When we talk about narrations in terms of grammar and language, there are two very important vocabulary words: tense and aspect. These two concepts give us different, but essential, information about the story we are listening to.
tells us WHEN in time a verb occurred. Think of this as a timeline.
adds information by telling us HOW that verb occurred in that time. Was it continuous? Or was the action in one particular moment?
The first aspect we will discuss is simple past. We use simple to talk about an action that occurred in one specific moment in time in the past OR was a habit or routine occurrence.
For example:
She ran yesterday. (specific moment in the past)
We played basketball in high school. (habit or routine in the past)
Someone said hello to me.
This form should be fairly comfortable for you at this stage of your language learning. The most common errors with the simple past are related to the pronunciation of the -ed endings and irregular past tense verbs.
There are three different pronunciations of the -ed ending in English. The pronunciation is based on the final sound of the base verb.
final -ed pronunciation table
Pronunciation | -ed pronounced as /t/ | -ed pronounced as /d/ | -ed pronounced as /ed/ |
---|---|---|---|
Final Sound | Voiceless You cannot feel the vibration when you touch your throat. /f, k, p, s, tʃ, θ, ʃ/ | Voiced You can feel the vibration when you touch your throat. /b, g, j, l, m, n, ŋ, r, ʤ, ð, v, w, y, z ʒ/ | Ends with It would sound strange to have two identical sounds together. /t/ or /d/ |
Examples |
Laughed Picked Slipped Kissed Watched Washed |
Loved Gagged Rubbed Buzzed Judged Tethered |
Waited Wanted Hated Traded Faded
|
Unfortunately, there's not an easy explanation for irregular verbs. Many of the most common words in English are irregular (ex. go, do). Since there is not a simple pattern to help you know when a verb is regular or irregular, the best advice is to listen and notice while reading for these verbs.
Examples of common irregular verbs: say/said, has/had, fall/fell, come/came, and let/let.
List of English irregular verbs
Watch the video below to practice before continuing to the exercises. Listen and write down the past tense verbs you hear. Then put them in different categories.
-ed pronunciation sorting
-ed /t/ | -ed /d/ | -ed /ed/ | Irregular |
---|---|---|---|
stretched walked cramped (past participle) approached stopped risked
| lived resolved revealed cooled determined strayed defiled strained tried overwhelmed implored explained listened weighed resolved filled whispered discovered shunned mingled | decided afforded animated polluted committed tormented (past participle) communicated
| was/were felt sought took began spoke hung set left sank hid met went
|
Speaking Practice
Here is a paragraph written with all of the verbs are in the base form between brackets [verb]. Change the verbs to the simple past. Click on the next tab to check your answers.
Marie Curie [be] a famous chemist. As a child, Marie [learn] about science from her father, who [be] a professor. However, being a woman [limit] her opportunities to study at a university. Marie [work] hard to earn the money and [attend] a school that [allow] women and [continue] to learn on her own. When she [move] to Paris, she [begin] a career. Through this work, she [meet] her future husband and co-researcher, Pierre Curie. The two of them [support] each other in their scientific research. They [research] the elements and [discover] important information about radioactivity. In fact, the term "radioactivity" was [create] by the Curies. Marie [become] the first woman to receive the Noble Prize.
Answer Key
Here is the paragraph written in the simple past. Check your answers.
Marie Curie was a famous chemist. As a child, Marie learned about science from her father, who was a professor. However, being a woman limited her opportunities to study at a university. Marie worked hard to earn the money and attended a school that allowed women and continued to learn on her own. When she moved to Paris, she began a career. Through this work, she met her future husband and co-researcher, Pierre Curie. The two of them supported each other in their scientific research. They researched the elements and discovered important information about radioactivity. In fact, the term "radioactivity" was created by the Curies. Marie became the first woman to receive the Noble Prize.
Pronunciation
Read the paragraph and think about the pronunciation of the past verbs. Click on the next tab to check your answers.
Marie Curie was a famous chemist. As a child, Marie learned about science from her father, who was a professor. However, being a woman limited her opportunities to study at a university. Marie worked hard to earn the money and attended a school that allowed women and continued to learn on her own. When she moved to Paris, she began a career. Through this work, she met her future husband and co-researcher, Pierre Curie. The two of them supported each other in their scientific research. They researched the elements and discovered important information about radioactivity. In fact, the term "radioactivity" was created by the Curies. Marie became the first woman to receive the Noble Prize.
Pronunciation Answer Key
Here is a recording of the paragraph. Listen for pronunciation and check if you correctly chose the ending pronunciation.Audio recording (Marie Curie)
Marie Curie was a famous chemist. As a child, Marie learned /d/ about science from her father, who was a professor. However, being a woman limited /ed/ her opportunities to study at a university. Marie worked /t/ hard to earn the money and attended /ed/ a school that allowed /d/ women and continued /d/ to learn on her own. When she moved /d/ to Paris, she began a career. Through this work, she met her future husband and co-researcher, Pierre Curie. The two of them supported /ed/ each other in their scientific research. They researched /t/ the elements and discovered /d/ important information about radioactivity. In fact, the term "radioactivity" was created /ed/ by the Curies. Marie became the first woman to receive the Noble Prize.
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Access it online or download it at https://edtechbooks.org/advanced_low_listening__speaking/simple_past.