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This unit is about past tenses. The correct usage of past tenses is always a challenge for english students. All system pf past tenses is vividly represented in this unit.
The unit starts with past simple tense. As a rule this tense is widely used in everyday english. I think this tense is widely used in literature. E.g. I met him yesterday.
As teachers we need to underline that as rule this tense demand indication of time in the past. Alongside when it`s cleat that action took place in a past (even if the time is not mentioned). I think the best activity is a short story abou your last week end or a holiday. The student would love to discuss and get a rapport during this activity.
As for the second part of this unit it devoted to past continious tense. It mailny used in descriptions and for indication of an action which began in a past and probably continued after it. It is vital to know to avoid any confusion in usage that past continous as rule requires form of time reference.
E. g. This time last year I was living in Brazil.
As a rule this tense is used together with past simple. So I think that the best activity is a story telling based on some film or video.
The next part is about past perfect tense. I like the statement in this unit that past perfect is the equivalent of present perfect. We should bear in mind that past perfect represents action that occurred before other action in the past. And pay attention to formation of this tense (I had done).
E.g. The house was dirty. We hadn`t cleaned it for days.
So we need to explain to our English student that this tense is abou action the finished in past before other action. So it means that the best activity is story telling with conjunction with other past tenses.But we need to be careful with usage of regular and irregular verbs. And again we need to inspire our student to learn irregular verbs.
The next part of the unit is devoted to past perfect continious. As a rule this tense describes longer actions in the past . This tense does not demant the time indication in a past. It shows let`s say so state in a past (duration) in a past.
E. g. I was tired when I arrived home.
I had been working hard all day.
We can use past perfect continuous to indicate how long something had been happening before other action.
As a rule this tense demands a lot of attention and explanation. The special attention should be payed to the formation of this tense. I think that the best activity for activate stage are story telling and story writing. This unit is very good and helpful. Thank you, ITTT!
