Simple Past tense

Use the Simple Past to express the idea that an action started and finished at a specific time in the past. Sometimes, the speaker may not actually mention the specific time, but they do have one specific time in mind.

Formula:
S + V (d/ed) or irregular verbs

however if interrogative sentence, you can't change the verb, the verb is still ib V1 form.

e.g.
* I saw a movie yesterday.
* I didn't see a play yesterday.
* Last year, I traveled to Japan.
* Last year, I didn't travel to Korea.
* Did you have dinner last night?
* She washed her car.
* He didn't wash his car.

Continue Reading...

Active and passive verb forms

Sentences can be active or passive. Therefore, tenses also have active forms and passive forms. You must learn to recognize the difference to successfully speak English.

ACTIVE FORM

In active sentences, the thing doing the action is the subject of the sentence and the thing receiving the action is the object. Most sentences are active.

[Thing doing action] + [verb] + [thing receiving action]
e.g.
Mrs. Henny teaches the students
Mrs. Henny is thing doing action
Teaches is verb
the students is thing receiving action

PASSIVE FORM

In passive sentences, the thing receiving the action is the subject of the sentence and the thing doing the action is optionally included near the end of the sentence. You can use the passive form if you think that the thing receiving the action is more important or should be emphasized. You can also use the passive form if you do not know who is doing the action or if you do not want to mention who is doing the action.

[Thing receiving action] + [be] + [past participle of verb/v3] + [by] + [thing doing action]

e.g.
the students are taught by Mrs. Henny

the students is thing receiving action
are is be
taught is v3 of teach
Mrs. Henny is thing doing action

Continue Reading...

Simple Present tense

most of students where english is foreign language have difficulties in tenses, including simple present tense. So, here i will explain simply about simple present tense.

What is simple present tense?
Simple Present is used to express the idea that an action is repeated or usual. The action can be a habit, a hobby, a daily event, a scheduled event or something that often happens. It can also be something a person often forgets or usually does not do.

the formula :

S + V1 (+ s/-es)
S + does not/ do not + V1

verb added s if the subject are first person or third person, e.g: I, they,we.
added by -es if the subject is second person, e.g: he, she, it.

However there are some verbs that can not added by s/es, so you have to look dictionary to check whether the verbs can be added by s/-es or not.

does not is used if the subject: he, she, it or singular noun.
do not is used if the subject: I, they, we or plural
eg:
* I play tennis.
* She does not play tennis.
* Does he play tennis?
* The train leaves every morning at 8 AM.
* The train does not leave at 9 AM.
* When does the train usually leave?
* She always forgets her purse.
* He never forgets his wallet.
* Every twelve months, the Earth circles the Sun.
* Does the Sun circle the Earth?

Continue Reading...