WHAT WOULD LIKE TO DO?
-TOPIC 1 : questions and
negatives in the simple past tense.
You reviewed the formation
and use of the simple past tense in lesson 1, where you compared it to
the present perfect tense,now let's take a closer look at questions
and negatives in the simple past tense,just like questions and
negatives in he simple present tense, questions and negatives in the
past tense require a helping verb: did you instead of do or does,
let's start with questions, questions in the simple past tense use
did, following the same pattern as questions in the simple present
tense, did+main verb IN base form+rest of sentence,
jhon writes well
does jhon write well?
Jhon wrote
well
did jhon write
well?
Notice that both writes and
wrote become write, the basic form of the verb, in questions, it's up
to does or did to show you whether the question is in the present or
past tense.
Greg sallied
to block island,
did
Greg Salli
to blockisland?
Frederica went
to work by train, did
Frederica
go to work by
train?
They saw
a great movie,
did they see
a great movie?
To form a negative in the
simple past tense, use the auxiliary verb did before the main verb,
and insert not between the two verbs, the pattern is: subject+did+not
(didn't)+main verb, again remember that the main verb is not in the
past tense, but reverts to its root or basic form just as in
questions,
she talked
to him, she didn't
talk to him,
i went
to the store,
i didn't
go to the store,
Kenneth bought
a new car,
Kenneth didn't
buy a new car,
-TOPIC 2 : used
to, didn't use to and
would always.
Used to expresses something
about the past that is no longer true, but was once a habit or a
regular, repeated action or activity, in this case, the verb use does
not mean the same as employ, but rather has a special meaning in the
constructions used to.
i used ti believe in ghosts
when i was a kid,
sandy used to jog along the
river every morning,
i used to smoke cigarettes,
but i quit three years ago.
The negatives of used to
follows the same rules as any negative past verb, the auxiliary did
comes after the subject and before the main verb and not is inserted
between did and the main verb (use), use, the main verb, will be in
the root form,
the formula is:
subject+did(didn't)+not+use to+verb,
i didn't use to live in LA,
i moved when i was in my twenties,
he didn't use to drink
coffee, but now he does all the time,
questions with used to are
formed in a similar way, just put the auxiliary verb did in the first
position, then the subject, then the basic verb use, and finally the
rest of the sentence,
did you use to live in
LA,before you moved to buffalo?
Did he use to drink so much
coffee?
Another way to express the
past habitual is to use would (always) plus the verb, this
construction means the same thing as used to, but it can only be used
to express a repeated action, and not a specific situation or
condition in the past,
i would always sleep with
the light on when i was a kid, (because i used to be afraid of the
dark)
she would go to prospect
park every day when she lived in Brooklyn, (because she used to live
so close,)
-TOPIC 3 : making polite requests.
would is also used to make
polite requests, here are a few examples:
would you get me a cup of
coffee, please?
Would you please stop by my
office at three tomorrow?
Of course, the simple
command form in English is: get me a cup of coffee or stop by my
office at three tomorrow, but this can sound a bit abrupt or even
rude to America ears, so it's common to soften commands by using a
polite requests construction.
you can also make polite
requests using could or can, these all have the same meaning, but
would is the most polite, could and can imply more familiarly than
would, finally, you can form polite requests with would you
mind+verb+ing, which is also a less formal construction.
could you get me a cup of
coffee, please?
Can you pass me the salt
and pepper,
would you mind getting me a
juice glass from the cupboard?
There's another common
polite expression with would you mind that asks permission rather
than makes a request,
would you mind if i came
with you?
Would you mind if Brian
borrowed your car?
Notice that the verb in the
if clause is in the past tense: came and borrowed.
Comments