Another way to study grammar--Animations (cartoons)!

Here is a link to ESL Blues, a website that offers a lot of lessons and quizzes (at different levels) for people studying English:

ESL Blues

 It also teaches grammar lessons by animations. An animation is a drawing or picture that seems to move. We watch animated tv shows called cartoons. We also see animation in computer games and in videos. Turning a positive statement into a question or into a negative statement requires changing the normal English word order, adding a helping verb or negative word, and/or changing the tense of the main verb. For example: He walked yesterday. Did he walk yesterday?He did not walk yesterday. 

Animation lets you watch the words in a sentence move around as these changes occur. Seeing words float into and out of a sentence is another way to help you remember the changes that occur when we make a positive statement into a negative statement or a question.

My suggestion: Click on the "ESL Blues" link above. After the page loads, look at the Alphabetical Index on the left side. Click on Animated Grammar Tutorials and then choose some of the links to watch. Or just use the links below to watch two of these "anigrams" (the ESL Blues website's name for these animated videos):

Past Tense: Negative Forms
Past Tense: Yes/No Questions 

Practice Past Tense and Time Clauses

 Click on the link below and scroll down to #1 to practice using past time clauses in sentences such as this:

1. Kate was skatedskatedwas skatingI don't know when she fell and broke her leg.    (You will click on the arrow in the box to show more choices, then click on verb form you think is correct) LINK: Practice past time clauses

Lessons and Exercises on Past Progressive/Continuous Tense

I am behind on posting what we've been doing in class, so I'm going to catch up with the most recent lessons and work my way backwards. Last week we studied the past progressive and simple past tenses and using them in time clauses. For instance, while is usually used with the past progressive tense: While I was watching television, while they were sleeping, etc. When, on the other hand, likes the simple past tense: The little boy was happy when his father came home.

My suggestion: Click on the links below for lessons and exercises on the past progressive/continuous tense and using it in time clauses:

LINK: Lesson on Uses and Forms of the Past Progressive Tense at myenglishpages.com 

LINK: Exercise on Forming the Past Progressive at myenglishpages.com

LINK: Lesson on Past Progressive Tense and Time Clauses at grammarbank.com

LINK: Exercise on Past Progressive Tense (scroll down to sentences 1-10)



Then click on these links to practice choosing between the simple past and past progressive tenses:

LINK: Simple Past or Past Progressive at ego4u.com

LINK: Simple Past or Past Progressive at Englishpage.com

LINK: Simple Past or Past Progressive at Perfect-English-Grammar.com

LINK: Simple Past or Past Progressive at a4esl.org

Practice Short Answers in the Simple Present and Simple Past Tenses

Today in class we did a quick exercise on answering yes/no questions with the "short answer" form. If you want more quick practice--

My suggestion: Click on the first link below to go to a short answer practice page at Englishgrammarsecrets.com. When you type your answer in the box provided, remember not to begin with a space. Make sure you type only one space between words in your answer, or the computer may read your answer as wrong even if you get it right.  Click on the second link to practice matching questions with their correct short answers. For both of these exercises, you can either check your answers as you go or check them after you've finished all of the questions.

LINK: Short answer practice (present tense) at Englishgrammarsecrets.com

LINK: Drag the answers at right to the questions they match (various verb tenses) 

Click on the link below to practice short answers in the simple past tense:

 LINK: Short answers in the past tense

Watch Tara the Cat Rescue Child from Dog Attack! Write Sentences!

Click on the link below and watch the news story: Tara the Cat Saves 4-Year-Old Boy

LINK: Tara the Cat Saves 4-Year-Old Boy

My suggestion: Write sentences about what happens in the video in past tense (active voice). Your sentences should have the subject-verb-direct object pattern. Then change the sentences you wrote into past tense, passive voice. For example:

The boy rode the tricycle. (active)

The tricycle was ridden by the boy. (passive)

Here are some nouns and verbs you might use in your sentences (in no special order)

NOUNS                    VERBS

cat                               run

dog                              chase

tricycle                        bite

car                               save

mother                        drag

camera                        film

attack                          attack

This is a screen capture (picture) of the video--click the link above to watch it.

