PPT: Tenses | Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension (VARC) - CAT PDF Download

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T e n s e s
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T e n s e s
Simple Past Tense
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T e n s e s
Simple Past Tense
Introduction
Definition
The simple past is a verb tense used 
to talk about things that happened or 
existed before now. It emphasizes 
that the action is finished, unlike the 
past continuous tense which 
describes ongoing past actions.
Basic Examples
Wolfgang entered a hula hoop 
contest. He won the silver medal. 
Wolfgang admired the way the light 
glinted off his silver medal.
States of Being
Simple past can also express past 
states using the verb to be with 
adjectives, nouns, or prepositional 
phrases. For example: Wolfgang was 
proud of his victory. The contest 
was the highlight of his week.
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T e n s e s
Simple Past Tense
Introduction
Definition
The simple past is a verb tense used 
to talk about things that happened or 
existed before now. It emphasizes 
that the action is finished, unlike the 
past continuous tense which 
describes ongoing past actions.
Basic Examples
Wolfgang entered a hula hoop 
contest. He won the silver medal. 
Wolfgang admired the way the light 
glinted off his silver medal.
States of Being
Simple past can also express past 
states using the verb to be with 
adjectives, nouns, or prepositional 
phrases. For example: Wolfgang was 
proud of his victory. The contest 
was the highlight of his week.
Formation of Simple Past Tense
Regular Verbs
For regular verbs, add -ed to the 
root form (or just -d if the root 
form already ends in an e):
Play ³ Played
Type ³ Typed
Listen ³ Listened
Push ³ Pushed
Love ³ Loved
Irregular Verbs
For irregular verbs, things get 
more complicated. Some look 
exactly like the root form:
Put ³ Put
Cut ³ Cut
Set ³ Set
Others change more dramatically:
See ³ Saw
Go ³ Went
Am/Is/Are ³ Was/Were
Subject Agreement
The good news is that verbs in 
the simple past tense (except for 
the verb to be) don't need to 
agree in number with their 
subjects.
Example: Wolfgang polished his 
medal. The other winners 
polished their medals too.
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T e n s e s
Simple Past Tense
Introduction
Definition
The simple past is a verb tense used 
to talk about things that happened or 
existed before now. It emphasizes 
that the action is finished, unlike the 
past continuous tense which 
describes ongoing past actions.
Basic Examples
Wolfgang entered a hula hoop 
contest. He won the silver medal. 
Wolfgang admired the way the light 
glinted off his silver medal.
States of Being
Simple past can also express past 
states using the verb to be with 
adjectives, nouns, or prepositional 
phrases. For example: Wolfgang was 
proud of his victory. The contest 
was the highlight of his week.
Formation of Simple Past Tense
Regular Verbs
For regular verbs, add -ed to the 
root form (or just -d if the root 
form already ends in an e):
Play ³ Played
Type ³ Typed
Listen ³ Listened
Push ³ Pushed
Love ³ Loved
Irregular Verbs
For irregular verbs, things get 
more complicated. Some look 
exactly like the root form:
Put ³ Put
Cut ³ Cut
Set ³ Set
Others change more dramatically:
See ³ Saw
Go ³ Went
Am/Is/Are ³ Was/Were
Subject Agreement
The good news is that verbs in 
the simple past tense (except for 
the verb to be) don't need to 
agree in number with their 
subjects.
Example: Wolfgang polished his 
medal. The other winners 
polished their medals too.
How to Make the Simple Past Negative
Basic Formula
For most verbs, the 
formula is did not + [root 
form of verb]. You can 
also use the contraction 
didn't.
Example: Wolfgang did 
not brag too much about 
his skills. Wolfgang's 
girlfriend didn't see the 
contest.
Exception: To Be
For the verb to be, you 
don't need the auxiliary 
did. Use was not/wasn't 
(singular) or were 
not/weren't (plural).
Example: The third-
place winner was not as 
happy as Wolfgang. The 
contestants weren't 
ready to leave either.
Practice Point
Remember that the main 
verb always stays in its 
base form when using 
"did not" in negative 
sentences. The auxiliary 
verb "did" carries the 
past tense marker.