Past tense story

Reading

Hello everybody! My name is Past Simple Boy because I am very nostalgic and I always talk about the past.This is an old picture of me. I was eighteen in this picture. It was thirteen years ago. I studied at University at that time. I lived with my friends Paco and Javi in a big and old flat. We didn't study much and we enjoyed our life. Every weekend we went to the disco and met new girls. I remember I had a girlfriend called Margarita. I finished my studies in 1995. A year later I started to work as a Language teacher in a Secondary school. Life is not too bad, but those days were fantastic! Do you know about your parents' life when they were young?

Pronunciation

Student needs to remember is that pronouncing the /id/ ending is only appropriate when used with verbs ending in either a /t/ or a /d/ sound. This is the only circumstance under which an ending is pronounced with the additional syllable.

Examples of /id/ endings for past tense verbs include:

• "Doted" is pronounced with two syllables: "dot/id/"
• "Heeded" is pronounced with two syllables: "heed/id/"
• "Dictated" is pronounced with three syllables: "dictate/id/"
• "Replicated" is pronounced with four syllables: "replicate/id/"

An Exception to the Rule

When the past participle of certain verbs are being used as adjectives, then a second syllable will be added even if the base form does not end in a /t/ or /d/ sound. The "-ed" ending, in this case, is correctly pronounced /id/. Some of the more common words that fall into this category include:

• "Ragged" is pronounced with two syllables: "rag/id/"
• "Aged" is pronounced with two syllables: "age/id/"
• "Blessed" is pronounced with two syllables: "bless/id/"
• "Dogged" is pronounced with two syllables: "dog/id/"
• "Learned" is pronounced with two syllables: "learn/id/"
• "Wretched" is pronounced with two syllables: "wretch/id/"

This only applies to past participles being used as adjectives, however. For example: "The old man is wretched."

Verbs Ending in /t/ and /d/ Sounds

Learning the difference between past tense verbs with a /t/ ending and a /d/ ending is more of a challenge. Simply memorizing which letters at the end of the base form of the verb take a /t/ and which take a /d/ does not work for all cases. A more universal approach is needed. ESL students need to learn how to tell the difference between voiced /d/ sounds and unvoiced /t/ sounds.

Examples of /t/ endings for past tense verbs include:

• "Laughed" is pronounced with one syllable: "laugh/t/"
• "Walked" is pronounced with one syllable: "walk/t/"
• "Kissed" is pronounced with one syllable: "kiss/t/"
• "Finished" is pronounced with two syllables: "finish/t/"

Examples of /d/ endings for past tense verbs include:

• "Cleaned" is pronounced with one syllable: "clean/d/"
• "Saved" is pronounced with one syllable: "save/d/"
• "Enjoyed" is pronounced with two syllables: "enjoy/d/"
• "Married" is pronounced with two syllables: "marry/d/"

Whenever a man lies

One day, while a woodcutter was cutting a branch of a tree above a river, his axe fell into the river. When he cried out, the Lord appeared and asked, "Why are you crying?"
The woodcutter replied that his axe has fallen into water. The Lord went down into the water and reappeared with a golden axe.

"Is this your axe?" the Lord asked.

The woodcutter replied, "No."

The Lord again went down and came up with a silver axe. "Is this your axe?" the Lord asked.
Again, the woodcutter replied, "No."

The Lord went down again and came up with an iron axe. "Is this your axe?" the Lord asked. The woodcutter replied, "Yes."

The Lord was pleased with the man's honesty and gave him all three axes to keep, and the woodcutter went home happily.

One day while he was walking with his wife along the riverbank, the woodcutter's wife fell into the river. When he cried out, the Lord again appeared and asked him, "Why are you crying?" "Oh Lord, my wife has fallen into the water!"

The Lord went down into the water and came up with Jennifer Lopez. "Is this your wife?" the Lord asked.

"Yes," cried the woodcutter.

The Lord was furious. "You cheat! That is an untruth!"

The woodcutter replied, "Oh, forgive me, my Lord. It is a misunderstanding. You see, if I said 'no' to Jennifer Lopez, You will come up with Catherine Zeta-Jones. Then if I also say 'no' to her. You willthirdly come up with my wife, and I will say 'yes,' and then all three will be given to me. But Lord, I am a poor man and I will not be able to take care of all three wives, so that's why I said yes this time."

Lessson:
The moral of the story is whenever a man lies it is for an honorable and useful reason !

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Here is the Vietnamese translation if you wish to understand more about this story

Ngày nọ, một người tiều phu lo đốn một nhánh cây lớn chìa ra dòng sông. Chẳng may ông đánh rơi cây búa xuống làn nước sâu thẳm. Ông khóc vì tiếc đến độ Bụt hiện ra, hỏi lý do. Nghe xong, đột nhiên Bụt lao xuống sông, rồi nổi lên với một cây búa bằng Vàng trong tay:

- Phải cái này của ngươi?

- Thưa Bụt không phải.

Thêm một lần lặn hụp nữa, Bụt lại nổi lên với cây búa bằng Bạc, vẫn không phải. Lần thứ ba, Bụt nổi với cây búa bằng sắt, người tiều phu hớn hở: "Đó mới là cây búa của con".

Xúc động với sự chân thật của người đàn ông, Bụt cho ông cả hai cây búa Vàng, Bạc. Vài ngày sau, người tiều phu cùng bà vợ đi dạo ven sông. Không may bà vợ lọt tõm xuống sông. Bụt lại hiện ra cứu giúp người đàn ông khóc sướt tiếc vợ. Bụt nổi lên với nàng Jennifer Lopez:

- Phải đây là vợ ngươi?
- Dạ đúng rồi!
- Này ngươi chớ xí gạt ta.

- Thưa Bụt cho con xin lỗi. Nếu con trả lời không phải, Bụt lại đem lên nàng Catherine Zeta Jones, nếu con lại nói không phải, Bụt sẽ đem lên vợ con và con nhận, Bụt sẽ cho con cả Zones và Lopez. Vì thế, con phải gạt Bụt ngay từ lần đầu, chứ không con chỉ còn có nước phá hết cánh rừng này mới nuôi được cả ba vợ.

Bài học:
Đàn ông thường nói dối vì những lý do hết sức chân thực, hoàn toàn có thể hiểu được.


(Collected)