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DEVELOPING WRITING SKILL 1:

BASIC SENTENCE
PATTERNS
NOUNS
SIMPLE PAST TENSE
_______________________
RohaidaNgah
SMK Ibrahim Fikri
BASIC
SENTENCE
PATTERNS…
____________ RohaidaNgah
SMK Ibrahim Fikri

BASIC SENTENCE PATTERNS

Every sentence has at least two parts : Subject and Verb (S + V).

A subject is usually a noun or something that can place of a noun.

(Noun – the name of a person, animal, place, thing)
A verb is:
 an action word which shows what people, animals, things do.
eg: walk, run

 a non-action word
eg: is, are, am,was, were

Subject Verb
The dog barked
The bus left
The children cried
The babies slept
The robbers ran
He was …
They were…

PRACTICE 1:

Underline all the subjects in the following sentences.

1. The train arrived.

2. The girl smiles.
3. The mother and father laughed.
4. The convict escaped.

5. The rain ceased.

6. The grasshopper hoped.
7. He was sick.
8. They were present.
PRACTICE B:

Use the ‘subjects’ in the box to complete the sentences.

 the stars the wheels the frog
the fisherman’s boat my body the coins

1. …………………………… rotated.
2. …………………………… sank.
3. …………………………… jumped.
4. …………………………… jingled.
5. …………………………… ached.
6. …………………………… twinkled.

PRACTICE 3:

Underline all the verbs in the following sentences.

1. The dredge capsized.

2. The water froze.
3. The thunder rolled.
4. Our team won.
5. The ice melted.
6. The plant grew.

PRACTICE 4:

Use the appropriate verbs from the box to complete the sentences.

shone flew exploded quacked skidded

1. The helicopter ……………………….

2. The sun …………………………………
3. The ducks ……………………………..
4. The car ………………………………….
5. The bombs …………………………….
EXPANDING SENTENCES (S +V + E)

Expansion here means making complete sentences longer.

eg:
 The car stopped. (This is a complete sentence.)

Now, we can add other words at the sentence to give more information.

 The car stopped suddenly. (How)

 The car stopped in front of the house (Where)

PRACTICE 5:

Underline the words that are used to make the sentences longer.

1. A child cried in the night. (When)

2. The cat ran into the house. (Where)
3. The clown joked for an hour. (How long)
4. The audience clapped loudly. (How)
5. The telephone rang for a long time. (How long)
6. They arrived at 6 o’clock. (When)
7. The terrorists hid in the mountains. (Where)
8. The children played happily. (How)
9. We stood at the beach. (Where)
10. The examinations started on Monday. (When)

EXERCISE 6:

Expand these sentences by adding a suitable word or words.

eg: The coconut fell.

The coconut fell suddenly. (How)
The coconut fell on his head. (Where)

1. My grandfather ………………………………………………….(when)
2. The teacher stood ……………………………………………..(where)
 3. Shahid swam ……………………………………………………..(how)
4. The couple quarreled …………………………………………(when)
5. The boys fought …………………………………………………(where)
6. The cowboy whistled …………………………………………(how)
7. Many men came ………………………………………………..(where)
8. The Boy Scouts marched ……………………………(how)
9. Mr Green slept ……………………………………………(how)
10. The tree fell ………………………………………………..(when)
11. The first speaker spoke ……………………………….(how)
12. The boys played …………………………………………..(what/where)

SUBJECT VERB OBJECT (S+V+O)

Sometimes, a sentence has two parts but is still incomplete.

eg: The policemen arrested …

The woman sold …
The girl carried …
The dog bit …
The students brought…

To complete these sentences you must add an object.

Subject Verb Object

The policemen arrested the thief.
The woman sold a car.
The girl carried a basket.
The dog bit the man
The students brought food.

PRACTICE 7:

Underline the ‘objects’ in the following sentences.

1. The baby drank the milk.

2. The people watched the game.
3. The mother cooked the rice.
4. He caught a rabbit.
5. Mr Johnson wrote an email.
6. Abu’s sister washed the clothes.
 7. We cut the grass.
8. Ms brown bought vegetables.
9. The floods destroyed the houses.
10. I studied languages.
PRACTICE 8:

Complete the following with suitable objects. Use ‘a’, ‘an’ or ‘the’ where necessary.

