Form One English Notes Expressing Past Events
In Form One English under the Tanzania syllabus, students learn how to express past events using different tenses and structures. The main focus is on the Simple Past Tense, which is used to describe completed actions in the past. Students practice forming regular verbs with “-ed” endings (e.g., “walked,” “played”) and memorizing irregular verbs (e.g., “went,” “ate”). They also learn time markers like “yesterday,” “last week,” and “two days ago” to provide context. Additionally, the Past Continuous Tense is introduced to describe ongoing actions in the past (e.g., “I was reading when she called”). Exercises include sentence construction, filling in blanks, and converting present sentences into the past.
Another key area is using the Past Perfect Tense to show an action completed before another past action (e.g., “She had left before I arrived”). Students also learn to differentiate between regular and irregular verbs while practicing affirmative, negative, and interrogative forms. Teachers use dialogues, storytelling, and picture prompts to reinforce learning. The unit also covers asking and answering questions about past events (e.g., “What did you do last holiday?”). By the end of the topic, students should confidently describe past experiences, write short paragraphs about past activities, and engage in simple conversations using correct past tense structures. These skills are essential for both written and spoken English proficiency in everyday communication.
