Past Tense at a Glance
An English teaching blog by Poornima Singh - Let’s learn English in a professional & interesting way
Friday 30 October 2020
Past Tense - an Overview
Past Perfect Continuous Tense
Tenses
The word ‘tense’ is derived from Latin word ‘tempus’
and it means time. Basically tense conveys the time of action.
Tenses are mainly divided into three parts –
Present, Past and Future. They are further subdivided into four categories –
Indefinite, Continuous, Perfect and Perfect Continuous.
PAST
PERFECT CONTINUOUS TENSE
PAST PERFECT CONTINUOUS TENSE (also called Past
Progressive Tense) is generally used for an action which began at some time in
past and continued for some time in past. It usually emphasises duration or the
length of time that an action took. This tense shows that the action mentioned
in the sentence was continuously happening for a period of time in past / the
time being reported / talked about.
Basic
Structure of Sentence in the Tense
Basic structure of a sentence in this tense is –
Subject + Had
+ been + base
verb + ing (V1+ing) + object
I had been reading the book.
She had been working
on a project. (affirmative)
He hadn't
been showing progress.
(negative)
Had she
been wasting her time?
(interrogative)
Past
Perfect Tense is used to describe/show/denote –
1.
Something that started in past and continued for some period/duration in past–
For example :
He had been working on the project for a year when
he was fired. (started in past and continued for some period in past)
She had been sleeping for two hours when I rang her
up.
2.
To denote an action continued before another action in past –
For example –
They had been talking for over an hour before Tom arrived.
(action continued before another action in past)
Shankar had been wasting his time in video games
before he met his new teacher.
3.
To denote an action that began in past and continued up to that moment, till
the time being talked about –
I was irritated because he hadn’t been working at
all. (in sequence with Simple Past Tense)
I did not know he had been doing an important
project on History of India that time.
4.
To emphasise long continuation of an action –
For example –
Mother had been working all day despite her
sickness. (emphasis is over the length/duration)
I had been waiting for you all through the night.
Prepositions
(for/since) used with certain time expressions:
Since
–
used to denote point of time when some work/action began.
For
–
used to denote for total duration of some work/action
More
adverbs/adverb phrases used as time expressions with since/for:
When at
that time all
the day
before after that time
morning childhood for an year
since 1990 whole
day since I was a child
for four days for
three weeks since the time
Verb
form used in the Present Perfect Continuous Tense–
The past perfect continuous form of a verb consists
of three elements:
1. Past form of auxiliary verb ‘have’ – had (both
plural and singular)
2. Third form of be – been
3. Present participle form of main verb (Verb 1+ing) – playing, going, reading, working, cooking, etc.
More such verbs (not to be used in Present Perfect Continuous Tense)
feel hear have
smell measure assume
believe consider seem
find suppose forget
imagine
know mean
recognise remember understand
fear hate hope
love mind prefer
wish
cost hold
More examples :
1. My mother had been working for 4 hours when I
reached home.
2. I had been working in this firm for 6 years when
I was suspended.
3. At that time I had been studying in the college
for 3 years.
4. It had been raining for 3 days when we were stuck
in jam.
5. They had been talking for an hour before they
left for Jaipur.
6. What had you been doing there when I called you?
7. Mr. Joshi had been teaching in this school for 20
years when he retired.
8. Father scolded him as he had been sleeping the whole morning.
Exercise
for practice
1. She
____________ in this company for three
years when she got transferred. (work)
2. He
______________ from Malaria for a long time before he recovered. (suffer)
3. Sohan
____________ whole afternoon that’s why he was exhausted. (bat)
4. I asked him why he ___________ for the
competition in the beginning. (prepare)
5. My
parents _________ for the case in court for four years when I met with an
accident. (fight)
6. Earlier,
people _____________ for a long time that the earth was flat. (believe)
7. The
students _________ for 15 days when the programme was cancelled. ( practise)
8. My
condition did not improve though I _________ medicines regularly for a year. (take)
Video on Future Tense
Answers
:
1. Had
been working 2. Had been suffering
3. Had been batting 4. Had not been preparing
5. Had been fighting 6. Had been believing
7. had been practising 8. Had been taking
Wednesday 28 October 2020
No Men Are Foreign
No Men Are Foreign
By James Kirkup
Analysis of the poem:
§
The poem ‘No Men
are Foreign’ is composed by James Kirkup, an English poet, translator and
travel writer.
§
The tone of the
poem is didactic as the poet teaches us to stay united and peaceful.
