Get Back ! We spoke in the past tense.

9th November 2011

Recent online classes have revealed a distressing lack of ability using basic verbs in the past tense or Verb 2 as they are called in my neck of the woods.

In Vietnamese, the past tense is formed differently.

The verb remains the same but other words are added to indicate the tense. Alternately, time indicators are employed. Very briefly, a literal translation from the Vietnamese could be:

Yesterday I eat rice

Therefore a language teacher needs to be aware of the linguistic differences. Be that as it may let’s Get Back to basics.

Activity 1

What is the past tense (Verb 2) of these verbs:

eat / drink / do / play / see / go

Activity 2

help / visit / work / ride / talk

Activity 3

‘to be’:

I am / I was

you are / you were

he is / he was

she is / she was

Let’s use past tense (verb 2) with an adjective

Tell me what is the sentence if we use verb 2

EXAMPLE: I am happy. = I was happy.

NOW … YOUR TURN

You are sad = You ______ sad.

He is tired = He _______ tired.

She is funny = She _______ funny.

I am shy = I ______ shy.

He is small = He ______ small.

She is big = She _____ big.

You are young = You ______ young.

Activity 4

What did you do today ? 

Each student takes a turn. Use these photos to help you.

Extra practice:

buy / drink / surf the internet / help parents / cook / do homework / wake up

Related image
Related image
Image result for go to school
Image result for easy rider bike
Related image

Present tense ——– Past tense

act —— acted

go —- went

learn —— learned OR learnt

play — played

read —– read (pronounced ‘red)

ride —— rode

sleep —– slept

watch —- watched (pronounced ‘watch -t‘)

win —- won

What is the past tense (Verb 2) ?

I act in a film. Last week I ______ in a film.

I go to London. Last year I _______________ to London.

I ride an elephant. Last month I ___________ an elephant.

I learn English. Last Saturday, we ___________ English with Mr Paul.

Piano playing monkey | Playing piano, See monkeys, Gershwin

The monkey plays piano.

Last night, the monkey _________ piano.

ally gong asian girl cute mug reading book inspiration milan kundera  ignorance - Ally Gong

She reads a book. Last Sunday she _____ a book.

Sleep may trigger rhythmic power washing in the brain | Science News

He sleeps all day. Yesterday he _______ all day.

Sam Raimi's original Spider-Man is a great New York movie

I watch the amazing Spiderman.

Last week I ______ the amazing Spiderman.

Put these verbs into the past tense, then complete the sentences:

want ———

take ———

decide ———

see ——–

buy ——–

think ——–

learn ——–

I —— to stay in bed this morning

She —– great photos with her new iPhoneX

We have (decide) —— to go to Thailand for Tet 

Last night I —- a great film !

He (buy) —- food for Christmas.

Tuesday ! I (think) —— today was Wednesday

We (learn) —– about past simple in our lesson.

More exercises can be found on this omnibus blog: https://thaypaulsnotes.com/2020/10/21/past-tense-various-exercises-2/

Please Note: All photos are taken from Google Images or free photo sites, and are used for educational purposes only. No copyright infringement or offense is intended. If I have used your photo or image, and you wish me to remove it, just ask. This site is not monetized, I run it on my own dollar. Thank you.

Captain Viet Nam ! Superheroes by Super Kids

13th December 2020

‘My Mum is my Superhero’ by Mary

Following on from the use of Superheroes to review superlatives I gave my class (students aged nine or ten) a project: either write about their favourite hero or create their own.

Enough from me, here’s what some of the students came up with … firstly, from Cherry:

CafiNo to bring me damn good coffee … and hot !

A Superhero that brings me coffee – I love it ! Moving on, here’s a job opportunity for The Flash – express pizza-delivery, thank to Messi:

Heroes can be men, women, boys, girls … or animals. Three young ladies, Phuong Nhi, Jessica and Ms Linh chose to create a Supercat:

from Ms Linh
from Ms Jessica
from Ms Phuong Nhi

How about this Supermum from Mary:

The Flash is also the favourite of Marinette:

from Ms Marinette

Now, a magnum opus from ‘King’ Lear:

from Ms ‘King’ Lear

Sarah who has dreams to be Foxgirl (but her identity must be a secret).

from Ms Sarah

Young Ken is a fan of Spiderman:

Ngoc Minh (whose English name is ‘Iron Spider’) is, unsurprisingly, also into Spiderman:

from Ngoc Minh (Ironspider)

Finally, Quoc Minh:

from Quoc Minh

Young Learners, Level 5: Superlatives and superheroes

9th December 2020

Everybody Up, Unit 4, Lesson 3

Comparative Superhero Game - English ESL Worksheets for distance learning  and physical classrooms

Warm up game: forming questions

Put class into small groups. Each group, from a keyword, has to form a question asking a superlative.

