Video:ESL Listening Exercise: Past Tense for Beginners

Transcript:ESL Listening Exercise: Past Tense for Beginners

Hi, I'm Ellen Quish from the Adult Learning Center at LaGuardia Community College in NYC for About.com. Today I'm going to talk to you about the past tense of verbs in English.

Regular and Irregular Past Tense Verbs

In English, when we talk about an action that's already happened, we often use the simple past. Verbs can be regular or irregular. A regular verb in the past tense always ends in –ed. Irregular verbs have different endings. Listen for the verbs in the dialogue

ESL Past Tense Verb Dialogue

Teacher: You were in one of my ESOL classes a couple of years ago. What have you done since then?

Student: Yes, I took your writing class in 2006. Last year I got my associate's degree and transferred to a four-year college.

Teacher: When did you come to the United States?

Student: I came here in 2005.

Teacher: You've done a lot in a short time! How did you do it?

Student: Well, after your class I enrolled in a conversation class which forced me to speak English. I also made friends with people who don't speak my native language and found a job where I spoke English all the time.

Teacher: I know it can be hard to learn English. What's the one thing you did that helped you the most?

Student: I practiced English every chance I got. Believe it or not, I was very nervous when I spoke English. The more I practiced, the more comfortable I felt. There was a time that I thought I would never learn English, but I did!

Teacher: I want to tell the students in my class about your experience. Is there anything else I should tell them?

Student: Yes, tell them they can learn English if they want to. They should never give up. At first it was hard for me but I decided to keep trying. And, as you can see, I got what I wanted.

Teacher: You certainly did! Congratulations!

Thanks for learning some English with us. To learn more, visit us on the Web at About.com.