Simple verb. Past tense. Final sound.
Like Liked -t.
Pick Picked -t.
Puff Puffed -t.
Work Worked -t.

B) Regular verbs ending in a voiced consonant : n, l, r, b, etc. :
the final ed is pronounced as –d…Example:

Simple verb. Past tense. Final sound.
Love Loved -d
Burn Burned -d
Call Called -d
Organize Organized -d

C) Regular verbs ending in the sound of –t or –d :
the final ed is pronounced as a separate syllable ending in a d sound…Example:

Simple verb. Past tense. Final sound.
Count Counted -ed
Start Started -ed
Add Added -ed
Need Needed -ed
D) Regular verbs ending in a vowel sound:
the final ed is pronounced as –d…Example:

Simple verb. Past tense. Final sound.
Dry Snowed -d
Snow Snowed -d
Play Played -d
Fry Fried -d