Grammar question

[ivapetrova9]

Hello,

I have the following question :

What's the best way to explain past participle to a beginner in English?
Who, by the way, still hasn't completely understood past simple?

Or, the difference between present and present continuous?
Only by using English, of course.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[Dawood Usmani]

Using Verbs and Past Participles
A Parti - what?
Reading and Discussion

Verbs are the action words in a sentence. Verbs show action or state of being. Every sentence you write must have a verb. You can have a one word sentence as long as that word is a verb. Go. Eat. Run! These are all correct sentences.
Another important thing you need to remember about verbs is their tense. Verb tenses tell us when the action happens.
Present tense tells us the action is happening now. I walk my dog.
Past tense tells us the action happened in the past. I walked my dog yesterday.
Future tense tells us the action will happen in the future. I will walk my dog next week.
With future tense, you must use the helping verb will before the main verb.
That’s a lot to remember, isn’t it? Did you know there is another set of three you need to know as well? Each verb has three main parts. They are
1. present;
2. past;
3. past participle.

Although it might sound confusing, it’s really very simple. Participles help show tense or act as adjectives. Let’s concentrate on participles to help show tense. The present form of a verb is used by itself for present tense or with the helping word will to make future tense.
The past form of a regular verb is written with the ed ending to show a happening in the past. The past participle is used with the helping verbs have, has or had to form three perfect tenses. Let’s look at some examples:
• I jump. (Now – present tense.)
• I will jump. (Future – future tense.)
• I jumped. (Past – past tense.)

These are two forms of the verb to jump.

Now let’s look at the third form of the verb to jump and its past participles.
Each past participle can make three more tenses. These are called the perfect tenses. Remember when you write a verb as a past participle, you must use the helping verbs has, have, or had. The perfect tenses are:
• Present Perfect: I have jumped.
• Past Perfect: I had jumped.
• Future Perfect: I will have jumped.

Here is an easy way to remember those perfect tenses.
1. Present perfect is an action that you started in the past and have just finished or is still going on.
• I have jumped on this trampoline all day.

You started to jump in the morning and are still jumping through the day.
2. Past perfect is an action you started in the past and finished in the past.
• I had jumped on the trampoline all day.

You started to jump in the past and finished jumping. You are not jumping now.
3. Future perfect is an action that will be started and finished at a certain time in the future.
• By nine o’clock tonight, I will have jumped on the trampoline all day.

Activities
Activity A: Name the two kinds of verbs used in a sentence.
1. ____________________ 2. ____________________
Activity B: Write the three verb tenses.
1. _________________ 2. _________________ 3. _________________
Activity C: Write the three principal parts of a verb.
1. _________________ 2. _________________ 3. _________________
Activity D: Write the three past participle tenses.
1. _________________ 2. _________________ 3. _________________
Activity E: Fill in the blanks in the sentences below to describe when each past participle takes place.
1. _____________________________ is an action that you started in the past and finished or is still going on. 2. _____________________________ is an action you started in the past and finished in the past. 3. _____________________________ is an action that will be started and finished at a certain time in the future.
Activity F: Write the present and present perfect tenses of the verb to laugh.
1. Present tense _____________2. Present perfect tense _____________
Activity G: Write the past tense and past perfect tense of the verb to giggle.
1. Past tense _____________ 2. Past perfect tense _________________

Answer Key
Activity A 1. Action 2. State of being
Activity B 1. Present 2. Past 3. Future
Activity C 1. Present 2. Past 3. Past participle
Activity D 1. Present perfect 2. Past perfect 3. Future perfect
Activity E 1. Present perfect 2. Past perfect
3. Future perfect
Activity F 1. Laugh 2. Have laughed
Activity G 1. Giggled 2. Had giggled

[ivapetrova9]

Thank You so much!!

This was of great help to me.
Your help is deeply appreciated.

[Dawood Usmani]

Thank You so much!!

This was of great help to me.
Your help is deeply appreciated.

You're always welcome. Feel free to ask for help.
Dawood