Making Sentences with Simple Present Tense and Simple Past Tense – JSS1 English Lesson Note (Second Term)

The simple present tense talks about habits, routines and facts, for example “Bimpe works hard”. The simple past tense talks about actions or states that finished before now, for example “Bimpe worked hard”. Regular verbs form the past tense by adding -ed. Irregular verbs change their form.

Behavioural objectives

By the end of the lesson, students should be able to:

• state when we use the simple present tense and the simple past tense;
• form the simple present tense correctly with different subjects;
• form the simple past tense of regular and irregular verbs;
• write correct sentences in both tenses and change one to the other.

What is the simple present tense?

We use the simple present tense for things that happen again and again, and for facts. Time words such as every day, always, usually and often are common with it.

How is it formed?

• With I, you, we, they and plural nouns, use the base verb: They work hard.
• With he, she, it and singular nouns, add -s or -es: She speaks well. Bimpe works hard. Ume works on the farm.
• Add -es to verbs ending in -s, -sh, -ch, -x or -o: watch, watches; go, goes.
• If a verb ends in a consonant plus y, change y to -ies: study, studies.
• The verb to be uses am, is, are: He is a student.

What is the simple past tense?

We use the simple past tense for actions or states that began and ended in the past. Time words such as yesterday, last week and two days ago are common with it.

How do regular verbs form the past tense?

• Add -ed to most verbs: work, worked; play, played.
• If the verb ends in e, add -d: live, lived.
• If the verb ends in a consonant plus y, change y to -ied: study, studied.
• If the verb is short and ends in one vowel plus one consonant, double the last letter: stop, stopped.

How do irregular verbs form the past tense?

Irregular verbs do not take -ed. Students must learn their past forms.

How do we change a sentence from present to past?

Change only the verb. Keep the subject and the rest of the sentence the same.

Evaluation

1. What is the past tense of write?
2. What is the past tense of study?
3. Rewrite in the past tense: Amina cooks rice.
4. Fill the gap with the correct form of the verb: My mother ____ (go) to the market every morning.
5. Rewrite in the present tense: Tunde was a prefect.

Answer key

1. wrote
2. studied
3. Amina cooked rice.
4. goes
5. Tunde is a prefect.

Assignment

Rewrite each sentence in the simple past tense.

1. The children walk to school.
2. Mr Bello teaches English.
3. I see my uncle.
4. We are in class.
5. Ngozi buys bread.

Answer key

1. The children walked to school.
2. Mr Bello taught English.
3. I saw my uncle.
4. We were in class.
5. Ngozi bought bread.