§
It is composed in
blank verse. The poem is divided in five quatrains (stanza of four lines). The
lines of poem don’t rhyme.
§
The theme is
‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam’ or universal brotherhood, cross border peace and
harmony. The theme of the poem highlights that all human beings are equal and
all are the children of one God, hence are brothers and sisters.
§
A very
significant message is conveyed through the poem that we all should break the
boundaries and bridge the differences. The poet stresses that nations should
not be at war with each other. The poet appeals to the readers that we can win
others through love, and not war.
Summary / Synopsis
·
Starting the poem
with the word ‘remember’ the poet wants to lay stress from the opening lines
that we all belong to same world and earth is home of all the mankind.
· The poem emphasises that entire mankind are similar in physique and equal in their needs. No people are foreigner or strange just because they belong
to some other country. This earth is one big home for all humanity. All
divisions based on nation, caste, creed, colour, religion and language are created by man however, God has created all the creatures in same way and given them birth on same land. The soldiers may wear different uniforms and people may put on
variety of clothes but under these clothes they have same physique.
· We all have the same basic needs and we depend on the same resources such as air, food and water to fulfil our needs. People everywhere have
the same physical, mental and emotional needs and experiences.
· They are, in no way, different or strange even though
they wear different clothes, speak different languages and profess different
religions. If we harm
anyone, we harm ourselves because we all have same emotions and feelings. We must keep in our minds that if we think to destroy some other country, we are also posing the threat of destruction on our own land because if we wage war on other
country, we, ourselves, have allowed or invited other country to do destruction
upon us.
· Since we are all same, we must not take arms against
any one because this way we spoil the purity of our hearts and innocence of our emotions. The
dust and smoke in war pollute the air and mix poison of hatred in our hearts. Moreover, people and countries can be won with love, and not by war. That’s why, violence of all kinds should be stopped. Throughout, the poet appeals us to live in peace and
harmony and dedicate ourselves to spread fraternity across the globe.
Theme
The theme of the
poem is reflected in its central idea. Throughout the poem the poet highlights
the theme of universal brotherhood and world peace. Very beautifully he tells
the mankind that we can win others with love and not by war.
Message
The poet urges the
entire humanity to live in peace and harmony and bridge the difference based on
religion, culture or nationality strengthening solidarity and fraternity across
the globe.
Video on Road not Taken
Rhyme Scheme
The poet is
composed in blank verse as the lines of the poem don’t rhyme.
Poetic Devices
Remember, no men are strange, no countries foreign – Refrain, Repetition
Beneath all uniforms, a single body breathes – Alliteration
Like ours: the land our brothers
walk upon – Alliteration
Is earth like this, in which we all shall lie – Assonance, Consonance
They, too, aware of
sun and air and water – Polysyndeton, Consonance
Are fed by peaceful
harvests – Transferred epithet
by war’s long winter starv’d –
Alliteration, Metaphor
Their hands are ours, and in their lines we read –
Repetition
A labour not different from our own –
Consonance
Remember they have eyes like ours that wake –
Alliteration
Or sleep, and strength that can be won – Alliteration, Assonance
By love. In every land is common life – Alliteration
That all can recognise and understand – Assonance, Consonance
To hate our brothers, it is ourselves – Assonance,
Consonance
That we shall dispossess, betray, condemn – Asyndeton
It is the human earth that we defile – Assonance, Alliteration, Metaphor
Our hells
of fire and dust outrage the innocence of
air – Metaphor
Remember, no men are foreign, and no countries strange – Refrain, Repetition
Important Question Answers
Remember, no men are strange, no countries foreign
Beneath all uniforms, a single body breathes
Like ours: the land our brothers walk upon
Is earth like this, in which we all shall lie.
(a) Who does the poet address in the poem? Name the
poetic device here.
(b) What does the word “uniform” refer to? How is
it ironical?
(c) What does the word ‘single’ mean?
d) ‘In which we shall all lie.’ Explain the
sentence.
e) Which poetic device is used in first line?
f) What does the poet want us to remember?
Q2. Read the extract given below and answer the
questions that follow.
They, too, aware of sun and air and water,
Are fed by peaceful harvests, by war’s long winter
starv’d.
Their hands are ours, and in their lines we read
A labour not different from our own.
(a) Whom does the word ‘they’ refer to?
(b) What is the significance of the word ‘too’?
(c) What does the poet mean by ‘peaceful harvests’?
Which poetic device is used here?
(d) What does the poet want to convey through these
lines?
e) Why is war compared to long winter?