Deciding Whether to Use Present or Past Tense of "To Be"

Sometimes it's important to use the same verb tense for your whole paragraph. For instance, if you write a paragraph about your morning routine, use simple present tense in each sentence of the paragraph. Here is an example of a paragraph written completely in the simple present tense (verbs are typed in red):

Every morning I awake at 7:00. First, I take a shower and dress. Then I eat breakfast and brush my teeth. After that I drive to work. I arrive by 9:00 a.m. and work for four hours. At 1:00 p.m., my work day is over. Sometime I run errands before I drive home. 

In some paragraphs, however, you have to change verb tenses now and then. If you are telling about your life, you will probably write about events in the past as well as information about your present life. Here is an example (present tense verbs are typed in red, but past tense verbs are in green):

My name is Pedro. I come from Mexico. I was born in Mexico City and lived there for 30 years. I came to the United States five years ago. I work part time at a grocery store and part time at a nursing home. In Mexico, I didn't complete high school. I want to return to school, and I plan to be a nurse.

Try this exercise from Englishmaven.org. Decide whether to use the present or the past tense of the verb to be. How do you decide? Look for time words in the sentence that show something happened in the past, such as yesterday, last night, when I was young, etc. These words or phrases are clues that you should use the past tense of to be. Use the present tense of to be to state facts and to refer to things that happen regularly (like habit or routine). Time words such as now and today also tell you to use the present tense.

My suggestion:  Click on the link below and try the exercise on the past and present tenses of the verb to be.

LINK: Deciding Whether to Use Present or Past Tense of "To Be"

You can also click on the following link for more information on using present versus past tense when writing.

LINK: Using Present or Past Tense in Narration

Quiz on Do, Does, or Did

This week we practiced asking questions with do, does (present tense), and did (past tense). Today's quiz at the Daily Page for ESL students gives you practice in using these words correctly, but in statements, not in questions.

My Suggestion: Try the quiz at this link--

LINK: Quiz for the Day: Do, Does, or Did

Review: Negative Statements and Questions in the Past Tense

This week we galloped (look it up, galloped) through some review exercises on forming questions and negative statements. Here is a link to my post from last year on practicing negative statements and questions in the past tense:

My suggestion: Click on the link below, read the post, then click on the links provided and do the suggested exercises.

LINK: Practice Simple Past Tense: Negatives and Questions

Practice Simple Past Tense--Negatives and Questions

Recently we have worked on the simple past tense. We use did as a helping verb to make a negative statement in the past tense (in the present tense, we use do or does). You have a handout on forming statements, negative statements, yes/no questions, and short answers in the past tense. Please practice asking questions in the past tense, both by writing them and saying them aloud.

My Suggestions: Practice writing sentences and questions in the past tense by clicking the first link below. Each question gives you words for a sentence, with only the simple base form of the verb. If it is a positive statement, you have to change the base form of the verb to the simple past form.. If the word not is next to the verb you are given, make the sentence negative, whether it is a statement or a question. If the sentence is a question or is negative, you have to add the helping verb (did) and use the BASE form of the verb. When you type the sentence, be sure to put the words in the correct order, capitalize the first word, and put the correct punctuation mark at the end. Read the directions carefully--do not include extra spaces in your answer, or the computer will read it as incorrect:

LINK: Practice making simple past sentences at Englishlearner.com 

Here are 25 practice exercises on making questions in the past tense:

LINK: 25 Practice Exercises on Questions in the Simple Past Tense
  
For "listen and repeat" practice in making questions in several verb tenses (present continuous, past, present, and future), click on this link:

LINK: Listen to Questions and Answers in 4 Verb Tenses 

Simple Past Tense--Links to Lessons and Exercises

This week we began studying the simple past tense. If you missed class, I have handouts and exercises for you, but below are some links to websites with good lessons on the simple past tense of verbs. There are also links to grammar exercises and quizzes on the simple past. You should study the past form of irregular verbs to prepare for the exercises. I gave you lists of irregular verbs in class, but you can also click on the tab for "Irregular Verbs" at the top of this blog and explore the posts that come up. They all have links to websites with more information about (or practice with) irregular verb forms.

My Suggestion: If you want more lessons on the simple past tense, try the links below.

If you want to practice listening and repeating verbs and sentences in the simple past tense, click on this link:

LINK: Practice saying past tense verbs in questions and answers

We can use the past tense with today to talk about what we did EARLIER in the day: "Today I went to school and then rode the bus home."

