Form ofSimple Past Tense

8 Woods2010:30saysthatthesimplepasttensetellsaboutwhathappened before thepresenttime. HarligandReynolds1995:114-116haveidentifiedthedifficultiesdealing withtheuseofsimplepasttenseanditsrelationshiptolexicalaspect.Theirstudy indicatesthatnonnativelearnersofEnglishhaveastrongconceptofthepresent tensewhen dealingwith adverbsof frequency.

2.3 Form ofSimple Past Tense

AccordingtoMcGraw,thesimplepasttenseisclassifiedintotwotypes. Theyarethesimpleinregularverbandthesimplepastinirregularverbincluding past tenseof the verb be. The formulaof each type consists of three parts: affirmative, negative and interrogative.

2.3.1 Simplepast tense inregularverb

Thefirsttypeofthesimplepasttenseinregularverbformusestheformula asfollowing: S+ V2 +O+Adverb For Examples: 1. Shehelped hermother in thekitchen thismorning 2. The children playedgameslastnight 3. We listened tothe music after dinner According totheexamplesabove,theformisusedforallsubjectsboth singularandplural.Allregularverbstakean–edending inthepasttense.Moreover, there aresomespellingrulesof regular verbs. 9 Meanwhile, thenegativeformulaof simplepast tenseasfollowing: S+Didnot +V1 +O+Adverb For examples: Her roommatedid notorder apizza lastnight Wedid not live in an apartmentlastyear Myfamilydid notown a computer untilrecently Basedontheexamplesabove, it canbeseenthat theverbin thesentenceis returned tothesimpleform. Then, theusedidnotisbeforethesimpleformofthe main verb. Thecontraction for did notisdidn’t. Inaddition,theotherformofsimplepasttenseisinterrogativebyusingthe formula: DidDidn’t +S+V1 +O+Adverb For examples: 1. Didyou move to anewhouse lastyear ? 2. Didyour mother cook lastnight? 3. Didn’tyou studyEnglish lastnight? Theexamplesaboveshowthatthemainverbinthequestionisalsoreturned to thesimpleform.The isno final–edendingin thequestion form. 10

2.3.2 Simplepast tense inirregularVerbs

Many verbshaveirregularpastforms.Thesedonottakean–edending inthe pastform. Then, theverbsthathave irregular past tenseformfollowthenamepattern inaffirmative,negativeandinterrogativeasregularverb.Hereistheexample of irregular verb asfollowing: SimpleForm Simple Past Tense Simple Form Simple Past Tense Arise Arose flee Fled Awake awokeawaked fly Flew Be waswere forbid forbade Bear Bore forget Forgot Beat Beat forsake forsook Become Became freeze Froze Begin Began get Got Bend Bent give Gave Bet Bet go Went Bite Bit grind ground Bleed Bled grow grew Blow Blew hang hunghanged Break Broke have had Breed Bred hear heard Bring Brought hide hid Broadcast Broadcast hit hit Build Built hold held Burst Burst hurt hurt Buy Bought keep kept Cast Cast know knew Catch Caught lay laid Choose Chose lead led Cling Clung leap leapt 11 Come came leave left Cost Cost lend lent Creep Crept let let Cut Cut lie lay Deal Dealt light litlighted Dig dug lost lost Do Did make made Draw Drew mean meant Drink Drank meet met Drive Drove overcome overcame Eat Ate pay paid Fall Fell prove proved Feed Fed put put Feel Felt quit quit Fight Fought read read Find Found ride rode Ring Rang stand stood Rise Rose steal stole Run Ran stick stuck Say Said sting stung See Saw strike struck Seek Sought strive strove Sell Sold swear swore Send Sent sweep swept Set Set swim swam Shake Shook swing swung Shoot Shot take took Show Showed teach taught Shut Shut tear tore Sing Sang tell told Sit Sat think thought Sleep Slept throw threw 12 Slide Slid thrust thrust Slit Slit understand understood Speak Spoke upset upset Spend Spent wake wokewaked Spin Spun wear wore Split Split weave wove Spread Spread wind wound Spring Sprang write wrote Basedon theexamples above, theverbbeis theexceptionof irregularverb. Thisirregularverbisuseddifferently thanotheriregularverbinaffimative,negative and interrogative. Hereisthepatternofsimplepasttenseofverbbeasfollowingfor the affirmativeform theformula asfollow: S+WasWere+ SubstantiveAdverbialofphrase + ........ For example: 1. Mario wasathomelastnight 2. Ratnawasastewardessoneyear ago 3. Somestudents were absentlastSunday Allthoseactionsareinthepast,andTheyareallfinished;they donotcarry over into thepresent.Two of themaresingular noun Mario and Ratna;oneof them ispluralnoun somestudents used. Next, here istheformulaof thenegativeformof simplepast tensein irregular verb. S+WasWere+ not +SubstantiveAdverbialofphrase + ........... 13 For example: 1. Iwasnot in myroom lastnight 2. Wewerenothungryfor dinneryesterday Thelastformofsimplepasttenseinirregularverbisinterrogativeform,here istheformula: WasWere+S+ SubstantiveAdverbialofphrase +.......... WasWere+ Not +S+Substantive Adverbialofphrrase +................. For example: 1.Was Mario athomelastnight? 2. Were Theyin thefarrewellpartylastnight? 3. Wasn’t thedogfed thisafternoon ? 4. Weren’t thosesofasexpensive? TheexamplesaboveshowthattheuseofwasisusedforthepronounsI,He, She,It,ThisandThat,howeverthebeof wereisusedforpronounsuchas:You,We, , theseand Those.So, theuseof wasisonlyused for thesingular noun and theuseof wereisonlyforthepluralnoun.Furthermore,thenegativestatementusesnotafter theverbbeinthesentence.Meanwhile,thecontractionforwasnotiswasn’t,the contractionforwerenotis weren’t.Theconctractionis usedtotomakethesentence easier in writtenand utterance. 14

2.3.3 Spelling Rulesfor –edEndings

Ending Rule Example -y Iftheformofaverbendsin–yafter aconsonant,changethe–yto–iand add – ed. carrycarried marrymarried studystudied trytried Vowel + Consonant inOne-syllableVeb Ifthesimpleformofaone-syllable verbends inoneconsonantaftea vowel,doublethelast consonant exceptx andadd –ed. Note:Theletterswandyattheend ofwords arevowels,notconsonants. Do notDouble them. knitknitted planplanned robrobbed stopstopped bowbowed playplayed rowrowed staystayed Stressed syllable Ifthesimpleformofaverbendsin an accented stressed syllable, follow the preceding rule for one final consonant after onevowel. occuroccured permitpermitted preferpreferred submitsubmitted -e If thesimpleformofaverb endsin –e, add only–d. tietied likeliked Allotherverbs Add –edtothesimpleformofall other regular verbs. askasked belongbelonged needneeded wantwanted 15

2.4 Ability