Subject Verb Object

The students asked
She ate
Margaret broke
We finished
The postman delivered
They cleaned
You took
The lecturer taught
I made
He did
The woman found

SUBJECT VERB COMPLEMENT (S+V+C)

The verb ‘BE’ (eg am, is, are, was, were) does not require an object, but it needs other
words to complete a sentence. These other words are called COMPLEMENT.

Subject Verb Complement

Abu was a clever boy.
The books were on the desk.
The girls were pretty.
The students were in class.

PRACTICE 9:

Underline the complements in the following sentences.

1. Ms Jones was angry.

2. That man was a dentist.
3. She was busy.
4. My two brothers were in the car.
5. The children were hungry.
6. The food was expensive.
 7. Gandhi was a great man.
8. Rita’s mother was at the railway station.
9. My parents were in London.
10. I am a teacher.
PRACTICE 10:

Complete the sentences by adding suitable complements.

1. My maid was ……………………………………….

2. We were ………………………………………………
3. The bracelets were ………………………………
4. The naval officers were ……………………….
5. You were ……………………………………………..
6. My grandfather was ……………………………..
7. The salesgirl was ………………………………..
8. Mr and mrs morris were ………………………
9. The cuisine was ……………………………………
10. I was ……………………………………………………
11. The hawker was ………………………………….
12. The shoes were …………………………………….

PRACTICE 11:

Underline all the subjects in the following newspaper report.

LUCKY LARRY

Trans Continental Airlines celebrated its 50 th anniversary yesterday. The airline

marked the occasion by presenting a pewter plague to the 50 th passenger. The passenger
was checking in on the Kuala Lumpur-Toronto flight TC11. He was Mr Larry Morris.
The managing director of Trans Continental Airlines presented Larry with a gift. The
airport officials of the airline were there to wish him a safe and pleasant journey.

PRACTICE 12:

Underline all the verbs in the following passage.

On Sunday, my brother and I went to the countryside. We travelled by bus to a

quiet place near the mountains. We left early in the morning. We took some interesting
photographs. We saw some colourful birds there. The scenery was beautiful. We
enjoyed ourselves.
PRACTICE 13:

Underline all the complements in the following paragraph.

It was a beautiful afternoon. The air was warm. The sky was blue. Encik Daud and his
family were in Genting Highlands. They were on holiday. The hotel was full of people.
Everyone was happy.

PRACTICE 14:

You have learnt that some verbs need objects. Underline all the objects in this passage.

Last month Abu visited a tea plantation. He saw many tea pickers. They were picking tea
leaves. They put the leaves in baskets. Then they carried the baskets to a lorry. The lorry
took the baskets full of tea leaves to the factory.

PRACTICE 15:

Rearrange these words to make complete sentences.

1. the lesson/understood/Devi
2. he/the road/crossed
3. typed/the secretary/the letter
4. moved/Mr and Mrs Brown/yesterday
5. fruits/the basket/contained
6. the lawyer/the contract/explained
7. a nurse/she/was
8. my car/repaired/the mechanic
9. some money/Puan Aini/lost
10. were/full/all the buses
11. sleepy/I/was
12. very loudly/talked/he
13. found/a parking space/Mr Raj
14. was/Omar/late
15. the winners/congratulated/we
16. shared/Zahara and Marina/a room
17. flew/the plane/over the mountain
18. a famous /warrior/Hang Tuah/was
19. opened/the window/Azma
 20. was/my sister/five years old

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A
WORKSHEET
ON NOUNS…
____________
RohaidaNgah
SMK Ibrahim Fikri
NOUNS
Nouns are names of people, animals, places, ideas and things.
eg: Jane, boy, elephant, Sang Kancil, Sabah, market, problem, happiness, Proton Exora

Nouns are divided into 3 categories:

 Common Nouns
general names used for people, animals, plants, things

eg: man, frog, glass, hotel

 Proper Nouns
special names given to people, animals, places, things
(always begin with capital letters)

eg: Jim, Ipoh, Comel, Pasaraya Salwa

 Abstract Nouns
refer to quality or idea rather than a physical object.

eg: anger, love, goodness

PRACTICE 1:

Group these nouns.

