Although she is busy, she plays cricket after school.
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The present simple describes routines, repeated actions and generally true situations. With ordinary lexical verbs, use the base form after I, you, we and they; with he, she or a singular name, the verb normally takes -s or -es. Be has the special forms am, is and are, and have becomes has with a singular third-person subject. A frequency word such as usually often appears before the main verb, but after be. For ordinary lexical verbs, form negatives and questions with do or does, and return the main verb to its base form. Be forms its own questions and negatives without do. Time expressions help readers see whether an event is repeated rather than happening only now.
Read the whole message before choosing a verb. A sentence can mention today and still describe a usual timetable. Keep the subject and verb together while checking agreement, especially when extra descriptive words stand between them. In a paragraph, a consistent present-time frame makes routines easy to follow.
During Grade 11 revision, recognise the purpose of the language before selecting a form or structure. The models illustrate useful decisions without guaranteeing a particular examination task. Check both accuracy and relevance, then correct the features which affect the message most.
වැඩි විස්තර අවශ්ය විට පමණක් මෙම කොටස කියවන්න.
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Many verbs add -ed: play becomes played. Some change: go becomes went.
After did or did not, use the base verb.
See it. Say it. Understand it.
Easy / Start here
I played.
Moderate / Add a little
We went to the park yesterday.
Challenge / Try when ready
After we finished our homework, we went to the park.
More detail for teachers and confident learners
The past simple places an event in a finished past period. Regular verbs usually add -ed, while common irregular verbs have forms such as went, saw and bought. Use did with the base verb for questions and did not with the base verb for negatives. Be behaves differently: was and were form their own questions and negatives. A past time expression may appear at the start or end of a sentence, but the reader must still be able to recognise the sequence of events.
In a recount, establish when and where the event happened, select useful events in order, then explain its result. Do not add -ed after did. Remember that spelling and pronunciation are different: the final sound of a regular past verb is not always pronounced as an extra syllable. Read a short recount aloud to hear where sentence boundaries belong.
During Grade 11 revision, recognise the purpose of the language before selecting a form or structure. The models illustrate useful decisions without guaranteeing a particular examination task. Check both accuracy and relevance, then correct the features which affect the message most.
වැඩි විස්තර අවශ්ය විට පමණක් මෙම කොටස කියවන්න.
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This links an earlier action or experience to now.
Use the past simple with a finished time such as yesterday.
See it. Say it. Understand it.
Easy / Start here
I have finished.
Moderate / Add a little
She has finished her homework.
Challenge / Try when ready
She finished it yesterday, but she has not checked it yet.
More detail for teachers and confident learners
The present perfect uses have or has plus a past participle. It connects a past action or experience to the present, or describes a situation continuing until now. Since introduces a starting point and for introduces a duration. Ever and never commonly describe experience; already and yet concern completion. A definite finished time such as last Tuesday normally calls for the past simple instead. Do not confuse a past participle with the past simple form of an irregular verb.
Decide what the speaker wants to emphasise. A finished event in a dated story belongs in a past-time frame, whereas an experience without a specified finished time can connect to now. The present perfect does not automatically mean that an action is very recent. In a paragraph, switch tenses only when the time relationship actually changes, and make that relationship clear to the reader.
During Grade 11 revision, recognise the purpose of the language before selecting a form or structure. The models illustrate useful decisions without guaranteeing a particular examination task. Check both accuracy and relevance, then correct the features which affect the message most.
වැඩි විස්තර අවශ්ය විට පමණක් මෙම කොටස කියවන්න.
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