Active Grammar 2 - Nigel Turton 2007

Unit 5 Verbs

● Present simple tense

● The -s ending

● Past simple tense

● Past continuous tense

● Talking about the future

● Present simple tense

(I read, we play)

It's Friday morning and Sally is at school.

When you talk about the things you always do, often do, or sometimes do, you use the present simple tense.

My friends come to my house and we play games.

On Saturday I go to the park.

Sometimes I play on the swings.

You can use the present simple to talk about the things you don’t do.

I don’t go to school.

I don’t see my friends.

Did you know?

don’t = do not

You can use the same tense to talk about the things you like.

I like Saturday best.

We like Sunday best.

You use it to talk about the things you don’t like.

I don’t like Sunday.

You can use the present simple to tell someone how to do something.

PRACTICE

1 Think of some things you like and some things you do not like. Then make four sentences like this:

e.g. I like butterflies but I do not like wasps.

a. ...

b ...

c. ...

d. ...

HERE ARE SOME THINGS YOU CAN USE:

2 Draw a face like the one on page 66. Then tell the person next to you how to do it. Start with a big circle or oval.

● The -s ending

(she reads, he plays)

Do you know the story about Little Blue Riding Boots?

Little Blue Riding Boots arrives at her grandmother's house and knocks on the door. ’Come in/ calls Granny.

The little girl goes in and sees her grandmother in bed. Granny looks a bit tired.

Little Blue Riding Boots suddenly sees a big wolf on the floor. The wolf does not look too good. It has a big lump on its head.

'Are you okay, Granny?' asks Little Blue Riding Boots. 'Yes, thank you, my dear,' says Granny with a smile.

Then she picks up a big heavy frying pan from under the bed. ’Put this back in the kitchen, please, my dear. I don't need it anymore.'

Sometimes when you tell a story, you use the present simple tense.

Little Blue Riding Boots arrives at her grandmother's house and knocks on the door.

With this tense, you make people think that everything is happening now.

Look at the verbs in Box A and Box B. Can you see the difference?

BOX A

I knock on the door.

You knock on the door.

We knock on the door.

They knock on the door.

The boys knock on the door.

BOX В

She knocks on the door.

He knocks on the door.

It knocks on the door.

Jill knocks on the door.

David knocks on the door.

You give the verb an -s when you are talking about just one person or thing.

She opens the door.

He likes ice cream.

It falls to the ground.

The little girl opens the door.

My brother likes ice cream.

The kite falls to the ground.

REMINDER

The verb ALWAYS ends with -s after the words she, he and it.

The verb ALWAYS ends with -s after the singular form of a noun.

REMINDER

You don’t add an -s after I, you, we and they.

SINGULAR

I like peanuts.

You like peanuts.

She likes peanuts.

He likes peanuts.

It likes peanuts.

PLURAL

We like peanuts.

You like peanuts.

They like peanuts.

Sometimes, instead of adding -s, you add -es.

Hugo always misses.

Once a week Olive teaches Kate how to sew.

Tom brushes his teeth after every meal.

Grammar Help

You add -es to verbs that end with a hissing sound, like ssss or shhhh.

watch watches

catch catches

brash brashes

push pushes

rush rushes

finish finishes

polish polishes

teach teaches

reach reaches

touch touches

fix fixes

miss misses

If the verb ends with an -e, you just add -s.

race race

sneeze sneezes

Verbs that end in -y, like cry and fly, are a bit tricky.

Grammar Help

Sometimes you change the -y to -les.

cry cries

fly flies

try tries

dry dries

carry carries

hurry hurries

copy copies

The baby always cries when she is hungry.

Mother bird flies back to her nest.

Jane always buys lots of cheese.

Grammar Help

If there is a vowel before the -y, you just add -s.

buy buys

pay pays

say says

stay stays

Do you remember the vowel letters? a e i о u

PRACTICE

Fill in each blank with the correct verb.

● Past simple tense

(they walked, they ate)

What do you know about dinosaurs?

DINOSAURS

The first dinosaurs lived over 200 million years ago and the last of them disappeared about 65 million years ago. During the millions of years when dinosaurs lived on Earth, there were no people around. Human beings appeared only recently, about 3 million years ago.

Dinosaurs lived on land and we think that they laid eggs. These animals were cold-blooded, meaning that they could live only in a warm climate. Luckily, at the time when dinosaurs appeared, the Earth was warm all the time. The dinosaurs liked the warmth and there was always plenty to eat.

One group of dinosaurs ate plants and walked on all four legs. Many grew too big to walk on two legs. Another group walked on two legs and ate meat. Some of the animals in this group were very fierce. They hunted and fought other dinosaurs.

Even today, nobody really knows why dinosaurs disappeared. Their fascinating story ends with a mystery.

When you talk about things that happened in the past you usually use the past simple tense. This is also called the simple past tense.

Like the writer of Dinosaurs, you can use the past simple for things that happened millions of years ago.

The first dinosaurs lived over 200 million years ago.

Another group walked on two legs and ate meat.

You can also use the past simple for things that happened just yesterday or last week.

You often find the past simple tense in stories and rhymes.

The three bears opened the door and went into the house.

Jack and Jill went up the hill.

The past simple form of many verbs ends in -ed.

Grammar Help

Verbs with a past simple ending in -ed are called regular verbs. To make the past simple, you add -ed or -d to the base form.

appear + ed = appeared

disappear + ed = disappeared

watch + ed = watched

clean + ed = cleaned

open + ed = opened

hunt + ed = bunted

finish + ed = finished

laugh + ed = laughed

start + ed = started

end + ed = ended

live + d = lived

like + d = liked

arrive + d = arrived

die + d = died

believe + d = believed

Try to remember these spelling patterns.

base form past simple

cry cried

try tried

hurry hurried

carry carried

pat patted

nod nodded

sip sipped

hum hummed

The Second World War ended in 1945.