Happiness Malacca hovercraft beauty Putrajaya

surgeon courage Johan oyster honesty
daughter Sony politeness envelope August
Common Nouns Proper Nouns Abstract Nouns

NOUNS AS SUBJECTS

Subject Verb
The teacher laughed
The students danced
The tiger slept
The taxi stopped

PRACTICE 2:
Underline the nouns used as subjects in the following sentences.

1. The boy fell in the drain

2. The children laughed at the clown.
3. The boy loves to eat ice cream.
4. A cat is a tame animal.
5. The cow eats grass.
6. Some people like to have milk in their office.
7. Saleha screamed at her sister
8. The girl played the piano.
9. The lightning flashed across the dark sky.
10. The telephone was in the office.

PRACTICE 3:
Fill in the blanks with suitable nouns.

1. The wind blew away the clouds.

2. …………………….waters the plants in the garden.
3. ……………………. barked at the boy.
4. ……………………. were in the cabinet.
5. ……………………. broke the window.
6. ……………………. walked into the shop.

NOUNS AS OBJECTS
A noun can also be used as the object of a sentence. Note that the object comes after a
verb receives the action of the verb answers the question ‘whom’ or ‘what’ after verb.

Subject Verb Object

The salesman sold the car
The dog bit the postman
The hawkers pushed the carts
The mechanic repaired the lorry
The postman delivered a parcel
PRACTICE 4:
Identify the nouns used as objects.

1 The birthday girl received many presents.

2 The spectators watched the games.

3 The architect designed the houses.

4 She walked to the bus station.

5 Anis likes to eat cakes.

6 Peter attended the concert with his brother.

7 The policemen arrested the thief.

8 The baby sleeps in her bed.

9 I borrowed these books.

10 She sends me an email.

PRACTICE 5:
Fill in the blanks with suitable nouns.

It was a Monday morning. Abu planned to go to the ………………………….. for fishing. He

brought a fishing ……………………………, some baits and also food to eat. He rode his
…………………………. to Lukman’s house. Lukman invited him to eat some
……………………………… Lukman’s …………………………..gave them a basket full of food.
They cycled to their destination. They parked their bicycles under a …………………………
Abu found a big …………………………… and sat on it. Abu placed a piece of …………………………
on the riverbank. They caught a lot of …………………………….. Lukman gave some of them
to his ……………………………

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A
WORKSHEET
ON SIMPLE
PAST TENSE…
____________
RohaidaNgah
SMK Ibrahim Fikri

SIMPLE PAST TENSE

WHEN SIMPLE PAST TENSE IS USED

The Simple Past Tense is used to show an action which began and ended in the past. This
completed action happened at some specific time in the past. Time words (Time Markers) like
yesterday, last night, at five pm and two years ago are used to show specific time.

Eg:
 I bought a pair of new shoes yesterday.
 Abu visited hid grandmother last night.
 It rained heavily at 5pm.
 Two years ago, I went to Singapore.

HOW TO FORM THE SIMPLE PAST TENSE FROM THE BASE FORM OF A VERB?

There are many ways in which the base form is changed to form the Simple Past Tense.

BASE FORM SIMPLE PAST FORM

Base form + ‘d’ Praise Praised

(for verbs ending with ‘e’ Agree Agreed
Hope Hoped
Shave Shaved
Die Died

Base form + ‘ed’ Play Played

Show Showed
Push Pushed
Press Pressed
Help Helped

Base form + ‘ied’ Carry Carried

(for verbs ending in ‘y’ Bury Buried
following a consonant. Fry Fried
Change the ‘y’ to ‘i’ before Spy Spied
adding ‘ed’ Marry Married

Base form + last consonant + Drop Dropped

‘ed’ Permit Permitted
 Prefer Preferred
Pat Patted
Travel Travelled

PRACTICE A:
Write the Simple Past Tense form of each of the following verbs in the blanks provided.

Change Plan
Occur Describe
Hurry Visit
Slap Study
Need Appear
Look Carry
Use Manage
Cry Call
Guide Like
Talk Press
Dance Type
Tap Phone
Try Submit

IRREGULAR VERBS:
The Simple Past Tense is formed with a change in spelling.

Drink Drank
Know Knew
Go Went
Spend Spent
Bleed Bled
Hold Held
Spell Spelt
Feel Felt
Leave Left
Dig Dug

The Simple Past Tense is formed with no change in spelling.