For example, keyword ‘old‘: Who is the oldest ? Keywords: strong // fast // young // tall //

Amazing Spider-Man on Twitter: "Is anyone thinking logically anymore ? If  The #Venom Spin-Off Universe was going to be a part of the Marvel Cinematic  Universe Than Why Title that separate Universe "

Who is the strongest ? Who is the fastest ? Who is the youngest ? Who is the tallest ?

Next up as fast as Flash, with writing boards, students have to write the comparison.

For example: easy = easier

cheap // comfortable // interesting

NOW – what about the opposites ? What is the opposite of ‘easy’ and then the comparative form ?

Repeat with cheap // comfortable // interesting

You want to sit and read a comic book … but which chair ?

Chairs You Wouldn't Want to Sit On – BE OPEN BLOG

Make a sentence with:

comfortable / more comfortable / most comfortable

How about uncomfortable ?

Uncomfortable Chair | 3D Warehouse
Think wooden chairs are uncomfortable? These 5 seats prove otherwise | The  Peak Singapore - Your Guide to The Finer Things in Life
Uncomfortable Chair Images, Stock Photos & Vectors | Shutterstock

How about cheap ? How about expensive ? Tell me about the comic books, Superman, The Joker and Yona.

Superman #5 PR 0.5 1940
21, 862 800 VND
Akatsuki no Yona Vol.33 Yona of the Dawn /Japanese Manga Book  Comic  Japan NEW
226 050 VND
THE JOKER 7        LUTHOR - HIGH GRADE!      LOW PRICE!
959 300 VND

Think about a NEW superhero … maybe a Captain Vietnam ?

Think about what powers your hero has and we can work on this next week

DC Multiverse

Past Tense: Various exercises

21st October 2020

An omnibus of past tense exercises

Most common verbs infinite / past / past participle

Exercises

Pronunciation guide

TOP 25 REMEMBERING THE PAST QUOTES (of 78) | A-Z Quotes
because practice makes perfect

15 most common verbs:

infinite \ present // past // past participle (verb 3)

1to bewas werebeen
2to havehadhad
3to dodiddone
4to saysaidsaid
5to gowentgone
6to getgotgot/gotten
7to makemademade
8to knowknewknown
9to thinkthoughtthought
10to taketooktaken
11to seesawseen
12to comecamecome
13to wantwantedwanted
14to useusedused
15to findfoundfound

Regular verbs: just add -‘ed’. However, as you see, in this list only one common verb, ‘want’, is regular.

NOTE: ‘to be’ is different:

I am hungry / You are hungry / She is hungry / We are hungry

Now, practice: In groups of three or four, ask each other questions in order to feel more natural using the past tense. Let’s start simply:

What did you do today ? 

Each student takes turns describing their day. Use these photos to help you.

Related image
Related image
Image result for go to school
Image result for easy rider bike
Related image

Extra practice:

buy / drink / surf the internet / help parents / cook / do homework

Present tense ——– Past tense

act —— acted

go —- went

learn —— learned OR learnt

play — played

read —– read (pronounced ‘red)

ride —— rode

sleep —– slept

watch —- watched (pronounced ‘watch -t‘)

win —- won

What is the past tense ?

I act in a film. Last week I ______ in a film.

I go to London. Last year I _______________ to London.

I ride an elephant. Last month I ___________ an elephant.

I learn English.

Last Saturday, we ___________ English with Mr Paul.

Piano playing monkey | Playing piano, See monkeys, Gershwin

The monkey plays piano.

Last night, the monkey _________ piano.

ally gong asian girl cute mug reading book inspiration milan kundera  ignorance - Ally Gong

She reads a book. Last Sunday she _____ a book.

He sleeps all day. Yesterday he _______ all day.

Sleep may trigger rhythmic power washing in the brain | Science News

I watch the amazing Spiderman.

