Teach English in Xiping Zhen - Tianshui Shi

This unit reminds us of what we learned earlier ? that each of the three tenses used in the teaching, PRESENT, PAST, FUTURE have four aspects; simple, continuous, perfect and perfect continuous. The unit sets out grammatical rules in the affirmative, negative and interrogative. 1. Thus, the past simple relates to the present simple. Both are straightforward in structure. The past simple is used to express completed actions in the past, whenever that was The past simple follows the following form and distinguishes between regular and irregular verbs. Regular Verbs -Affirmative -Add ed or d to the base form of the verb I worked, I played, I hoped etc Negative -Add did not or didn?t before the base form of the verb I didn?t work, I didn?t hope etc Interrogative - Add did plus subject before the base form Did you work? etc The unit provides a list of irregular verbs that students are likely to stumble over yet have to be learned without rules. Irregular Verbs There is only one verb that has 2 forms according to the person The verb to be has the form was with I, he, she, it and were with you, we and they The usages of the past simple are spelt out clearly: these include describing an action when time is given, (I met him yesterday) time is asked about (when did you meet him?) or when the action took place at a particular time that is not mentioned (the train arrived ten minutes late). Sometimes a question becomes definite as a result of question and answer in the present perfect. (Where have you been? I have been to the opera) The unit advises to note that the word AGO relates to actions in past simple 2. The past continuous tense refers to an action that took place in the past yet is still ongoing. It relates to the present continuous which indicates actions happening at the present moment (using the present simple of the verb to be and the present participle of the main verb + ing) The form of the past continuous tense uses the Past tense of the auxiliary verb be(was/were) and present participle (verb +ing) Affirmative (subject+ was/were + verb+ ing) Negative (subject + was/were + not + verb+ing) Question (was/were + subject + verb+ ing) The usage of the past continuous is spelt out --for interrupted past actions (while I was having a bath), without a time expression, indicating a gradual development that began in the past (It was getting darker), it can express an action that began before the time and probably continued after (at eight he was having breakfast) it can be used in descriptions (when I woke up it was late and the birds were singing and the sun was shining) 3. The past perfect relates to the present perfect. It is the past equivalent of the present perfect. The present perfect uses the I you we he it HAS with the past participle ( I HAVE not eaten) the past perfect describes a completed action in the past using HAD (When I arrived, the concert had started, When I came to the school, the lesson had begun and the girls had eaten lunch) Affirmative (subject + had+ past participle) he had finished playing by the time we arrived Negative (subject + had+ not+ past participle) Question (had + subject + past participle) The usage of the past perfect is clear: for an action when time is given (I met him yesterday, Pasteur died in 1890, I came home yesterday);When the time is asked about ? (When did you meet him?); When the action took place at a particular time even though this time is not mentioned (The train arrived ten minutes late, How did you get your present job?, We sold our car a long time ago) Sometimes a question becomes definite as a result of the question and answer .. In the present perfect (Where have you been? I?ve been to the opera, Did you enjoy it? Where were you last night? I was at the opera) 4. The past perfect continuous is used to talk about longer actions in the past that had been going on continuously up to the moment we had been thinking about (Before eating lunch, she had been washing the car for two hours she failed the exam because she had not been studying) a. The unit asks for an explanation of the differences between the a. PAST SIMPLE AND PAST CONTINUOUS 1. Past simple is used to describe a completed action in the past and adds ed to the base form of verb Affirmative = Add ed or d to the base form of the verb I worked, I played, I hoped etc Negative = Add did not or didn?t before the base form of the verb I didn?t work, I didn?t hope etc Past continuous uses the word to BE in the past The past tense of the auxiliary verb BE (was/were + verb+ ing) It is used for interrupted past actions, with a time expression to describe gradual activity and it can express an action which began before that time and probably continued after that. And it is used in descriptions ie when he came in the sun was shining and birds were singing b. PAST SIMPLE AND PRESENT PERFECT Past simple describes a completed action in the past and the past present perfect Once again, the Past simple is used to describe a completed action in the past FORM Affirmative = Add ed or d to the base form of the verb I worked, I played, I hoped etc ; Negative = Add did not or didn?t before the base form of the verb -I didn?t work, I didn?t hope etc; Question ? did I work? The Present perfect relates the past to the present FORM ? i/you/we/they HAS + present participle With regular verbs the past participle is verb + -ed Affirmative= (Subj + Aux Verb Have + Past Participle) I have written; Negative = (Subj + Aux Verb Have + Not + Past Participle) I haven?t written; Question = (Aux Verb ?Have? + Subject + Past Participle) Have I written? c. PRESENT PERFECT AND PAST PERFECT All perfect forms feature some form of the verb TO HAVE is in the past participle form of the verb. If the verb to have is in the present it will be present perfect and if the verb TO HAVE is in the past it will be the past perfect. These rules apply to the future tense too. Teaching suggestions The unit provides suggestions for the activate stage of teaching each of the four aspects of the past tense. It also asks us to write a sentence of the kind we expect the students to produce at the end of each activity, in other words, the goal of the game Past Simple to teach the irregular verb forms: card games, memory pairs, matching present tense with past go and went curriculum vitae narrative story telling in conjunction with past continuous and past perfect interview role play discuss past holidays where did you go? we went to town Past Continuous Detective games: where were you yesterday at five am? What were you doing? Diaries and journals: what were you doing on Monday at 7:00 pm? (at 3 am he was studying) Stories with visual prompts including past simple and past continuous where were you yesterday at five am? What were you doing Past Perfect story telling and writing in conjunction with other past tenses ( I got to my car I realized I had lost my keys) giving students a final situation and asking students to tell what had happened and why it had happened ( At nine, when he arrived, she was having breakfast in the kitchen) students see a story and starting backwards telling what had happened before Past Perfect Continuous detective story: what had she been doing when we arrived (Before Marlowe arrived on the scene, she had been writing letters to her father for three hours)