10 minutes to recognize the present simple and the past simple

Criteria

Simple tense

Simple past

Structure

Claim: S + V(s/es) + O

Negative: S + do/does not + V_inf + O

Question: Do/Does + S + V_inf + O?

Assertion: S + V2/ed + O

Negative: S + didn’t + V_inf + O

Question: Did + S + V_inf + O?

Signal

know

In sentences, you will find adverbs of frequency, such as ‘always,’ ‘often,’ ‘usually,’ ‘sometimes,’ ‘every day/week/month,’ and more.”

The sentence includes words such as ‘ago,’ ‘yesterday,’ ‘last day/month/year,’ and so on.

Conjugation

Regular verbs:

– Add (s) after most verbs.

– Add (es) after verbs ending in ch, sh, x, s, o.

– Verbs ending in (y)

Before (y) is a vowel: add (s)

Before (y) is a consonant: (y) => (i) + (es)

Irregular verbs:

have => has

• Add ‘ed’ after most verbs.
• Add ‘d’ after verbs ending in ‘e.’
• For verbs ending in ‘y,’ if ‘y’ is preceded by a vowel, add ‘ed.’ If ‘y’ is preceded by a consonant, change ‘y’ to ‘i’ and add ‘ed.’
• For one-syllable verbs ending with a consonant followed by a vowel, double the final consonant and add ‘ed.’

Irregular Verbs:

Some verbs in the past tense do not follow the ‘ed’ pattern but instead form unique past tense forms. You can refer to a list of 360 irregular verbs for more details.

Criteria

Simple tense

Simple past

Structure

Affirmative: S + am/is/are + O

Negative: S + am/is/are not + O

Question: Am/is/are + S + O?

Affirmative: S + was/were + O

Negative: S + was/were + not + O

Question: Was/were + S + O?

Signal

know

In sentences, you can find adverbs of frequency, including: ‘always,’ ‘often,’ ‘usually,’ ‘sometimes,’ ‘every day/week/month,’ and more.

The sentence contains words such as ‘ago,’ ‘yesterday,’ ‘last day/month/year,’ and so on.