Practical tools for learning and teaching grammar

Singular
Past
Present
Future
1st person
I gave
I give
I shall/will give
2nd person
You gave
You give
You will give
3rd person
He/she gave
He/she gives
He/she will give
46
GrAMMAr for eVerYone

---

A
Plural
1st person
We gave
We give
We shall/will 
give
2nd person
You gave
You give
You will give
3rd person
They gave
They give
They will give
a. Students complete the table with the verb ‘to sing’.
Singular_Past_Present_Future_1st_person_I_shall_2nd_person_3rd_person_He_Plural'>Singular
Past
Present
Future
1st person
I shall
2nd person
3rd person
He
Plural
1st person
2nd person
You 
3rd person
A sample table of tenses for an irregular verb
Singular
Past
Present
Future
1st person
I was
I am
I shall/will be
2nd person
You were
You are
You will be
3rd person
He/she was
He/she is
He/she will be
Plural
1st person
We were
We are
We shall/will be
2nd person
You were
You are
You will be
3rd person
They were
They are
They will be
47
Verbs

---

A
b. Students complete the table with the verb ‘to go’.
Singular
Past
Present
Future
1st person
2nd person
3rd person
He
Plural
1st person
We shall
2nd person
3rd person
They
A sample table of continuous tenses using the present participle
Singular
Past
Present
Future
1st person
I was speaking
I am speaking
I shall/will be 
speaking
2nd person
We were 
speaking
You are 
speaking
You will be 
speaking
3rd person
He/she/it was 
speaking
He/she/it is 
speaking
He/she/it will be 
speaking
Plural
1st person
We were 
speaking
We are speaking
We shall/will be 
speaking
2nd person
You were 
speaking
You are 
speaking
You will be 
speaking
3rd person
They were 
speaking
They are 
speaking
They will be 
speaking 
48
GrAMMAr for eVerYone

---

A
c. Students complete the table with the verb ‘to achieve’.
Singular
Past
Present
Future
1st person
I was 
2nd person
You are 
3rd person
Plural
1st person
2nd person
3rd person
They will be 
Auxiliary (helper) verbs
Definition: 
The word ‘auxiliary’ is formed from the Latin 
auxilium
meaning ‘help’, and in grammar it refers to certain verbs that are 
used to form tenses.
The main ‘helpers’ are taken from forms of the verbs ‘to be’ 
and ‘to have’. Most native English speakers have little difficulty 
with using these forms according to the language that they hear 
round about them. They do need explanation, however, and ESL 
students will need more practice.
Singular 
Plural
I am 
We are
You are 
You are
He is 
They are
49
Verbs

---

A
We need to remember that these forms can be made more tricky 
to recognise by the contractions which are common in everyday 
speech, but not always fully understood. (See contractions on 
page 80.)
For example:
I’ll do it – meaning I shall do it.
He won’t do it – meaning he will not do it.
Similarly, we need to explain that the auxiliary verb can be 
separated from the main verb.
For example:
We 
are
definitely 
going
– 
are going
is the verb.
Also, when we ask a question we turn the verb around and 
place the pronoun in between.
For example:
Statement: He 
was telling
that funny joke.
Question: 
Was
he 
telling
that funny joke?
Other auxiliary verbs indicate uncertainty and help take on 
the role of the subjunctive (see page 146). These need just to be 
recognised as verb parts at the earlier stage and will be recognised 
through practice. They are 
can
, 
could
, 
has
, 
have
, 
may
, 
might
, 
shall
, 
should
, 
will
, 
would
and 
must
.
For example:
You
 must 
wipe your shoes when you come in.
Rover 
would
not swallow his pill.
3.4 Activities: auxiliaries
1. Students take turns to act or mime an activity. The others guess what 
they 
are doing
. They give their guesses in the continuous tense, for 
example:
50
GrAMMAr for eVerYone

---

A
The student acts/mimes drying dishes. The others raise their hands 
for one to answer. 
He/she is drying dishes.
2. Students are provided with pictures showing various people doing 
things, such as working inside a shop, in the market place, in the park 
etc. and they say in turn what each is doing, using the continuous 
tense.
This activity can also be done in writing and is very useful for ESL 
students of any age.
3. Students pick out/mark verbs in a given passage, or in sentences. 
They must include the auxiliary parts of the verbs.
I would like to have a party for my birthday but Dad has arranged 
a meeting on that day and my brother will be at soccer practice. 
I could perhaps make it next week, but that is too soon and I 
would have no time to send the invitations. I must decide quickly 
so I can start planning. I do hope you can come.
4. Students are provided with a list of verbs in simple tense and they 
add the corresponding continuous tense. Again this can be done 
orally, on the board or in writing, for example: 
hop, hopping
If done as a writing exercise, check the spellings, particularly the 
doubling of consonants after the short vowel.
a. stay
b. grip
c. enjoy
d. enter
e. forgive
f. wait
g. behead
h. die
51
Verbs

---