WORKSHEET - UNIT 6

Kyle Stocks

Task 1 – Identify the following tenses, giving your reason

for the identification:

a) Peter went to the cinema yesterday evening.

Past simple affirmative- went is a irregular verb which is

used because this sentence consist of a past action and
the time has been given.

b) He had been living there for most of his life.

Past perfect continuous affirmative- had +been +verb-ing

c) I was sleeping at 2.00AM.

Past continuous affirmative- was + verb-ing

d) John and Mary hadn’t been there before.

Past perfect negative- hadn’t (had + not) +past participle

Task 2 – State as many usages as possible of the past

tenses below, with an example sentence for each usage
(not a sentence from the unit!).

a) Past simple

For a past action when the time is given

They dated six months ago.

When the time is asked about

When did they date?

When the action clearly took place at a definite time even

though the time is not mentioned
We got our dog a long time ago.

Sometimes the time becomes definite as a result of a

question and answer in the present perfect
Where has he been? He has been at the baseball game.
Did he enjoy the game?

b) Past continuous

For interrupted past actions

While I was doing my hair, the phone rang.

Used without a time expression, it can indicate gradual

development that took place in the past.
The sun was rising.

It can express an action, which began before that time

and probably continued after it.
At 9:13 I was working.

We use the continuous tense in descriptions.

When I went to sleep, it was raining heavily, and I was
snoring.

c) Past perfect

When we describe past actions with past results-

When I got to the baseball field I realized I had left my
glove and bat at home.
When we describe actions which have occurred before
other actions in the past
He told me he had played baseball for several years
otherwise I wouldn’t have picked him for our team.

d) Past perfect continuous

To talk about actions or situations in the past that had

been going on continuously up to the past moment that
we are talking about

Before eating dinner, he had been doing his homework for

the past 3 hours.

Task 3 – State how the tenses below are formed

grammatically. Explain positive, negative and question
forms:

a) Past simple
Affirmative- (subject + verb + ed or d ending on verb)
Negative- (subject + did not or didn’t before base form of
verb)
Question- (did + subject + base form of verb)

b) Past continuous
Affirmative-(subject + was/were + verb + ing)
Negative- (subject + was/were + not + verb + ing)
Question-(was/were + subject + verb + ing)

c) Past perfect
Affirmative- (subject + had + verb + ed )
Negative- (subject + had + not + verb + ed)
Question-(had + subject + verb + ed )
d) Past perfect continuous
Affirmative- (subject + had + been +verb +ing)
Negative- (subject + had + not + been +verb +ing)
Question-(had + subject + been +verb +ing)

Task 4 – Give at least 2 teaching ideas (suitable for the

Activate stage of a lesson) for the tenses below and give
examples of sentences that you would expect your
students to produce:

a) Past simple
I would have my students role play having one student in the group
asking a question in the past simple while another student answers
in the past simple affirmative and another students answers in the
past simple negative. This exercise would require the students to
get into groups of three.

Ex-
Student 1- Did you play baseball?
Student 2- I played baseball.
Student 3- I did not play baseball.

I would also ask the students questions about previous holidays in

their native country and have them answer the questions in the past
simple, in both the affirmative and in the negative.

Ex-
(My question) Did your family celebrate Christmas this year?
Student 1- My family did celebrate Christmas this year.
Student 2- My family did not celebrate Christmas this year.

b) Past continuous
I would play a detective game with my students.

Ex- What were you doing last night around eight o’clock?
Student 1- I was playing basketball.
Student 2- I was doing my home work.
I would also have the students keep a diary of their previous week
and ask them questions about their weekly activities.

Ex-
What were you doing on Sunday at noon?
Student 1- I was playing video games with my brother.
Student 2- I was mowing the lawn with my dad.

c) Past perfect
I would start by having the students telling the class a story about
something which happened to them in the past.

Ex-
Student 1- I had played baseball my whole life and all of my hard
work had finally paid off when we won the championship.

I would also tell the students a story and have them restate some of
the events which had occurred in the story.

Student 1- She had worked so hard to win that race, I can’t believe
she lost.
Student 2- His competitor had worked very hard also.

d) Past perfect continuous

I would ask the students to tell me what they were doing before
they came to school today and ask them to include before they
came to school in their answers.

