Understanding and Practicing English Grammar Tenses

 

Lesson Plan: Understanding and Practicing English Grammar Tenses

Target Audience:

Beginner to Intermediate English learners, especially Turkish students.

Lesson Goals:

• To understand the use and structure of four key tenses: Simple Present, Simple Past, Present Perfect, and Past Perfect.
• To apply these tenses in meaningful contexts through practice exercises and real-life examples.
• To enhance engagement with grammar concepts using visual aids, interactive activities, and cultural examples.

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1. Introduction to Tenses

Tenses in English help us talk about time—what happened in the past, what is happening now, and what will happen in the future. Each tense has its own unique structure and usage.

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2. Tenses and Their Structures

a) Simple Present Tense

Explanation:
Used to describe habitual actions, general truths, and facts.

Example Sentences:

• Rarely do I smoke.
• She always drinks coffee in the morning.

Visual Timeline:

java
|----------------|----------------|----------------|  
 Past           Present          Future  
(Action happens repeatedly or habitually in the present.)  

Practice Exercises:

1. Fill in the blanks:

   • She ___ (go) to school every day.
   • Rarely ___ I ___ (watch) TV in the evening.

2. Create sentences using these prompts:

   • Always / drink coffee / morning
   • Never / tell lies

Tips and Tricks:

• Use adverbs like "always," "never," and "rarely" to emphasize frequency.
• The base verb is used with "do/does" for questions and negatives.

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b) Simple Past Tense

Explanation:
Used to describe actions completed in the past.

Example Sentences:

• No sooner had they evacuated the building than it collapsed.
• Yesterday, I visited the museum.

Visual Timeline:

scss
|----------------Action------------|----------------|  
 Past                             Present  
(The action is completed before now.)  

Practice Exercises:

1. Rewrite the sentences using "did not" to make them negative:

   • She cooked dinner.
   • They watched a movie.

2. Answer these prompts:

   • What did you do yesterday?
   • Write about an event that happened last week.

Tips and Tricks:

• Use "-ed" for regular verbs (e.g., played, watched).
• Irregular verbs must be memorized (e.g., go → went, eat → ate).

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c) Present Perfect Tense

Explanation:
Used to describe actions that started in the past but are relevant to the present.

Example Sentences:

• Never has she forgotten like this.
• I have lived in Istanbul for five years.

Visual Timeline:

css
|-------Action Starts--------|--------Continues---------> Present  
(The action has a connection to now.)  

Practice Exercises:

1. Fill in the blanks with "has/have + past participle":

   • He ___ (read) this book before.
   • They ___ (not finish) their homework yet.

2. Write sentences using:

   • Since / five years ago
   • For / a long time

Tips and Tricks:

• Use "since" to indicate the starting point and "for" to indicate the duration.
• No direct equivalent exists in Turkish; think of it as "geçmişten bugüne etkili bir eylem."

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d) Past Perfect Tense

Explanation:
Used to describe an action that was completed before another action in the past.

Example Sentences:

• Little did he know.
• By the time the train arrived, she had already left.

Visual Timeline:

scss
|---Action 1 (completed)---|---Action 2---|  
 Past                   More Recent Past  

Practice Exercises:

1. Fill in the blanks:

   • She ___ (leave) the house before the rain started.
   • They ___ (finish) their project before the deadline.

2. Write sentences using these words:

   • Already / before / by the time

Tips and Tricks:

• Always look for two actions in the past; the earlier one uses Past Perfect.

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3. Cultural Examples

Use examples from Turkish culture and daily life to make the tenses relatable:

• Simple Present: "Istanbul hosts millions of tourists every year."
• Simple Past: "Atatürk founded the Republic of Turkey in 1923."
• Present Perfect: "I have visited Hagia Sophia several times."
• Past Perfect: "By the time I arrived, the Bosphorus ferry had already left."

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4. Additional Resources

• Books:

  • Murphy, R. (2019). English Grammar in Use. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  • Eastwood, J. (2016). Oxford Practice Grammar. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

• YouTube Videos:

  • "Learn English Tenses in 30 Minutes" (BBC Learning English).
  • "Present Perfect vs. Simple Past" (English Addict with Mr Steve).

• Online Platforms:

  • Duolingo
  • Grammarly

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5. Interactive Classroom Activities

• Drawing Timelines: Ask students to draw timelines for given sentences.
• Sentence Relay: Write one part of a sentence; students complete it in a different tense.
• Storytelling Game: Students create a story using a mix of tenses.

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6. APA References

• Murphy, R. (2019). English Grammar in Use. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• Eastwood, J. (2016). Oxford Practice Grammar. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

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Outcome:
Students will feel more confident in understanding and using English tenses through relatable examples, engaging activities, and consistent practice.

Bu planı daha fazla özelleştirmek isterseniz, bana bilgi verebilirsiniz! 😊

Kullanılan İfadeler

• Rarely/Seldom

  • Rarely do I smoke.

• Never

  • Never can I ride a bike.

• Nowhere

  • Nowhere has she forgotten like this.

• Little

  • Little did he know.

• Not only … but also

  • Not only is she my mother, but also she is my best friend.

• Under no circumstances

  • Under no circumstances should you tell lies.

• No sooner … than

  • No sooner had they evacuated the building than it collapsed.