LINK: Practice saying what you did today

If you want exercises or quizzes, click on the link below. Remember--don't type extra spaces in your answer, or the computer will read it as the wrong answer, even if you typed the correct word.

LINK: Simple Past Tense Exercises

Here is an exercise that gives you two sentences and asks you to click on the sentence that is written in past tense (the other sentence is written in either present tense or in future tense with will--will eat, will go, etc.).

LINK: Choose the sentence in past tense

Writing a story or article in simple present tense.

We normally use the simple present tense to talk about a fact (a piece of information) or a regular habit (something that happens repeatedly or regularly) For example:

     I work at a grocery store. (fact)

     I speak English and Spanish. (fact)

     I eat breakfast at 7:00 a.m. every morning. (habit)

     My brother and I play basketball every Saturday morning. (habit)

However, we can also use the simple present to tell a story or a joke. We use present tense or present progressive to tell the story or joke in an active manner, as if it is happening at the moment. We can even tell about past events using the simple present, to create the feeling we are watching events as they unfold.

My suggestion: Click on the link below and read about using present vs. past tense in narration and about telling jokes or stories with active wording. Then do Practice 1 and Practice 2.

LINK: Using present vs. past tense in narration

Another Way to Study Questions and Negatives--Link to Older Post

Here's a unique way to learn how to make negative statements and questions--animations! Animations are cartoons, and last year I posted a link that can provide a unique review of what we did in class this week with negatives and questions.

My suggestion: Click on the link below to read the post and watch some of the animated grammar tutorials.

Animations--negative statements and questions in the past tense 

Past Continuous Tense, Celsa Practice

The present continuous tense is formed by using a PRESENT form of the verb to be as a helping verb, then adding another verb ending in -ing. We use it to talk about an ongoing action or state at the present time.

I am singing my favorite song. Why are you covering your ears? Are you feeling sick?

Today we briefly discussed the past continuous tense. The past continuous tense is formed by using a PAST form of the verb to be as a helping verb and adding another verb that ends in -ing:

I was singing my favorite song when the phone rang.

We use the past continuous tense when two past actions happened at the same time, but one interrupted the other, or one action was longer than the other. The simple past tense is used for the shorter action, and the past continuous is used for the longer, ongoing action.

I tripped as I was running to answer the phone.

My suggestion: Read Dennis Oliver's lesson about how to form this tense at the esl cafe:

Past Continuous Tense #1

Then read about how to use the past continuous tense:
 
Past Continuous Tense #2

Try this quiz at www.a4esl.org to test your ability to judge when to use the simple past tense and when to use past continuous. You have to think of the correct form of the verb (using the negative form if it says to) and then click on the box to see whether you got it right. This is also good practice for the Celsa grammar test.

Simple Past or Past Continuous--A Dialog

Simple Past Tense of Irregular Verbs

On Wednesday (9/23/15) in class we reviewed the material on possessive adjectives and possessive pronouns that I mentioned in my previous post. If you were not in class, read the online lesson and do the exercises. Here is the link to the lesson again (the link to the exercise is near the bottom of the page, under the green pronoun chart):
Lesson on Possessive Adjectives and Pronouns

We also began our study of the past tense of irregular verbs. We say that most English verbs are regular. We mean that the regular (usual) way to form the simple past tense is to add -ed (or -d if the base verb already ends in e) to the base form of the verb. The base form of a verb is the verb part of the infinitive ("to + verb")--to walk, to look, to save, etc. So the difference between present and past is only the verb's ending (although sometimes we have to make spelling changes at the end of the word, as we have discussed in class):

walk        walked
hug          hugged
save         saved
study        studied

However, irregular verbs do not follow this pattern. You cannot make the past tense by adding -ed. Instead, there may be spelling changes inside the word, not just at the end. The simple past form of some irregular verbs looks like a completely different word. An example is the verb to go. The base form used in the present tense is go, but the past tense form is went.

Below is a link to a chart that lists the most common irregular verbs and their principal parts--base form, past tense form, and past participle. We haven't yet studied the verb tenses that use the past participle.

My suggestion: Start studying these 50 most used irregular verbs and their parts. Then you will recognize them as we learn about the verb tenses that use them.

The 50 most common Irregular Verbs--Principal Parts