Cost Cost
Cut Cut
Set Set
Shut Shut
Hit Hit
Bid Bid
Hurt Hurt
Beat Beat
Read Read
Cast Cast

PRACTICE B:

Write the Simple Past Tense form of each of the following verbs in the blanks provided.

Have Sleep
Think Kneel
Buy Keep
Choose Eat
Lose Put
Spread Catch
Creep Build
Burst Sweep
Take Run
Bring Do

PRACTICE C:

Fill in the blanks with the Simple Past Tense of the verbs in brackets.

1. Our team ……………………………(win) both games last week.

2. I ………………………………………….(find) this book on the bus yesterday.
3. I ………………………………………(meet) him several years ago in London.
4. The lightning ………………………………(strike) two houses in our village last week.
5. The police ……………………………..(work) on the case for several months before they finally
…………………………………..(catch) the thief.
6. Patrick ………………………….(take) off his hat and coat as soon as he …………………(come) in.
7. Last year, our troops ……………………(fight) well, but the enemy was too strong.
8. Where did you hold the meeting? We ………………………….(hold) it in Dewan Sri Budiman
last night.
9. They …………………..(feed) the prisoners only bread and water last year.
10. I ……………………….(read) that book several years ago.
11. The gun ………………………(go) off accidentally and it ……………………..(kill) his best friend.
12. I ………………………….(sleep) for more than ten hours last night.
13. He …………………..(buy) that car in 1999.
14. Aliff …………………..(lose) a hundred dollars last semester.
15. She …………………..(leave) after 10 o’clock.
16. The maid …………………….(sweep) every room carefully the night before.
17. Cik Azlin ……………………..(teach) us English when we were in form two.
18. The frightened dog ……………………………(creep) into the house when it rained.
19. The bus ……………………………..(stop) at the junction when the light turned red.
20. We …………………………………(watch) television after dinner.
21. She ……………………………..(play) the guitar at her friend’s 17th birthday party.
22. Maria and Azma …………………………..(enjoy) themselves at the picnic last Sunday.
23. When Asri won the prize, he …………………….(feel) happy.
24. Bakri …………………………………..(keep) his books in the drawer before he …………….(go) to
bed.
25. Suddenly he …………………………..(hear) a scream.
26. PRACTICE D:
Chang the verbs in the following sentences to Simple Past Tense and underline them.

1. I go to work.

2. He wears black.

3. I make the cakes.

4. She gets up at 6.30am.

5. He understands me.

6. They have lunch at 1pm.

7. She speaks slowly.

8. You talk too much.

9. He falls.

10. Tom sings well.

11. Who knows the answer?

12. The horse jumps over the fence.

13. We eat the vegetables raw.

14. He sleeps soundly.

 15. My mother feels ill.

PRACTICE E:
Fill in the blanks with the Simple Past Tense of the base forms in the box. Do not use any
of the verbs more than once.

throw read tell do go burst

spread take run cost meet count
put build have bake get understand

1. He …………………….. a house near the sea.

2. Sam …………………………..me the secret.
3. Abu ……………………………the books to the library.
4. He ……………………… a mile to the bus stop.
5. His mother ………………………away all his old clothes.
6. They ………………………the bags on the table.
7. The fire …………………………..through the whole building.
8. Ms Weisberg …………………………the story to her students from the book.
9. The balloons …………………………..one by one.
10. The tour ……………………………..him two thousand dollars.
11. I …………………………….the coins in my purse yesterday.
12. You ……………………..well in the examination last semester.
13. I …………………………….to school.
14. I …………………………her.
15. I …………………………… the cakes.
16. She ……………………….up at 6.30am.
17. He ………………………….me.
18. They ……………………lunch at 1pm.

PRACTICE F:
Fill in the blanks in the passage with the simple Past Tense of the base verbs in the box. Do not
use any of the verbs more than once.

complain point promise hold say

decide sell claim charge stand

The school prefects ……………………………a meeting last week because students

…………………………of the type of food ………………………….at the school canteen. During the meeting,
one prefect …………………………… that the canteen operator was not selling food suitable for
children. Moreover, he also ………………………….the students too much. One prefect
……………………… up angrily and ………………………………… that the canteen operator should be
replaced immediately. Another prefect …………………………… out that there was no need to do that
since the operator’s contract would expire the following month. Finally, they …………………… that
the head prefect should meet with the principal over the matter. The head prefect …………………..
that he would do so immediately.