Tense is a variation in the form of English verbs based on:
– the subject of the sentence
– time
– context of actions/events

Examples (variations based on time):
– I eat fried rice every day.
– I ate fried rice this morning.
– I will eat fried rice tomorrow.
– I am eating fried rice now.
– I have just eaten fried rice.
– I have been eating fried rice this whole week.

Examples (variations based on subject):
– I eat fried rice every day.
– He eats fried rice every day.
– She eats fried rice every day.
– My cat eats fried rice every day.
– You eat fried rice every day.
– We eat fried rice every day.
– They eat fried rice every day.

Verbs describe actions done by the subject of the sentence.
– walk (describes the action of walking)
– study (describes the action of studying)
– eat (describes the action of eating)
– sing (describes the action of singing)
– talk (describes the action of talking)

There are 5 verb forms:
– base form (in some countries, this is called “Verb 1”)
– past simple form (in some countries, this is called “Verb 2”)
– past participle form (in some countries, this is called “Verb 3”)
– -ing form (present participle form)
– -s form

Examples:
– base form: walk
– past simple form: walked
– past participle form: walked
– -ing form: walking
– -s form: walks

1. An action that happened at one point in the past.
– I saw him in the meeting room just now.
– We watched a concert last week.
– He lived in Thailand for 5 years.

2. Past habits (something that someone regularly did in the past).
– I walked to school when I was a kid.
– We played soccer every Saturday.
– We usually talked every night.

There are 5 verb forms:
– base form
– past simple form
– past participle form
– -ing form (present participle form)
– -s form

In Past Simple, we use these forms:
– past simple
– base forms

We DO NOT use these forms in Past Simple:
– -s forms
– past participle
– -ing forms

I + past simple
-> I ate fried rice last night.
You + past simple
-> You ate fried rice last night.
We + past simple
-> We ate fried rice last night.
They + past simple
-> They ate fried rice last night.

He + past simple
-> He ate fried rice last night.
She + past simple
-> She ate fried rice last night.
It + past simple
-> My cat ate fried rice last night.

I + did not + base form
-> I didn’t eat fried rice last night.
You + did not + base form
-> You didn’t eat fried rice last night.
We + did not + base form
-> We didn’t eat fried rice last night.
They + did not + base form
-> They didn’t eat fried rice last night.

He + did not + base form
-> He didn’t eat fried rice last night.
She + did not + base form
-> She didn’t eat fried rice last night.
It + did not + base form
-> My cat didn’t eat fried rice last night.

Did + I + base form
-> Did I eat fried rice last night?
Yes, you did. / No, you didn’t.
Did + You + base form
-> Did you eat fried rice last night?
Yes, I did. / No, I didn’t.
Did + We + base form
-> Did we eat fried rice last night?
Yes, we did. / No, we didn’t.
Did + They + base form
-> Did they eat fried rice last night?
Yes, they did. / No, they didn’t.

Did + He + base form
-> Did he eat fried rice last night?
Yes, he did. / No, he didn’t.
Did + She + base form
-> Did she eat fried rice last night?
Yes, she did. / No, she didn’t.
Did + It + base form
-> Did your cat eat fried rice last night?
Yes, it did. / No, it didn’t.

Question Words (QW):
– who
– what
– where
– when
– why
– how
– what time
– how much
– how many

QW + Did + I + base form
-> What did I do?
QW + Did + You + base form
-> Where did you go?
QW + Did + We + base form
-> Why did we eat that?
QW + Did + They + base form
-> When did they leave?

QW + Did + He + base form
-> What did he say?
QW + Did + She + base form
-> Why did she do that?
QW + Did + It + base form
-> Where did your cat go?