Video on Wind
Friday 23 October 2020
My Childhood
My Childhood
By A. P. J. Abdul Kalam
Analysis:
·
The chapter ‘My Childhood’ is an extract
from ‘Wings of Fire’ which is an autobiography of A. P. J. Abdul Kalam, a great
scientist and 11th President of India.
·
It beautifully strings important
incidents and episodes in early life of APJ Abdul Kalam who is a great
inspiration to all the young people.
·
The story highlights the importance of
religious unity and communal harmony through several episodes in Kalam’s early
life in which his teachers played a pivotal role in moulding his personality
and shaping his thoughts.
·
The chapter is a beautiful message for
all the Indians to keep their nation integrated and unified. Simultaneously,
it appeals us to break all the religious and communal barriers and live
together harmoniously.
Summary
/ Synopsis
§ APJ
Abdul Kalam was born in a middle class Muslim family. He had three brothers and
a sister. Kalam lived in his ancestral house in the island town of Rameshwaram
in erstwhile Madras State (now Tamil Nadu).
§ The
father of APJ Abdul Kalam believed in living a simple life without hoarding
unnecessary materials. Nevertheless, he made all the necessities available to
his children and his was a secure childhood both materially and emotionally.
His father didn’t receive much formal education but he was far too wise and
sensible. His mother was kind and charitable. More were outsiders than the family members
eating in his house every day. Kalam inherited the qualities of
self-discipline, honesty from his father and faith in goodness and compassion
from his mother.
§ Kalam’s
family was secular in nature. His family giving an equal amount of respect to all
the religions, actively participated in Hindu festivals and arranged boats for
Sita Ram Kalyanam Ceremony. Kalam grew up listening to the stories from
Ramayana by his mother and grandmother.
§ World
war II broke out when Kalam was 8 years old. During the world war due to an
emergency he helped his cousin in distributing newspapers and earned his first
wages. Earlier this, he also earned few annas by collecting tamarind seeds and
selling them to a provision store.
Video on Revision of Beehive
§ Kalam
had three close friends from orthodox Hindu Brahmin families but the innocent feelings
of the friends were untouched by any poison of discrimination. All the friends went into different
professions.
§ When
Kalam was in 5th standard, a new teacher came in his class. Kalam, a Muslim
boy, was sitting with Ramanandha, a Hindu priest’s son. The new teacher was not
able to tolerate this. So, he asked Kalam to sit on the backbench. Both the
friends felt very sad and narrated all this to their respective parents.
§ After
this, Ramanandha’s father met with the teacher to apologise for his mistake and
warn him not to spread the poison of social inequality and communal hatred in
young minds. Consequently, there was reformation in the nature of the new teacher.
§ One
day, the science teacher of Abdul Kalam invited him to his home for dinner.
However, wife of the science teacher didn’t agree to serve Kalam in her kitchen
due to her rigid religious beliefs. The teacher decided to serve Kalam with his
own hands and sat beside him to eat his meal. The wife was observing all this
behind the kitchen. When the teacher invited Kalam again for a meal in his
house, next weekend, his wife took Kalam inside her kitchen and served him with
her own hands.
§ Kalam
expressed his desire to go to Ramanathapuram for further studies after the end
of Second World War. His parents consented as they didn’t want to obstruct
their child’s growth and development by keeping him with them in a small town.
Message
The story teaches the lesson of religious unity and communal harmony. It tells us to break all the religious and communal barriers, remove the differences of religion, caste and community, not to be orthodox and rigid in our thoughts and actions, rituals and customs. The chapter is a beautiful message for all the Indians to stay united and help keep India integrated and unified and make it a progressive nation.
Video on The Fun They Had
Important
Question answers
Q1. ‘Teachers can make or break their
students’ lives’. Illustrate it with reference to the chapter.
Ans. ‘Teachers can make or break their
students’ lives’. This statement is apt in all the times and for all the
people. When the new teacher saw Kalam, a Muslim boy sitting with Ramananda
Shashtry, a Hindu priest’s son, he was not able to tolerate and asked Kalam to
sit on the backbench. This incident could have mixed the poison in the hearts
of innocent children but Krishna Shastry intervened and brought reformation in
the new teacher. On the other hand, the science teacher tried his best to
bridge this religious difference and social inequality by inviting Kalam to his
house for dinner ignoring his wife's displeasure. He was successful in his efforts bringing a positive change
in his wife and showing right path to Kalam. Thus, the teachers like Shivasubramaniam Iyer play a pivotal role
in casting a positive influence in the life of students and help them be the
change that is needed in the society.