WHEN he saw the bus pass by, he worried about failing to make it to the meeting on time. The simple past tense is used to describe what happened in the past. Have a look at some regular verbs in the simple past tense: for example, push – pushed, fail – failed, look – looked, play – played and passed.
Add ‘-d’ if the infinitive ends with ‘-e’. For example, like –liked, hate – hated, rule – ruled, vote –voted, hope – hoped.
Remember the infinitive part of the verb is that part you find listed in a dictionary. If the infinitive ends in a consonant plus ‘-y’ replace the ‘-y’ with ‘-i’ then add ‘-ed’. Examples: marry – married, cry – cried, copy – copied, deny – denied.
The alphabet is made up of five vowels and the rest are consonants. If the infinitive ends in one vowel and one consonant, double the consonant, (a) When the infinitive has only one syllable: For example: ban – banned, sip –sipped, and rob – robbed. When the stress is on the last syllable with more than one syllable: For example, control – controlled, occur – occurred, label – labelled, program – programmed.
Note that when the stress is not on the last syllable the last consonant is not doubled. Examples: happen – happened, listen – listened, allow – allowed and storm – stormed. Add ‘ed’ if the infinitive ends in: -ss, -ch, -sh,-x, -er, -mb –mp, for instance, pass – passed, rush – rushed, watch – watched. Mix – mixed, climb – climbed, stammer – stammered, and camped.
The continuous tense: I am singing. They were playing when the teacher called them. I am/was eating. I is the pronoun in this sentence. “am/was” is the verb in this sentence. “Eating” is the present/past.
1. We use the present continuous to describe: (a) what is going on now, or regularly. For example: I am drinking some tea. This year we are learning computers.
(b) What we plan for the future. Example: Next week we are going for the holidays. In a month’s time they are moving into a new house
2. We use the past continuous tense to describe an action that was going on when something else happened: or was also happening.
For example: While his mother slept, he was reading a novel. Or while she was sleeping he was reading. General rule: Just add “_-ing” to the infinitive. Check on some spelling rule: If the infinitive ends in ‘-e’, drop the ‘-e’ and add ‘-ing’. For example: bite – biting, make – making, move – moving, and hope – hoping. But, see – seeing, be – being, flee – fleeing, and agree – agreeing.
When the infinitive ends in one vowel and one consonant, double the consonant and add ‘ing’. When the infinitive has only one syllable. For instance, sit – sitting, swim – swimming, run running and set – setting. ‘-w’, ‘-y’ or ‘-x’ should not be read as consonants; and should not be doubled. Examples: blow – blowing, buy – buying, box – boxing, stay – staying, mix – mixing, and grow – growing.
Always double the final “l’ if it follows one vowel, even when the stress is not on the last syllable, then add ‘-ing’. Examples: label – labelling, travel – travelling and cancel – cancelling. But, boil – boiling, feel – feeling, die – dying, untie – untying.
Let us go back to writing effective paragraphs – main idea and topic sentence. Most paragraphs develop one main idea. This main idea is usually stated in the paragraph’s topic sentence. The remaining sentences of the paragraph support, explain, develop, or illustrate the topic sentence.
When the main idea of a paragraph is not directly stated, all the sentences in the paragraph work together to support the reader infers the point of the paragraph based on the details that are provided.
To infer is similar to conclude, deduce, or conjecture to state a few examples. Writing a topic sentence: Each topic sentence presents a main point within your whole piece of writing.
You may often develop topic sentences in the planning stages of your writing, before you actually write your paragraphs. To write a topic sentence, review the details that have something in common.
For each group, make a statement that expresses the idea or quality that these details have in common. Use this statement as the topic sentence of a paragraph that includes the grouped details.
Writing supporting sentences: Your topic sentences whether stated or implied, will direct the remaining sentences in the paragraph. These other sentences should give enough information to support, explain, or develop the topic sentence completely. You can support or develop the main idea by using one of the following strategies. Use facts: Facts are statements that can be verified. They support your key idea by providing concrete evidence or proof.
Use statistics: A statistic is a fact, usually stated using numbers. Use examples, illustrations, or instances: An example, illustrations or instance is a specific thing, person or event that demonstrates a point. Use details: Details are the specifics of your writing. They make your point or main idea clear by showing how all pieces fit together.
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