ESL 33A Grammar Packet #3: Verb Tenses

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Rachel York
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1 The writer of the following meaningful paragraph has made a number of verb errors. Find and correct any verb errors you may find. A Meaningful Old Picture Can an old picture mean anything? An object that is important to me is an old picture that I took with my aunt ten years ago died (used to go) weekend before she dead. When I was a kid I usually went to her house every weakend. It s because my of parents had to go to work and no one could take care me. One day my mother told me that I had was not going to go to my aunt s had just died have to stay home with my sister and I am not going to my aunt home because she just die last the night before. the whole day because I could not find night. And I remember that I had cried the hold day because I can find where my aunt was. I where my aunt had gone didn t understand what death meant. kept asking my parents where did my aunt go because I don t understand what it mean die. of had taken After a couple weeks my mother handed a picture to me that I took with my aunt and let me to for memory s sake. Now that I have grown up, I understand what dead means. I have found keep it for memory. And when I grown up I understood what it mean dead and I found that that sometimes not even gold or diamonds can be less valuable than a simple but memorable not even gold or diamond is valuable sometime an very simple object or piece of junk can be object. In my case, more valuable and memory than anything else. For instance, the old picture that I had probably would be no more than a piece of junk, but to me it is a treasure of memories because to most people mean junk but to me is valuable and memory it s because my aunt had no longer live in the world. R. Frank: ESL 33A: 1

2 The verb phrase A verb can be one word, or it can have two or more related parts. In a sentence, a verb alone, or a verb and its related parts, is called a verb phrase. Look at the sentences below and underline the verb phrases (all the words you think are verbs, or parts of verbs). (Note that in these sentences the word work is a noun.) 1. She goes to work. 2. She doesn t go to work on Tuesdays. 3. Does she go to work on the weekends? 4. She is going to work today. 5. She is going to go to work tomorrow. 6. She has gone to work three times this week. 7. She has been going to work for a long time. 8. She should go to work every day. 9. She has to go to work to pay the bills 10. She should have been able to go to work yesterday, in spite of the rain. Types of verbs Types of helping verbs There are two basic types of helping verbs: 1. be, have, & do Look at the following sentences and decide if be is a main verb or a helping verb: a. I am a student. Main Verb b. He is washing the dishes. Auxiliary Verb c. She was beautiful. Main Verb d. The Lord of the Rings was written by J.R.R. Tolkien. Auxiliary Verb Look at the following sentences and decide if have is a main verb or a helping verb: e. She had a good time. Main Verb f. The dog has eaten everything. Auxiliary Verb g. He has a Mercedes Benz and a BMW. Main Verb h. I realized that I hadn t finished my homework. Auxiliary Verb Look at the following sentences and decide if do is a main verb or a helping verb. i. She is doing her exercises. Main Verb j. I do not like rainy days. Auxiliary Verb k. They do nothing on the weekends. Main Verb l. Did you finish your homework? Auxiliary Verb R. Frank: ESL 33A: 2

3 Verb Forms Each of the following sentences has an error in verb form. Find out what is wrong with each, and correct the error. Be sure that you can explain why it is wrong. 1. My friend, Lin, who took ESL 122 with me last semester, is going back to Taiwan this summer. 2. Luis has visited Los Angeles many times. 3. Jack has been studying Japanese for two years. 4. Judy had to go back to her family s home in Hangzhou immediately. 5. After class, Minh will be working at the library. 6. Last year, Anahit was able to visit Yerevan. 7. They will not be able to teach their children to speak Shan. 8. We didn t have any problems when we went through customs. 9. Carol doesn t like her neighbors. 10. I have been learned a lot since I came to the U.S. 11. He couldn t forget Morocco after that vacation. 12. I felt sad because we had to go back home. The following paragraph has seven errors in verb forms. Find and correct these errors. When I first came here two years ago, my sister grabbed me by the hand and took me to my first English school. She was pushed me almost all the way to school because I didn t wanted to study English. She finally got me there, and she paid for all the first courses. Now when I see my sister, I just say, Thank you! because she could wake me up about the importance of learning English. English is the most important language in the world because the U.S. is one of the biggest countries in the world. However, English shouldn t be the only important language to learn. For me, when I can speaking English fluently, I will trying to learn another language, too. The following paragraph has seven errors in verb forms. Find and correct these errors. Oscar de la Renta is one famous person from the Dominican Republic. He is an internationally recognized fashion designer. He left his country to go to France to study fashion design. He made a name for himself, but he continued to live in France. A lot of people like his style. I think that if he were living in his country, the Dominican Republic, he could established a great design institute there, and he could to select the best students to work with him. He should to do this in his own country. However, he is taking our designers to France to work with him. Personally, I know one case of a young designer. De la Renta convinced him to go to France. He is more famous now than he was in my country, and he is very rich, too. He didn t returned to his country. I can understand how he might adapted to a new lifestyle and feel better outside his own country. R. Frank: ESL 33A: 3

