He ______ a book the day before.
A. reads
B. readed
C. red
D. read
**Explanation:**
The correct answer is D. read. In the given sentence, “He read a book yesterday,” the verb “read” is in the simple past tense. It indicates a completed action that occurred in the past.
Let’s explain the simple past tense in a way a student can easily understand.
These verbs are known as “irregular verbs.” Here are some more examples:
- Read: I read a book every day. (present) / She read a novel last night. (past)
- Put: Please put the book on the shelf. (present) / He put the keys on the table. (past)
- Cut: The chef cuts the vegetables. (present) / She cut her hair short. (past)
- Hit: They hit the ball with a bat. (present) / He hit a home run in the game. (past)
- Hurt: My knee hurts. (present) / She hurt her ankle while running. (past)
- Shut: He shuts the door quietly. (present) / She shut the window before leaving. (past)
- Cost: This shirt costs $20. (present) / It cost me a lot of money. (past)
- Spread: He spreads butter on his toast. (present) / She spread the news to everyone. (past)
- Set: I set the table for dinner. (present) / They set up the tent for camping. (past)
- Read: We read a story together. (present) / They read the news in the morning. (past)
As you can see, these verbs have the same spelling for both the base form (present tense) and simple past tense. However, their pronunciation and meaning change based on the context of the sentence. It’s essential to understand the context to differentiate between the present and past tense meanings of these irregular verbs.
Verbs that have the same form for both their base form (1st form) and simple past tense (2nd form) are known as “weak verbs” or “regular verbs.” They follow a common pattern in which the past tense is formed by adding “-ed” to the base form. Here are some examples of such verbs:
- Play: I play soccer every day. (present) / I played soccer yesterday. (past)
- Walk: He walks to school. (present) / She walked to the park. (past)
- Talk: They talk about their day. (present) / We talked about the movie. (past)
- Look: She looks at the painting. (present) / He looked at the stars. (past)
- Listen: We listen to music. (present) / They listened to a podcast. (past)
- Jump: The cat jumps on the table. (present) / The dog jumped over the fence. (past)
- Work: He works in an office. (present) / She worked late last night. (past)
- Taste: This cake tastes delicious. (present) / I tasted the soup, and it was too salty. (past)
- Like: She likes ice cream. (present) / He liked the movie. (past)
- Help: We help our friends. (present) / They helped us with our homework. (past)
These verbs are easy to remember because their past tense form simply adds “-ed” to the base form. It’s important to note that while these verbs have the same form for the base form and the simple past tense, they may change in other verb tenses, such as the present participle (-ing form) and the past participle.
**Explanation of Simple Past Tense:**
In English, we use different verb tenses to talk about actions that happened at different times. One of these tenses is the simple past tense. The simple past tense is used to talk about actions that were completed in the past. It helps us tell a story or talk about things that happened before now.
Forming the Simple Past Tense:
To form the simple past tense for regular verbs (most verbs in English are regular), we usually add “-ed” to the base form of the verb. For example:
- Base Form: play
- Simple Past Tense: played
So, if we want to talk about playing a game in the past, we say, “I played a game yesterday.”
Examples of Simple Past Tense:
- I visited my grandparents last weekend.
- She finished her homework before dinner.
- They watched a movie at the cinema.
- We cleaned our room yesterday.
- He walked to school this morning.
Irregular Verbs:
Not all verbs follow the regular “-ed” pattern in the simple past tense. Some verbs are irregular, and their past tense forms are different. For example:
- Base Form: go
- Simple Past Tense: went
So, if we want to talk about going to the park yesterday, we say, “I went to the park yesterday.”
More Examples of Irregular Verbs:
- Base Form: eat -> Simple Past Tense: ate
- Base Form: have -> Simple Past Tense: had
- Base Form: do -> Simple Past Tense: did
- Base Form: see -> Simple Past Tense: saw
**Using the Simple Past Tense in Sentences:**
We can use the simple past tense to talk about actions that happened at a specific time in the past or actions that were completed in the past but don’t have a specific time mentioned. For example:
- Specific Time: I saw a shooting star last night.
- No Specific Time: They visited the museum.
**Conclusion:**
The simple past tense is an important verb tense that helps us talk about past actions and events. By adding “-ed” to regular verbs or using irregular past tense forms, we can express what happened in the past. It’s a useful tool for storytelling and sharing experiences with others. Keep practising, and you’ll become a pro at using the simple past tense in no time!
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