English Grammar: Past, Present, Future, and More

Past Tense Verbs

Regular and Irregular Verbs:

• become – became (convertirse en)
• swim – swam (nadar)
• get – got (conseguir)
• win – won (ganar)
• write – wrote (escribir)
• drink – drank (tomar)
• drive – drove (conducir)
• forget – forgot (olvidar)
• run – ran (correr)
• make – made (hacer)
• be – was (I, He, She, It), wasn’t; were (You, We, They), weren’t (ser, estar)
• go – went (ir)
• think – thought (pensar)
• do – did (hacer)
• can – could / couldn’t (poder)
• see – saw (ver)
• have – had (tener)
• meet – met (conocer a alguien)

Negative Sentences and Questions

Negative Sentences: Use “did not” (didn’t) + base form of the verb.

Examples:

• Did you study English yesterday? – Yes, I did. / No, I didn’t.
• Did you watch TV last night? – Yes, I did. / No, I didn’t.

Questions:

• What did you do yesterday? – I went to the beach. / I studied English.

Note: When adding “ed” to a regular verb ending in “y”, change the “y” to “i” and then add “ed”. (e.g., study – studied)

Conditionals

First Conditional (Real Possibility):

• If + subject + present simple, subject + will + verb
• Example: If you study, you will pass the test. (Si tú estudias, pasarás el examen).

Negative Conditional:

• If + subject + present simple, subject + won’t + verb
• Example: If you don’t study, you won’t pass. (Si tú no estudias, no pasarás).

Note: Use “don’t” with “I, you, we, they”. Use “doesn’t” with “he, she, it”.

Future Plans

Affirmative:

• I am
• You are
• He, She, It is
• We, You, They are

(All followed by) + going to + verb

Examples:

• I am going to watch TV.
• You are going to have lunch.
• He is going to study.
• They are going to go shopping.

Time Expressions

Past:

• yesterday (ayer)
• ago (hace)
• last night (anoche)
• last week (semana pasada)
• last weekend (fin de semana pasado)
• last summer (verano pasado)
• last holidays (vacaciones pasadas)

Future:

• tomorrow (mañana)
• tonight (esta noche)
• next week (próxima semana)
• next weekend (próximo fin de semana)
• next year (próximo año)
• next Monday (próximo lunes)

Question Words

• What (qué)
• When (cuándo)
• Where (dónde)
• Who (quién/es)
• Why (por qué) – Answer with because.
• Which (cuál/es)
• How (cómo)
• How many (cuánto/s – countable)
• How much (cuánto/a – uncountable)
• How old (edad)
• How long (por cuánto tiempo)

Days and Months

Days: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday

Months: January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December

Long and Short Answers

Long Answers:

• What did Madonna study at university? She studied modern dance.
• When did she record her first hit? She recorded her first hit [in year/time].
• (Structure: Subject + Verb + Information)

Short Answers:

• Are there many artists in her family? Yes, there are.
• Has she always been famous? No, she hasn’t.
• (Structure: Yes/No, + Subject + first two words of the question, inverted).

Comparatives and Superlatives

Comparatives:

• For words with 5 letters or fewer, add “-er”. If ending in “y”, change to “i” and add “-er”.
• young – younger than
• tall – taller than
• ugly – uglier than
• For longer words, use “more” + adjective.
• intelligent – more intelligent than
• Irregular comparatives:
  • good – better than
  • bad – worse than

Superlatives:

• For words with 5 letters or fewer, add “-est”.
• young – the youngest
• poor – the poorest
• For longer words, use “the most” + adjective.
• important – the most important
• Irregular superlatives:
  • good – the best
  • bad – the worst

With: con

Example Vacation Story

Holidays: I went to Nueva Helvecia, Colonia. I went with my mother and my father. We went by car. I stayed there for two weeks. We usually got up at nine o’clock. Later, we had breakfast. Next, we went to the beach. After that, we visited interesting places. Then, we ate out, and finally, we went to bed late. We came back (or “returned”) on January 25th.