4 Verb tenses basic time aspect simple progressive perfect perfect progressive past time Studied Was/were studying Had studied Had been studying present time Study/studies (do/does study) Am/is/are studying Has/have studied Has/have been studying future time Will study Will be studying Will have studied Will have been studying Stative or nonprogressive verbs Look at the following sentences. If you think the sentence is correct, write a check ( ). If you think the sentence is not correct, write an and correct the sentence. 1. Charles was watching television in the living room. 2. We saw terrible things then. 3. She was smelling the flowers and picking them. 4. The sea smelled so fresh. 5. They hated everyone who looked different than they did. 6. My father, a doctor, is being careful now because of the bird flu. 7. We were having a good time together. 8. Americans believe so strongly in self-reliance, independence, and freedom for the individual. 9. The first time she saw him at the party, she fell in love with him and she knew she wanted to be with him. 10. When she found out/discovered my secret, she went out and told everyone about the embarrassing thing I had done. Time clauses Read the following passage about the life of Benjamin Franklin. Find and underline each dependent clause that shows a time relationship. Decide if the basic meaning is before, at the same time, or after. Benjamin Franklin was born in Boston in 1706, the fifteenth child in a poor family. Franklin began learning about saving money and living wisely as a young child (same time). For example, when he was six years old (same time), young Benjamin learned an important lesson in thrift after he had spent too much money for a whistle (after). By the time he was twelve years old (before), Franklin had begun to work in his brother James printing shop. Because of his great love for reading, young Franklin spent almost all of his free time and lunch times reading while he was working at his brother s shop (same time). He also taught himself to write, and before long had published fourteen articles. When his brother James found out (after), he beat Ben, so Ben left to work on his own. He sailed to Philadelphia and began to work for a printer there. While he was working R. Frank: ESL 33A: 4

5 in Philadelphia (same time), his writings made the Governor of Pennsylvania afraid of his ability to think and write. As a result, the Governor tricked Franklin into going to England and then abandoned him there without money. Again, Ben used his resourcefulness and found work with a printer. Eventually, Franklin returned to the American colonies and set up his own printing business with help from his father s friend. Regretting some of the things that he had done in his younger days, Franklin devised a method for developing his personal life. His method was made up of thirteen virtues: temperance, silence, order, resolution, frugality, industry, sincerity, justice, moderation, cleanliness, tranquility, chastity, and humility. Franklin sought to develop one virtue at a time and made daily recordings of his progress in his diary. While he was developing these virtues (same time), Franklin was also spending a great deal of his spare time inventing many useful items, including stoves, bifocals and batteries, in addition to debating philosophy and studying. He also became fluent in four different languages. When Franklin died in 1790 (before), he had actually made major contributions in five different areas of activity: business, journalism, citizenship, and statesmanship. He had been active in public life until he was eighty three (before and including). Most importantly, his contributions had helped shape the destiny of the new nation which he had helped to found, the United States of America. Present Tense: Verb tense usage Decide whether the following passage should use the simple present, present progressive, present perfect, present perfect progressive or past forms. (Note: A total of 3 past tense forms are used.) Since the 1950s and 1960s, tremendous changes (1) have occurred (occur) in the roles that fathers (2) play (play), especially in the early years of their children s care. Steve, a typical modern father, (3) feels (feel) that it (4) is (be) more important for him to share in the the raising of his children Molly and Max than it (5) is (be) to earn a little more money each year. He (6) does not want (not, want) to be a stranger to his own children. Fathers (7) appear (appear) to have far more capacity to care for small children than people (8) thought (think) in times past. In the past, psychologists (9) assumed (assume) that the mother (10) was (be) the better-suited parent for early childcare both temperamentally and biologically. But recent research (11) suggests/has suggested (suggest) that, given a chance, fathers (12) are (be) as caring as mothers with their young children. Like Steve, many fathers today (13) are changing (change) their ideas. They (14) are getting (get) involved in the care and education of their children. The trends (15) suggest (suggest) that soon, more and more fathers (16) will take (take) an active role in raising a family. R. Frank: ESL 33A: 5