Last week I ______ the amazing Spiderman.

Sam Raimi's original Spider-Man is a great New York movie

Put these verbs into the past tense, then complete the sentences:

want ———

take ———

decide ———

see ——–

buy ——–

think ——–

learn ——–

I —— to stay in bed this morning

She —– great photos with her new iPhoneX

We have —— to go to Thailand for Tet 

Last night I —- a great film !

He —- food for Christmas from Harrods.

Tuesday ! I —— today was Wednesday

We —– about past simple in our lesson.

Pronunciation guide

In English, verb can be regular or irregular.

Regular verbs add -ed or -d in the past tense.

EXAMPLE:

I walk to work // I WALKED to work

I play guitar // I PLAYED guitar

She smiles on TV / She SMILED on TV

They dance in T-ara // They DANCED in T-ara

Want to learn T-ara's Roly Poly dance? Shinsadong talks about how he  created it on Strong Heart! | T ara eunjung, Pop t, Retro fashion

-ed past tense verbs pronunciation

Words have 3 end sounds:

‘t’

‘d

‘id’

If the word ends with: 

ch / f / k / p / s / sh / thi – The sound is ‘t’ look = ‘lookt’

t /or / d/ – The sound is ‘id’ visit – ‘visitid’

Other sounds are ‘d’ bang = ‘bangd’

What is the correct pronunciation for these regular verbs ?

Look = Looked // laugh = laughed // end = 

beg = / visit = / kiss = 

brush = / breath = / love =

Read these sentences:

He cleared up the mess / He rolled up the newspaper / I have visited India

No Homework ! That sounded good / Teacher shouted, ‘No way !’

We all worked hard today / Tom talked so much / 

The students played many games and laughed.

Top 10 Places to visit in India for First Time Traveler
They have visited India
8-year-old girl stuns playing 'complicated' Led Zeppelin song on drums -  National | Globalnews.ca
She has banged the drum !

Please Note: All photos are taken from Google Images or free photo sites, and are used for educational purposes only. No copyright infringement or offense is intended. If I have used your photo or image, and you wish me to remove it, just ask. This site is not monetized, I run it on my own dollar. Thank you.

Past Tense: Beginners’ exercises

17th October 2020

Young Learners, Level 5 E Up 5, Unit 1

The younglings have just started learning the past tense, so here’s a brief review lesson:

London Tourist Travel Woman With UK Flag Umbrella, Telephone.. Stock Photo,  Picture And Royalty Free Image. Image 108085390.

Present tense ——– Past tense

act —— acted

go —- went

learn —— learned OR learnt

play — played

read —– read (pronounced ‘red)

ride —— rode

sleep —– slept

watch —- watched (pronounced ‘watch -t‘)

win —- won

What is the past tense ?

I act in a film. Last week I ______ in a film.

I go to London. Last year I _______________ to London.

I ride an elephant. Last month I ___________ an elephant.

I learn English. Last Saturday, we ___________ English with Mr Paul.

The monkey plays piano. Last night, the monkey _________ piano.

Piano playing monkey | Playing piano, See monkeys, Gershwin

She reads a book. Last Sunday she _____ a book.

ally gong asian girl cute mug reading book inspiration milan kundera  ignorance - Ally Gong

He sleeps all day. Yesterday he _______ all day.

Sleep may trigger rhythmic power washing in the brain | Science News

I watch the amazing Spiderman. Last week I ______ the amazing Spiderman.

Sam Raimi's original Spider-Man is a great New York movie

England win the football game.

In 1966, England _______ the World Cup.

1966 FIFA World Cup England ™ - FIFA.com

New Vocabulary

plastic // brilliant // amazing // huge // freezing // expensive // however // busker

shy // wide-awake // sleepy // confident // relaxed // nervous

City centre tribute planned for Leeds busker who died in hospital - here's  how to pay your respects - Leeds Live

This man is a __________

Humanitarian superpower' Sweden struggles to house refugees as harsh Nordic  winter looms | The World from PRX

They are very cold, they are ____________

How did they feel ?

She felt _________ however he felt ________

10 Signs A Shy Girl Likes You - See if she likes you too!

He felt ________________ however she felt ______________

Is Your Child Getting Enough Sleep? Here's How to Tell – Health Essentials  from Cleveland Clinic