Facoltà di Scienze Economiche, Giuridiche e Politiche

CdL Economia e Gestione dei CdL Economia e Gestione dei Servizi TuristiciServizi Turistici

UNIT 2

a.a. 2013/2014

We obtain it by adding –ed to the base form of the verb for all persons (I-III singular & plural)

I work – I worked, she loves – loved, they play – played, I watch – they watched

Verbs ending in –e only add –d: love-lovedVerbs ending in y preceded by consonant

undergo a morphological change: study – studied

Present simple Past simple

Auxiliary verb in the present is to do Auxiliary verb in the past becomes did and keeps

the same form for singular and plural first, second and third persons.

Did/didn’t is always followed by the lexical verb in the base form

Ex. Where did you want to go? I wanted to go to the music store.

Ex. What did she like? She liked those jeans.

The suffix -ed can be pronounced in three different ways according to the verb ending

1./ɪd/ - verbs ending in -t and -d (start, end)2./t/ - verbs ending in -k, -ch, -sh, -ss, -p, -x

(kissed, walked, washed, watched, pump, fix)

3./d/ - the other verbs ending with a consonant and –e (turned, solved)

They undergo a morphological change only present in affirmative sentences: ex. She saw Jane, They met Julian, We drove to the beach, They bought a new car

BUT …

She didn’t see Jane, They didn’t meet Julian, Did you drive to the beach?, Didn’t they buy a new car?

Infinitive Simple past Past participle

Go Went Gone

Come Came Come

Drive Drove Driven

Get Got Got

Sleep Slept Slept

Do Did Done

Find Found Found

Can Could Been able to

Take Took Taken

Read Read Read

Speak Spoke Spoken

Buy Bought Bought

Present simple Past simple

Am, Is Was

Are Were

I’m not, he isn’t, they aren’t I wasn’t, she wasn’t, they weren’t

Am I? Is he? Are they? Was I? Was she? Were they?

Present simple Past simple Present simple Past simple

I’m a doctor I was a doctor

She’s a teacher She was a teacher

They’re gorgeous They were gorgeous

Are they Italian? Were they Italian?

Is she happy? Was she happy?

Aren’t you George? Isn’t she

Jane?

Weren’t you George? Wasn’t

she Jane?

The Past Continuous

We use the Past Continuous to talk about an action or situation that was in progress at a particular time in the past.

E.g. James was cooking when I got home.

I was waiting for the bus at half past six.

The Past Continuous

Past Continuous actions are not completed at that time in the past.

To talk about completed actions at a particular time in the past, we use the Past Simple.

I sent David an email yesterday.

Mark cooked dinner last night.

The Past Continuous

We often use the Past Continuous:

1. To set the scene at the beginning of a story: It was raining heavily. Anna was walking quickly towards the cinema.

2. To talk about a longer action interrupted by another action: I was watching TV when he arrived.