ENG 150 English for Nursing Unit 1 -Grammar

SIMPLE PRESENT How do we make the Simple Present Tense? subject + auxiliary verb + main verb There are three important exceptions: 1.For positive sentences, we do not normally use the auxiliary. E.g. I play basketball every day. 2.For the 3rd person singular (he, she, it), we add s to the main verb or es to the auxiliary. E.g. She goes to church on Sundays 3.For the verb to be, we do not use an auxiliary, even for questions and negatives. E.g. We are usually at home on Sunday mornings.

How do we use the Simple Present Tense? We use the simple present tense when: -the action is general -the action happens all the time, or habitually, in the past, present and future -the action is not only happening now -the statement is always true

Words commonly used with the Simple Present Sometimes, often, frequently, every day, usually, always, once every two weeks etc. Examples It often rains in Limassol this time of the year. French people don’t usually drink juice for breakfast. Does the food in India always taste spicy?

Go to the following link to have practice on How to form the Simple Present : http://www.englishclub.com/grammar/verb -tenses_present_quiz.htm

Simple Past tense Forming the simple past tense With most verbs, the simple past is created simply by adding -ED. However, with some verbs, you need to add -IED or change the ending a little. Here are the rules:

When the verb ends in: 1. e › Add –D (live › lived ) 2 When the verb ends in: 1. e › Add –D (live › lived ) 2. Consonant +y › Change y to i, then add -ED (try › tried) 3. One vowel + one consonant(but NOT w or y) › Double the consonant, then add -ED (tap › tapped) 4. anything else including w Add -ED (boil › boiled)

Although many verbs in English form their past tense with -ED, some do not. These are called irregular verbs, and they include some of the most basic verbs in English such as: Be , go, do, have, eat , drink, sleep, cut, get ,sit , teach, leave etc

The structure for positive sentences in the simple past tense is: subject + main verb     The structure for negative sentences in the simple past tense is: subject + auxiliary verb + not + main verb •The structure for question sentences in the simple past tense is: auxiliary verb + subject + main verb • The auxiliary verb did is not conjugated. It is the same for all persons (I did, you did, he did etc). And the base form and past form do not change.

Look at these examples with the main verbs go,did and work: • I went to school early yesterday • She didn’t go with me ,she came later. • - Did she work until late last night? - Yes she did. She worked until midnight.

Exception. The verb to be is different Exception! The verb to be is different. We conjugate the verb to be (I was, you were, he/she/it was, we were, they were); and we do not use an auxiliary for negative and question sentences. To make a question, we exchange the subject and verb. Look at these examples: - I was at the office also until late last night. - Were you tired? - No I wasn’t, I was bored.

How do we use the Simple Past Tense? We use the simple past tense when: • the event is in the past • the event is completely finished • we say (or understand) the time and/or place of the event

Go to the following link to have practice on How to form the Simple Past : http://www.englishclub.com/grammar/verb -tenses_past_quiz.htm