Transcript STRUCTURE FOCUS Past Tense

PAST TENSE
Prepared by:
Varia V. Virdaus, M.A.
(source: Hayden, Rebecca E. , Pilgrim, Dorothy W., and
Haggard, Aurora Q. 1998. Mastering American English.
Singapore: Tuttle Publishing)
Simple Past Tense
Pattern:
(+) S+ V2+ C
(-) S +Did + NOT + V1 + C
(?) Did + S + V1 + C?
Using Verb
(+) S + was/ were + Adj/ N
(-) S + was/ were + NOT + Adj/ N
(?) Was/ were + S + Adj/ N
Using non-Verb
THE SIMPLE PAST TENSE
The simple past tense is the same as the past form of a
verb. The form is the same for all persons, singular
and plural. Be is an exception.
WANT:
I wanted
you wanted we wanted
he wanted
they wanted
SING:
I sang
she sang
you sang
they sang
we sang
BE:
I was
he was
you were
they were
we were
 The past form of all regular verbs is made by
adding d or ed (occasionally t) to the simple form
of the verb.
(1) The ending d is added when the simple form
ends in e or ee.
hope
free
agree
raise
 hoped
 freed
 agreed
 raised
(2) The ending ed is added to all other verbs. The
following changes in spelling occur:
a. Final y, preceded by a consonant, is changed to
i before adding ed.
Study
 studied
try
 tried
b. A final consonant letter (except h, w, x, y),
preceded by a single vowel letter, is doubled in
words of one syllable.
beg  begged
stop  stopped
BUT: tax (ends in x)  taxed
c. A final consonant letter (except h, w, x, y),
preceded by a single vowel letter, is doubled in
words accented on the last syllable.
permit
 permitted
occur
 occurred
BUT: attempt (ends in three consonant letters)

attempted
gather (ends on first syllable)  gathered
(3) Occasionally t is added to the simple form. An
example is mean  meant.
1. Columbus (discover) America in 1492.
2. They (study) in the library when the fire
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
alarm went off.
It (snow) when I got up this morning.
The man (drop) the heavy suitcase on my
foot.
Einstein (die) on April 18, 1955.
I (write) a letter to Janet when she
telephoned.
Prof. Kit (teach) English at Harvard for
almost 50 years.
THANK YOU