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This unit goes vary much into past tense. With many variations of time. And how past time can be described. Past tense is one of my favorite to teach. To most non English students this is new to them and makes for new experiences with the language. For things they have already done. Past tense has 4 sub tenses , past simple, past perfect, past continuous, past perfect continuous same as the other 2 tenses present and future.
Examples: Order I prefer.
John Played outside - Past simple
John had not played outside yesterday- Past perfect
John was Playing outside - Past continuous
John had been playing outside yesterday - Past perfect continuous
The words did, did not, has, had, was, were, been and when have a big role in past tense with their particles (verbs) such as worked, played, saw, seen, drove, done, finished. First show some words that have their own version of past tense and how some by adding "ed" to the end of some words changes the tense. Then move on to adding the "ing" to the end.
Some common mistakes I see alot are the use of words like was, were,is and are. I give them a path to follow when looking at a sentence. To look for Subject, How Many, and Tense. To ensure when to use was "meaning 1" or were "meaning many" - is "meaning 1" or are "meaning many". Helps them allot.
Examples:
Student will say; I is shopping yesterday; incorrect
I was shopping yesterday; correct
or
Student will say; We was shopping yesterday: incorrect
We were shopping yesterday; Correct
To define past tense my favorite words are Yesterday, Already, Done, Finished to get the basics of past tense
across to students.
Example: you went shopping Yesterday!
They were done yesterday!
You finished yesterday.
After introducing past tense words then work with them to form types of actions of being Past tense. And if the action continues or stops. Always starting with Past simple and working up to Past perfect continuous. Once they get the idea. It opens up ways for them to talk about things they have done. Such as holidays, events, vacations, or things they have seen.
