CAN THE PAST BE SIMPLE?

Well, the Simple Past was already mentioned before HERE. However, I believe it deserves its own entry in this blog. So, here you are:

We use the Simple Past to talk about actions that happened in a specific moment in the past.

e.g. I worked yesterday.
When? Yesterday.

Observe the paragraph below:


All the verbs in the paragraph above are in their simple past forms.

Some verbs undergo a simple transformation: we only add ed to the end. These are regular verbs:

We travelled to our countryhouse [on Sunday].

travelled - travel

.Some verbs change completely. These are irregular verbs:

We went to the club [on Saturday].

went - go

You can find a list of irregular verbs HERE.

However, in the negative and in the interrogative form, the verbs do not change. We use did instead of do.

Negative:

Present: I don't work on weekends.
Past: I didn't work last weekend.

Interrogative:

Present: Do you study English every day?
Past: Did you study English yesterday?

Are you ready to do some practice? Try it HERE and HERE.

See you soon!
J.

COLLECTIVE NOUNS: SINGULAR OR PLURAL?

What is the correct form: The family is traveling on holiday or The family are traveling on holiday?

The answer is both. Family is a collective noun.

But what is a collective noun?

They name groups [things] composed of members [usually people]. For example:



Each noun from the list above is a single thing. That thing, however, is made up of more than one person. You cannot have a committee, team, or family of one; you need at least two people who compose the unit.

Collective nouns accept verbs in the singular form:


All members of the team arrive at the same place, at the same time.


The teammates are dressing into their individual outfits and leaving in different directions for their individual homes.

Easy huh?

Have fun HERE and practice HERE.

See you!
J.