THE PAST

In English there are regular and irregular verbs. We have to know if a verb is regular or irregular to know how to form the past.

To make the past simple of REGULAR verbs you only have to add -ed to the verb.

               live ----- lived
               walk ----- walked

To make the past simple of IRREGULAR verbs you have to know the form of that verb in the past. Remember it's the second column of the verb. Unfortunately there is no way to know if a verb is regular or irregular, so study them!!!!

               go ----- went
               speak ----- spoke

But we are lucky because in the past the verb has the same form for all the persons, there is no change in the third person singular.

                                   I           worked          went  
                                   you       worked         went

                                   he         worked          went

                                   she       worked           went

                                   it          worked          went

                                   we        worked          went

                                   you       worked          went

                                   they      worked          went

POSITIVE

The structure of a sentence is the same as in the present, we only have to use the verb in the past.

               Present: I work as a musician
               Past: I worked as a musician
               
               Present: They go to the cinema every weekend
               Past: They went to the cinema every weekend
               
               Present: She lives in Galway
               Past: She lived in Galway

               Present: He speaks very fast
               Past: He spoke very fast

To form the -ed of the regular verbs in the past there are some rules:

1. If the verb ends in -e we only have to add -d
               live ----- lived
               hate ----- hated
               love ----- loved

2. If the final syllable of the verb is stressed and it is a consonant, then we have to double the consonant
               stop ----- stopped
               admit ----- admitted
               prefer ----- preferred

3. If the verb ends in -l then we also duouble the -l
               travel ----- travelled

4. If the verb ends in -y and the -y is preceded by a consonant, the -y turns into -i and we add -ed
               try ----- tried
               study ----- studied

    But if before the -y there is a vowel we just add -ed
               play ----- played
               enjoy ----- enjoyed


NEGATIVE AND INTERROGATIVE

The structure of the negative and interogative sentences is the same as in the present, we know it is past because instead of the auxiliaries do and does, we use auxiliary DID. And, again, it is the same which person it is, 1st, 2nd, or 3rd, singular or plural, the auxiliary is always did.
In positive sentences we have to know if the verb is regular or irregular to know its past form. In negative and interrogative sentences it is not necessary because we use the infinitive of the verb, in the same way we use it in the present simple.

Examples of negative sentences:

               Present: They don't like going to the cinema
               Past: They didn't like going to the cinema

               Present: She doesn't drink a lot of water
               Past: She didn't drink a lot of water yesterday.

Example of interrogative sentences

               Present: Do they like going to the cinema?               
               Past: Did they like going to the cinema?

               Present: Does she drink a lot of water?
               Past: Did she drink a lot of water yesterday?

Watch this video to learn more about the past simple.

VERB TO BE, PAST

The structure of a sentence in the past is the same as in the present. The only difference is that the verb to be is in the past instead of being in the present.

	PRESENT	PAST
I	am	was
you	are	were
he	is	was
she	is	was
it	is	was
we	are	were
you	are	were
they	are	were

           

          Present: She is a very happy girl
          Past: She was a very happy girl
          
          Present: They aren't in Newcastle
          Past: They weren't in Newcastle
          
          Present: Are you interested in Maths?
          Past: Were you interested in Maths?

And now time to practise:

exercise 1
exercise 2
exercise 3
exercise 4
exercise 5
exercise 6
exercise 7

LIKES AND DISLIKES

To talk about what we like or we don't like we use the verbs love, enjoy, like and hate. After these verbs we can use a noun

          She loves chocolate

          They don't like football

          Does he hate the beach?

But we can also use a verb. When we use a verb it usually takes the form of the gerund, that is, we add -ing to the verb.

          He loves going to the cinema

          She doesn't like dancing

          Do they enjoy playing chess?

Remember that there are some rules to add -ing:

* most of the times we just add -ing directly to the verb
          
          go ---> going                 work ---> working
          study ---> studying        play--->playing

* but when the verb ends in a silent final e preceded by a consonant, we drop the -e and add -ing

         live ---> living                write ---> writing

* when the verb ends in a consonant and it is a strong one syllable verb then we double the final consonant. Also when the verb has two or more syllables but the stress is on the last syllable.

        stop ---> stopping         begin ---> beginning

This video might help you




And of course, nothing better than some practice!!!

exercise 1
exercise 2
exercise 3

OBJECT PRONOUNS

A pronoun is the word that takes the place of the noun. The subject pronouns are the pronouns that are the subject of a sentence (I, you, he, she, it, we, they)

          Mary has a car ------> She has a car
          Peter and I are happy -----> We are happy

The 'Object Pronouns' or complement pronouns are the pronouns used as a complement of the verb or after a preposition (me, you, him, her, it, us, them)

           Peter buys flowers for Lorraine -----> Peter buys flowers for her
           I like those shoes -----> I like them

Don't confuse them with the possessive adjectives. The possessive adjectives are adjectives, so they come before a noun. The pronoun substitutes the noun, so they come alone.

           Possessive adjective: Tom and Bob live with their parents
           Object pronoun: Tom and Bob live with them

.......................................................................................................................................

LET'S COMPARE THEM

Now it's time to practise!

Exercise 1
Exercise 2
Exercise 3
Exercise 4
Exercise 5
Exercise 6

PRESENT SIMPLE OR CONTINUOUS? grammar

This is a picture for you to understand when to use the present simple or the present continuous and clue words to help you. If you right-click on the picture you can save it to your device. If you want to have it as a PDF document, go to GRAMMAR - Unit 5

PRESENT SIMPLE vs PRESENT CONTINUOUS

We have studied the present simple and the present continuous separatedly, but what about using them together? Do you really know when to use one and when to use the other? Let's have a look at them.

Present simple

It is used to speak about routines, hobbies, things that are always true.

Present continuous
It is used to speak about what is happening now or around now, temporal things or situations.
REMEMBER: there are some verbs which are not used in the continuous: believe, want, love, hate ...

Watch this video where both the present simple and continuous are explained





And now let's see if you understood. Do the following exercises and check your knowledge!!!

Exercise 1
Exercise 2
Exercise 3
Exercise 4
Exercise 5
Exercise 6
Exercise 7
Exercise 8
Exercise 9
Exercise 10

MORE PRESENT CONTINUOUS

Watch the video below to practise the present continuous.

PRESENT CONTINUOUS

Use the Present Continuous with normal verbs to express the idea that something is happening now, at this very moment. It can also be used to show that something is not happening now.

Example: I am watching TV now.
                he is not reading a newspaper now.

To make a statement in the present continuous we need the present of verb to be (AM/IS/ARE) + the -ing form of the verb we want to use

          I AM READING a book
          She IS DRIVING a red car
          They ARE HAVING a shower

To make negative sentences we just add NOT after verb to be.

          I am not reading a book
          She is not driving a red car
          They are not having a shower

To make questions we just place the verb to be before the subject.

          Are you reading a book?
          Why is she driving a red car?
          Are they having a shower?


With this video you can practise negative and questions in the present continuous




Let's see if you have understood, let's practise with these exercises
Exercise 1
Exercise 2
Exercise 3
Exercise 4
Exercise 5 Watch the video and make full sentences, You can check the answers if you have a look at the comments to this post.