Verb Conjugation – Past Tense

This language video lesson is designed for 6 to 12-year-old children to help them understand how to conjugate verbs in the past tense.

In our previous video lesson, we learned about the concept of verb conjugation and how to do verb conjugation in the present tense. In this video, we will learn how to conjugate verbs in past tense.

Prerequisite of Learning Past Tense Verb Conjugation

To learn how to conjugate verbs in the past tense, a child must be familiar with

1. Parts of speech such as nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs
2. Personal pronouns
3. Subject-verb agreement
4. Present tense and past tense
5. Verb conjugation in the present tense
6. A good vocabulary of common verbs

Verb Conjugation in Past Tense

Verb conjugation in the past tense is an essential aspect of language learning and communication. It refers to the change in form of a verb that indicates a past action. In English, the past tense is generally formed by adding ‘-ed’ to the base form of regular verbs.

Regular verbs follow a consistent pattern, where the past tense is created by adding ‘-ed’ to the base form. For example, ‘walk’ (base form) becomes ‘walked’ (past tense), and ‘talk’ (base form) becomes ‘talked’ (past tense). However, irregular verbs follow a different pattern and their past tense forms must be memorized. For example, ‘go’ (base form) becomes ‘went’ (past tense), and ‘eat’ (base form) becomes ‘ate’ (past tense).

Let’s conjugate the verb call in the past tense.

It is important to note that the past tense can be used to describe completed actions in the past, as well as to describe past habitual actions. For example, “I walked to the store yesterday” describes a specific action in the past, while “I used to walk to the store every day” describes a habitual action in the past.

In some languages, such as Spanish and French, verb conjugation in the past tense is more complex and involves different forms for each subject pronoun. For instance, in Spanish, the verb ‘hablar’ (to talk) changes to ‘hablé’ (I talked), ‘hablaste’ (you talked), ‘habló’ (he/she/it talked), ‘hablamos’ (we talked), ‘hablasteis’ (you all talked), and ‘hablaron’ (they talked).

Overall, understanding verb conjugation in the past tense is crucial for effective communication in any language. Whether you are learning a new language or improving your existing skills, mastering verb conjugation in the past tense will help you to express yourself more accurately and clearly.

Activities to Introduce Verb Conjugation in Past Tense

Here are some activities to promote the learning and practice of verb conjugation in the past tense:

1. Storytelling: Provide a list of verbs in the past tense and ask children to create a story using those verbs. For example, “Yesterday, I woke up early and walked to the park. When I arrived, I saw a group of children playing soccer. Suddenly, it started to rain, and everyone ran for cover.” This activity encourages children to think creatively and use a variety of past tense verbs in context.
2. Conjugation race: Divide children into teams and provide a list of verbs in the present tense. The first team that correctly conjugates all verbs in the past tense wins. To make the activity more challenging, you could include irregular verbs or verbs that have irregular past tense forms.
3. Memory game: Create a set of cards with verbs in the present tense on one side and their past tense form on the other. children take turns flipping over two cards at a time to try to make a match. As they play, they will practice recognizing and recalling past tense forms of verbs.
4. Charades: Write a list of verbs in the past tense on slips of paper and have children act them out while the rest of the class tries to guess the verb. This activity encourages children to think about the meaning of the verb and use non-verbal communication to convey it.
5. Sentence completion: Provide a list of sentences with the verb missing in the past tense. children must fill in the blank with the correct conjugated form of the verb. To make the activity more challenging, you could include sentences with multiple blanks or sentences that require the use of irregular verbs.

By engaging in these activities, children can gain a better understanding of how to conjugate verbs in the past tense and improve their overall language skills. 

Repeat this activity by asking the child to conjugate verbs using the past tense with the help of word cards, as shown in the video.

Related Video Resources

• Verb Conjugation in Present Tense
• Verb Conjugation in Future Tense
• Future Tense

To watch more language video resources, click here. 

Video Created by: Justine McNeilly