Reference · module 10
The verbs that refuse
Everything this module explains, on one page.
went, saw, took
Use the past of the verbs you say most often.
- go becomes went, see becomes saw, take took, come came, get got, make made, say said. The commonest verbs are the irregular ones, in every language.
- There is no rule to find. Groups help a little — drink drank, sing sang, swim swam — and the rest is repetition.
- Learn them three at a time and use them the same day. A list of ninety verbs read once is a list you will not have tomorrow.
The mistake you are about to make
He goed home.
He went home.
The -ed rule sinks in fast and then gets applied to everything. The commonest verbs have their own forms: went, saw, took, came, got, made.
Asking about the past
Ask what happened and get the story.
- did takes the past even from an irregular verb: Did you go? Did she see it? The main verb returns to its plain form, whatever it is.
- One question needs no helper at all: What happened? Here what IS the subject, so there is nothing for did to help with.
- The same is true of who: Who called? not Who did call? When the question word is the subject, the sentence stays as it is.
The mistake you are about to make
Who did call?
Who called?
A question without did feels unfinished, because the helper is needed everywhere else. When the question word is the subject there is nothing to help.
Telling a story
Tell what happened, in order, in three or four sentences.
- first, then, after that, finally. These four hold a story together and go at the front of the sentence, followed by a comma.
- and adds, but turns, so gives the result: I was tired, so I went home. Three words and most sentences can be joined.
- Stay in one tense. A story that starts in the past and slips into the present is the most common thing that makes a learner hard to follow.
The mistake you are about to make
I was tired, so I go home.
I was tired, so I went home.
A story opens in the past and slides into the present halfway through. English gives you nothing else to hold the timeline: the tense has to stay put.
Holidays and weekends
Say what you did at the weekend.
- went to a restaurant, went shopping, stayed at home, visited friends, took photos. Five phrases and a weekend is described.
- went takes to before a place: went to London. But not before home: went home, with nothing in between.
- visit takes a person or a place directly: I visited my parents. No to, and no preposition at all after it.
The mistake you are about to make
I went to home.
I went home.
Went takes to in front of a place: went to London, went to work. Home takes nothing at all, and neither do here and there.