6 Write the appropriate verb forms in the following paragraph. Alan and his friends have been planning to learn rock climbing for weeks. He first (1) learned (learn) about this sport from a TV program. Since then, he (2) has rented (rent) videos about rock climbing to learn more about it. He (3) has convinced (convince) his friends to go with him, too. They (4) have decided (decide) to go after the semester (5) ends (end). They (6) have already chosen (choose [already]) a rock climbing school and they (7) have already bought (buy [already]) all of the equipment they (8) will need (need) on their trip. Even though they are nervous about climbing up the side of a mountain, they are excited about their upcoming trip. Present/Future Tense Verbs: Sentence combining Join the second sentence of each of these pairs to the first sentence using the suggested linking word(s). Make sure to change nouns to pronouns where necessary. Example: I ll go to the movies. I will finish my homework. (after) I ll go to the movies after I finish my homework. (1) Paul and Kathy are going to have a good time. They will be on vacation in Montreal. (while) Paul and Kathy are going to have a good time while they are on vacation. (2) I m going to go camping for three days. I will have finished all of my final exams. (once) I m going camping for three days once I have finished all of my final exams. (3) Carl and Reiko are leaving for their new jobs They ll sell their new house. (as soon as) Carl and Reiko are leaving for their new jobs as soon as they sell their house. (4) Even my boss is going to take some time off. He will have finished printing and checking the month-end report. (when) Even my boss is going to take some time off when he has finished checking the month-end report. (5) It will be almost next semester. Carol will finally get her paper typed. (by the time) It will be almost next semester when Carol finally gets her paper typed. R. Frank: ESL 33A: 6

7 Present/Future Tense Verbs: Error Correction Some of the verb phrases in the following paragraph contain incorrect verb forms. Find and underline 15 errors in verb forms. Then write the corrections above the errors. This year spring break will be very exciting. I am going to go to San Francisco with my family. I have never been there before, so I do not know what to expect. I have been planning this trip for several months now. When my cousin first suggested it, I didn t want to go. But then he told me all there was to do and see, and I decided it would be a lot of fun. Now I am really looking forward to it. We will leave on Friday night so that we can arrive on Saturday morning.. When we get there, we will go to the Golden Gate Bridge. I hope we can see it at dawn. Then we are going to go to Chinatown for breakfast. We are also planning to visit Fisherman s Wharf and Ghirardelli Square. Before we come back, we are going to visit Yosemite National Park. By the time I get home, I will have seen many new things and been many new places. Past Tense Verbs: Sentence Combining Combine each of the following groups of words into one sentence, using the appropriate past tense forms, the information above, and the time signals given to complete the story about Dave Nelson s morning. Yesterday morning everything went wrong for Dave Nelson. (1) although / his alarm goes off at 6:30 / (not) gets up / until 6:40 Although his alarm went off at 6:30, he didn t get up until 6:40. (2) while/gets out of shower/falls on floor While he was getting out of the shower, he fell on the floor (3) throws his razor on the floor/because/cuts his face/while/shaves He threw his razor on the floor because he (had) cut his face while he was shaving. (4) when/gets dressed/tears a hole in his shirt When he was getting dressed, he tore a hole in his shirt. (5) because/tears a hole in his shirt/finds a new shirt Because he had torn a hole in his shirt, he found a new one. (6) while/pours the coffee/spills coffee on his shirt While he was pouring the coffee, he spilled some on his shirt. R. Frank: ESL 33A: 7