Mozart was only 35 when he died.

The three ugly sisters tried to put the shoe on_, but it was too small.

The past simple form of some verbs does not end in -ed.

Grammar Help

Verbs with a past simple not ending in -ed are called irregular verbs. Here are some examples.

Betty went into town yesterday and bought some new sunglasses.

Tom left school last year and got a job in a bank.

I wrote the letter two weeks ago but I forgot to send it.

The verb be has two different forms for the past simple: was and were.

Tom was ill yesterday and stayed in bed all day. His parents were worried about him.

You were right. United won again. They were very good.

It was cold and dark in the house and the children were frightened.

We were at the station by 9 o'clock but our train was late.

This table tells you when to use was and when to use were.

PRACTICE

Last week Tony made a list of all the things he wanted to do at the weekend. He was very busy and did them all. Look at the list and make six sentences like this:

e.g. On Saturday he cleaned his bicycle.

a. ...

b. ...

c. ...

d. ...

e. ...

f. ...

● Past continuous tense

(she was reading)

When you talk or write about things you did in the past you usually use the past simple tense.

LAST SATURDAY

Last Saturday we went to visit my grandmother. It was her birthday.

We left home at 9 o'clock and set off for her house. First we walked along Town Street. Then we turned right and went into the market. We bought Grandma some flowers and a birthday card. I carried the flowers and Mark, my little brother, carried the card.

We reached Grandma's house at about half past nine. She was very pleased to see us. She thanked us for the flowers and the card.

Grandma gave us some lunch and then we all went for a walk in the park. I played ball with Mark. At 4 o'clock we went home.

Sometimes when you talk about the past you use a different type of past tense. You will find lots of examples in A Strange Dream.

A STRANGE DREAM

It was just after 9 o'clock on a Saturday morning and we were walking along Town Street on our way to see Grandma. It was Grandma's birthday that day and we had some flowers for her and a birthday card. Mark, my little brother, was carrying the card. I was carrying the flowers.

Mum and bad were walking along in front of us. It was very sunny that morning and Mum was wearing her new sunglasses, bad was holding his wallet. ’We have to stop at the bank,' he said. ’We need some money.'

Just as we were crossing the road, there were several loud bangs. Someone in the bank was firing a gun. Suddenly, the bank robber came running out of the bank. It was an old lady. She was holding a gun in one hand. She was holding a large bag of money in the other. Although the old lady was wearing a stocking over her head, we could still see who it was. It was Grandma!

At that moment I suddenly woke up. Thank goodness it was only a dream.

In A Strange Dream the writer tells us what people were doing at a certain time in the past. The tense for this is the past continuous.

We were walking along Town Street.

I was carrying the flowers.

Dad was holding his wallet.

Someone in the bank was firing a gun.

Compare Sentence A and Sentence В below. Their meanings are not the same.

In Sentence A the action is finished. In Sentence В the action is not finished.

Grammar Help

You use the post continuous tense for actions in the past which are not finished. These actions are still happening or in progress.

Did you know?

Another name for the past continuous tense is the past progressive tense.

Writers sometimes use the past continuous to tell us what was happening at the beginning of a story.

It was a beautiful morning in the middle of May. The sun was shining, the birds were singing and everyone in Upper Dingleton was feeling glad to be alive.

Jenny was busy in her kitchen. She was making a special pie for dinner that night ...

Grammar Help

Уou can use the past continuous tense in stories to describe a particular scene.

The two types of past tense, simple and continuous, are sometimes used together.

Jenny was busy in her kitchen. She was making a special pie for dinner that night when suddenly the telephone rang. While she was washing her hands to answer the telephone, someone knocked loudly on the front door.

While your class was learning about the past simple, my class was learning about the past continuous.

Grammar Help

Уоu can use the past continuous tense for an action which is interrupted by a second action. For the second action, you use the past simple tense.

Уоu can use the past continuous tense for two long actions which happen at the same time.

To make the past continuous tense, you use two verbs.

Verb 1 is called a helping verb. In a continuous tense, the helping verb is always a part of the verb be.

Grammar Help

To make the present continuous, use the present tense of be (am, are, is).

To make the past continuous, use the past tense of be (was, were).

Verb 2 is called the main verb. In a continuous tense, the main verb is always in the -ing form.

Did you know?

Another name for the -ing form is present participle.

PRACTICE

1 What was happening on the beach at 3 p.m. yesterday? Fill each blank with the correct past continuous tense.

2 Work in pairs. Find out what your friend was doing at the times shown below. Make sentences like this:

e.g. What were you doing at 8 o'clock last night? I was having dinner.

a five minutes ago: ...

b half an hour ago: ...

c at this time yesterday: ...

● Talking about the future

(What are you going to do?)

Do you ever send postcards to people? Sally does.

Sally begins her message by talking about the present time.

We're all having a lovely holiday here in Penang.

Then she talks about the past.

Yesterday we spent the day at the hotel. Most of the time we swam and played in the pool.

After that she talks about the future.

Tomorrow we're going to meet Uncle Bob. He's going to take us out on his boat. He's picking us up at the hotel at 8 o'clock and then he's going to drive us to the harbour. That's where his boat is. In the morning he's going to teach us how to sail. Then we're going to have lunch on his boat.

Did you know?

All actions take place in the past, in the present or in the future.