Simple Past and Past Perfect

Simple Past:

The Simple Past Tense is used for describing an action that is completed in the past. We use the second form of the verb ( V2 ) in this tense.

Examples:

The teacher moved the table to the corner.

Isha went to bed at 10 p.m. yesterday.

The Simple Past is also used to describe an action that occurred habitually in the past.

Examples:

They practised football every morning last month.

He smoked cigarettes daily last year.

Past Perfect:

The Past Perfect Tense is used for events that happened up to a certain point of time in the past. The verb form in this tense is ‘had+V3’

Examples:

The girls had finished the chips by the time they reached the park.

Saleem had learned driving before he was 15.

When two actions took place in the past, the earlier action takes the Past Perfect and the later action will be in the Simple Past. We generally use ‘before’ or ‘after’ as conjunctions in these situations.

Examples:

The buglers had escaped before the police arrived.

Kavita reached his office after he had left.

My wife was the most beautiful woman I had ever seen.

Practice Bits

Fill in the following blanks with appropriate forms of the verbs that are given in the brackets.

1. Geetha ______ (buy) vegetables last Sunday.

2. Bujji _______ (finish) her studies before she crossed 25.

3. Ketan _______(visit) that temple every month last year.

4. I reached the cinema hall after my friends _______ (arrive) there.

7. Investing in stock market was the best thing I ________ (do) in my life.

Prepositions of Agency, Possession, and Reason

Now, we shall learn the Prepositions of Agency, Possession, and Reason. * Prepositions of Agency and Instrumentality # by: The thief was arrested by the police. I am going to send the parcel by post tomorrow. Gora was written by Tagore. # with : Mohan has beaten Hemu with a stick. The workers have cut the tree down with an axe. # through : Vinaya heard about the vacancy through a friend. You can achieve success only through hard work. * Prepositions of Possession # to: This house belongs to our MLA. # with: The dog with brown spots is my pet. # of: Ottawa is the capital of Canada. * Prepositions of Reason # for: Ambedkar worked for the upliftment of the disadvantaged. # from: Mitesh is suffering from fever. # of: My grandmother died of Cholera. # because: They didn’t attend the meeting because their car met with an accident. Practice Use appropriate prepositions in the following blanks 1. I entered the hotel and placed an order _________ a plate of Idli. 2. Gopi earned ...

Phrase

We shall learn what a phrase is and how many types of phrase are there in English. Phrase : A phrase is a group of words which doesn’t contain a finite verb, but does the work of a single part of speech. Example: Reading novels improves your English. In the above example, the highlighted words act as noun in the sentence. It contains two words which act as a unit. So, we call such words phrases . Types of Phrases : There are at least nine important types of phrases in English. They are: 1. Noun Phrase : This phrase acts as a noun in the sentence, and it also contains other associates to modify it. Examples: Kavya bought a blue saree . A tall woman came to help him. 2. Prepositional Phrase : It contains a preposition and an object of the preposition. Examples: The students are looking at the black-board. Jyothi has slept on the sofa . 3. Adjective Phrase : It acts like an adjective in the sentence. Examples: The man with the white-hair is my father. The chairman i...

What is a 'clause'?

Shall we learn what a clause is? Clause : A clause is a group of words which resembles a phrase, but it has its own subject and predicate. Types of clauses : Clauses can broadly be divided into two types. 1. Independent Clause. 2. Dependent Clause. 1. Independent Clause : An Independent Clause is a group of words in a sentence which has complete meaning and can stand on its own. It is also called the main clause of the sentence. The Independent Clauses can combine with other clauses and form complex and compound sentences. Examples: Roshni ate some noodles when she got hungry yesterday . We love this restaurant because the service here is excellent. Raveena switched on the TV to divert her son’s attention. 2. Dependent Clause : A Dependent Clause can’t stand on its own but depend upon the main clause to make complete sense. Examples: If you practise hard , you will win the game. Tommy was extra careful while crossing the road . Everybody stayed inside becau...

The verb 'take'

We are now going to learn how to use the verb ‘ take ’ in different situations. Take : to get into one’s hands or possession. Example: Rashi took the mangoes and kept them in the fridge . There are many more shades of meanings to the word ‘take’. They are: 1. grip 2. to receive something into one’s body. 3. eat 4. to obtain for use. 5. assume ( There are at least twenty different meanings to the word ‘take’ ) Now, let’s see how to use the verb with different prepositions, i.e., Phrasal Verbs 1. take after : to be similar to someone in appearance. Example: Kris is a jovial person. He takes after his father. 2. take away: to remove something. Example: Komala took the knife away from the child. 3. take down: to write down some information. Example: Reema took down the important points of the lecture give by the guest. 4. take for : to believe something wrongly. Example: She took him for an idiot, but he is a gentleman. 5. take in : to allow someone to stay in your house. ...

Article: The

Let’s learn how to use the definite article ‘ the ’. Usage of the definite article ( ‘the’ ) : 1. Observe the following paragraph: One day, I saw a rat in my house. I thought there were many rats living in our house. So, I brought a cat from my friend’s house. I gave the cat all the food it required. It ate well and moved around the house. But a month after bringing the cat, to my surprise, one day I found the cat playing with the same rat. Now, they have become good buddies. You learn from the above paragraph that when we used ‘rat’ or ‘cat’ and ‘house’ for the first time, we used ‘a’ before them. But, when we used the words for the second or third time, we kept ‘the’ before them. So, the definite article ‘the’ is used before the persons or things that we already know beforehand. 2. ‘The’ is used with a noun whose identity is clear to the listener and the speaker from the context. Our classroom is on the second floor. ( the second floor of our school building ) What is the...

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