8 (7) by 7:14/finishes eating breakfast/so/goes to look for another clean shirt By 7:14, he had finished eating breakfast, so he went to look for another clean shirt. (8) while/looks for another clean shirt/hears the doorbell While he was looking for another shirt, he heard the doorbell. (9) loses temper/after/runs to the door but finds no one there He lost his temper after he ran (had run) to the door but found no one there. (10) finally/decides to lie back down and go to sleep/because/all morning/everything goes wrong He finally decided to lie back down and go to sleep because all morning everything had been going wrong. Present/Past Tense Verbs: Error Correction Some of the verb phrases in the following paragraph contain incorrect verb forms. Find and underline 10 verb tense errors. Be sure to underline the whole incorrect verb phrase Then write the corrections above the errors. My family immigrated to the U.S. five years ago, when I was fourteen years old. As a result, the biggest adjustment for me has been school. I have been attending (or: have attended) schools here in the US for the last five years, and my school experience in America has been totally different than the experiences that I had in my country. The biggest difference has been that the teachers that I had in my country were much more serious, formal, and distant than the teachers that I have had in the U.S. First, when I went (or: was going) to school in my country, the teachers did not smile or make any jokes in class, and they did not usually allow the students to smile in class, even if it was related to the subject. However, since I came to the U.S., I have often heard teachers saying funny things to make the students laugh. For example, my high school history teacher always started class with a joke in order to catch students attention and make them pay attention to his lectures. In addition, to me, the teachers in my country were serious and strange people. The students admired them, but sometimes they were afraid of them. In contrast, I have often seen American students treating their teachers like friends, or even talking back to their teachers. In my country, a student would be publicly beaten for R. Frank: ESL 33A

9 treating his teacher with so little respect. Finally, it was very difficult for many students in my country to imagine their teachers as real people; they even forgot that their teachers had families and children and went shopping like everyone else. But, in the U.S., teachers often talk about their personal lives, so students can relate to them more like friends. In short, while the relationship between teachers and students is more informal and friendly in the U.S. than in my country, I feel/felt much more comfortable respecting my teachers the way we always did in my country, even though they seemed much more serious and distant than American teachers. Mary My friend Mary is someone who has influenced me a lot in my life. Before I knew met Mary, my grades were bad. I didn t know how to do my homework, and no one could help me out. But I had met Mary when I was in my first year of high school. She was my classmate at my new school. Mary was a good student, and got good grades. After she got to know (or met) me, she realized that I had some problems with my studies. So she taught me how to do my homework when we studied together. I changed my school life because I wanted to be smart like her. Sometimes we went to library to borrow books or read books. She read books very fast and understood all of them. I very really envied her and wanted to be just like her. So I started to study hard and read books when I had time. Now my reading skills have improved fast. Because of my friend Mary, my life has gotten better. My English has also improved. My future is much better than before since Mary has appeared in my life. Losing My Father When I was young, my father immigrated to the United States because the government of my country was a dictatorship so my country's economy was not stable enough to do the R. Frank: ESL 33A

10 business. The lossing father Losing my father affected my childhood and gave me an anxious feeling in school and in my extended family. In school, I missed him very much when I saw my friends fathers come and pick them up. While my friends were talking about their families and how did their fathers take them to go vacation with their fathers, I felt so sad and looked down on myself. When we had been together, he had always taken me to the parks or the country on weekend and I had had a lot of very happy times. That made me remember him a lot all the times after he left home. I was an introverted person until I reached high school, and that made me always feel depressed. By the way, he left home when I was in the middle school. I wrote a letter to my father every time I thought of him. I missed my father's warm and kind heart to me. Even though losing my father was a kind of sadness, but it affected me, making me more independent myself and helping me face problems to solve on my own. Now I talk a lot to others and discuss to do everything that I want to do with them easily. For me, it made me mature in my future life. R. Frank: ESL 33A

Grammar. Name: 1 Underline the correct words.

Grammar. Name: 1 Underline the correct words. Grammar 1 Underline the correct words. 0 A: Have you got a laptop? B: Yes, I am / have. 1 A: Have / Has your father got a car? B: No, but he s got a bike! 2 A: What car have / has your parents got? B: