Speaking Sports: In the Past Tense!

Grammar Skill: In English, words that are written in the past tense are identified with the ending ‘ed.’ For example the word jump becomes jumped. Most words follow this rule, but there are a few that are irregular like run becomes ran, swim becomes swam, and ride becomes rode. Read the following story about a person training for a competition and then complete the exercise that follows it.

Vocabulary!

 Run – when a person moves at a speed faster than a walk

Swim – the way a person moves through water

Lift – to pick something up

Jump – to push oneself and both feet off the ground

To Train – when a person works hard for a competition or event

Jump rope – when a person swings a rope around their body and jumps over the rope

Compete – to try and win against an opponent

There are many sports in the world. All of these sports have different rules that make them different from each other. Although the sports are very different, it is common for the players and athletes to train in the similar ways. Some athletes compete in sports that they must jump often, like basketball or volleyball, and so they jump rope to train. Other athletes need to be strong for their sport so they lift heavy weights to become strong. Even though there are different ways to train, almost all athletes run and swim to help them be the best at their sport.

Activity: Using the vocabulary words from the reading, create your own original sentences using those words in the past tense!

Example: The basketball player ran to the park and back.

1. Run:

2. Swim:

3. Lift:

4. Jump:

5. Train:

6. Jump rope:

7. Compete:

Build the Skill: Think of a time in your life that you had to compete for something. Write a paragraph describing that experience in the past tense. Include what the competition was (schoold project, sports event, video game, etc.), what you did to prepare, and the result of the competition. Include any of the vocabulary above, as well as your own vocabulary. Be sure that your writing is in the past tense.

If you are having trouble, use the following website to help you!

http://grammar.yourdictionary.com/parts-of-speech/verbs/Past-Tense-Verbs.html