3.4: Grammar: Identifying the Past Tense

Regular Past Tense

Regular verbs form past tense by adding -ed to the base form.

Example: walk----walked

If the base form of the verb ends with an e, the regular past is formed by adding -d.

Example: rake---raked

Identify the regular verbs in the past tense in the text below. Regular past tense verbs end in -ed.

Text

Between the end of the Civil War (1865) and the beginning of the Great Depression (1929), almost two million African Americans moved from the rural South to look for new opportunities. While some moved west, most of this Great Migration, as the large number of African Americans leaving the South was called, moved to the Northeast and Upper Midwest. More than two-thirds of them moved to the following cities: New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, St. Louis, Detroit, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, and Indianapolis. Many African Americans did not have money to move themselves, but factory owners and other businesses helped pay for their moves. Because of racism, African American workers still had the lower-paying jobs in steel mills, mines, construction, and meat packing. In the railroad industry, they often worked as porters or servants. In other businesses, they worked as janitors, waiters, or cooks. African American women, who faced racism and sexism, often worked as maids and domestic servants. Nevertheless, African Americans earned higher wages in the North than they did for the same jobs in the South, and found housing more easily. However, life in the city was still difficult. African Americans still experienced the higher cost of living in the North, especially in terms of rent and food. As a result, housing was often overcrowded and dirty. They still experienced racism from landlords, bankers and neighbors. So why move to the North, since the economic problems were similar to those in the South? African Americans moved for non-economic gains. In the North, they found greater educational opportunities and personal freedom. Similarly, unlike the South where African Americans often experienced violence, life in larger, crowded cities permitted African Americans to move, work, and speak freely.

Irregular Past Tense

Irregular past tense is formed by changing the spelling. Because the spelling is irregular, there is not one rule for the formation of irregular past tense verbs, and these verbs need to be learned by memory.

Examine the text again. Can you identify three irregular past tense verbs?

Check Your Answers

Regular verbs in the simple past tense are underlined below. Irregular verbs in the simple past tense are bolded.

Between the end of the Civil War (1865) and the beginning of the Great Depression (1929), almost two million African Americans moved from the rural South to look for new opportunities. While some moved west, most of this Great Migration, as the large number of African Americans leaving the South was called, moved to the Northeast and Upper Midwest. More than two-thirds of them moved to the following cities: New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, St. Louis, Detroit, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, and Indianapolis. Many African Americans did not have money to move themselves, but factory owners and other businesses helped pay for their moves. Because of racism, African American workers still had the lower-paying jobs in steel mills, mines, construction, and meat packing. In the railroad industry, they often worked as porters or servants. In other businesses, they worked as janitors, waiters, or cooks. African American women, who faced racism and sexism, often worked as maids and domestic servants. Nevertheless, African Americans earned higher wages in the North than they did for the same jobs in the South, and found housing more easily. However, life in the city was still difficult. African Americans still experienced the higher cost of living in the North, especially in terms of rent and food. As a result, housing was often overcrowded and dirty. They still experienced racism from landlords, bankers and neighbors. So why move to the North, since the economic problems were similar to those in the South? African Americans moved for non-economic gains. In the North, they found greater educational opportunities and personal freedom. Similarly, unlike the South where African Americans often experienced violence, life in larger, crowded cities permitted African Americans to move, work, and speak freely.

Find more information about the simple past tense in the second module in this series, Getting to Know You.