Student 1- Before coming to school, I had been fighting to use the

bathroom with my sister for twenty minutes.
Student 2- Before coming to school, I had been watching T.V. for
over an hour.

I would also have the students ask each other questions which
guessed what they were doing before they went to bed last night.

Student 1- Before you went to bed last night, had you been eating
cookies and milk?
Student 2- I had not been eating cookies and milk before I went to
bed last night.
Task 5 – Complete the past simple form of these irregular
verbs:

VERB PAST SIMPLE VERB PAST SIMPLE

tell told hide hid
be was/were eat ate
bring brought find found
do did buy bought
see saw go gone

Task 6 - Complete the past participle form of the same

irregular verbs:

VERB PAST VERB PAST

PARTICIPLE PARTICIPLE
tell told hide hided
be was/were eat eaten
bring brought find found
do did buy bought
see saw go gone

Task 7 – How would you explain the difference in structure

and usage between these tenses to a low-level student?
Illustrate your explanations with example sentences of
your own:

a) Past simple and past continuous

i) Explanation of differences in structure:

Present simple
Positive- Subject + base form (verb in a specific tense)
Negative- Subject + aux verb (do + not) + base form
Question- Aux verb (do) + subject + base form
Past Continuous
Affirmative-(subject + was/were + verb + ing)
Negative- (subject + was/were + not + verb + ing)
Question-(was/were + subject + verb + ing)

ii) Differences in usage:

Past simple
For a past action when the time is given
When the time is asked about
When the action clearly took place at a definite time even though the time is not
mentioned
Sometimes the time becomes definite as a result of a question and answer in the
present perfect
Past continuous
For interrupted past actions
Used without a time expression, it can indicate gradual development that took
place in the past.
It can express an action, which began before that time and probably continued
after it.
We use the continuous tense in descriptions.

iii) Example sentences:

Past simple
I played football on Thursday.
I worked on my motorcycle on Friday.
.Past continuous
I was playing football on Thursday.
I was working on my motorcycle on Friday.

b) Past simple and present perfect

i) Explanation of differences in structure:

Past simple
Positive- Subject + base form (verb in a specific tense)
Negative- Subject + aux verb (do + not) + base form
Question- Aux verb (do) + subject + base form
Present Perfect
Positive- Subject + aux verb (have) + past participle
Negative- Subject + aux verb (have + not) + past participle
Question- Aux verb (have) + subject + past participle

ii) Differences in usage:

Past simple
For a past action when the time is given
When the time is asked about
When the action clearly took place at a definite time even though the time is not
mentioned
Sometimes the time becomes definite as a result of a question and answer in the
present perfect
Present perfect
When we talk about finished actions / states that happened at an indefinite time.
It refers to general experience without specific detail
When we are thinking about completed past actions carried out in an unfinished
time period at the time of speaking
When we talk about something of the past and is still true now, at the time of
speaking. We do not know if this is likely to continue or not
When we describe past actions with present results

iii) Example sentences:

Past simple
I played soccer on Tuesday
I worked for 10 hours on Friday

Present Perfect
I am playing basketball on Tuesday
I’m working for 13 hours on Friday

c) Present perfect and past perfect

i) Explanation of differences in structure:

Present Perfect
Positive- Subject + aux verb (have) + past participle
Negative- Subject + aux verb (have + not) + past participle
Question- Aux verb (have) + subject + past participle
Past perfect
Affirmative- (subject + had + verb + ed )
Negative- (subject + had + not + verb + ed)
Question-(had + subject + verb + ed )
ii) Differences in usage:
Present Perfect
When we talk about finished actions / states that happened at an indefinite time.
It refers to general experience without specific detail
When we are thinking about completed past actions carried out in an unfinished
time period at the time of speaking
When we talk about something of the past and is still true now, at the time of
speaking. We do not know if this is likely to continue or not
When we describe past actions with present results
Past Perfect
When we describe past actions with past results
When we describe actions which have occurred before other actions in the past

iii) Example sentences:

Present Perfect
I have worked at my job for 4 years.

Past Perfect
I had worked at this job for 4 years before I found another one.