TENSES/ IBIHE BIKURU BY’INSHINGA

Activity: Reflect to this situation

Imagine the situation, when your teacher asked you to narrate what you did in holiday. How did you feel? No wonder it was easier than drinking water indeed. Tekereza igihe mwalimu wawe yakubwiye kuvuga ibyo wakoze mu kiruhuko.

On other hand, you would rather be off than being asked such difficult question. Do you wonder why it was difficult? You did not know “Past tenses”.

Notes:

Therefore; Dear, English learner you should learn this topic carefully because tenses is fundamental lesson you need in order to speak, listen, write, and succeed in your learning journey. That’s why I recommend you to read and reread this chapter one

MEANING OF TENSES

Tense is the form of verb which shows when certain things happened (Past), happens (present), will happen (future).

Examples:

1. I stumbled yesterday

2. He studies abroad

3. We will not fail

MAIN ENGLISH’S TENSES

There are three main tenses in English which are divide into three subcategories. Refer below hierarchy.

PAST TENSE

This tense shows all things, event which happened, in word it’s history. This tense is divided into four tenses. Iki gihe kerekana abintu cyangwa ibikorwa byababaye, mu yandi magambo ni nka mateka. Igabanyijemo amako ane.

1. Simple past

2. Past continuous

3. Past perfect

Let’s discuss more about these tenses

SIMPLE PAST

To form simple past of verbs, you should know these terms:

1. Regular verbs: All verbs which follow rules/

2. Irregular verbs: All verbs which do not follow rules.

How to differentiate regular and irregular verbs?

In fact, there is no common way of differentiating them. Only common way is to memorize them

REGULAR VERBS

It is easy to form past tense, because we add –ed at the end of regular verbs as it is in the following example:

1. Play-----> Played

2. Cook----> Cooked

3. Learn----> Learned

4. Wash-----> Washed

5. Look----> Looked

6. Coach---> Coached

8. Walk----> Walked

9. Bump-----> Bumped

10.Talk------> Talked

11. Lock----> Locked

Examples in sentences / Ingero mu nteruro

I visited my grandmother last year

Yesterday, I cooked delicious food

My mom called me during holyday

I bumped into chair

Last month I talked with my Aunt

100 REGULAR VERBS

1. Accept------> Accepted

2. Allow-------> Allowed

3. Answer------> Answered

4. Ask----------> Asked

5. Bake-------> Baked

6. Call--------> Called

7. Clean-------> Cleaned

8. Clear-------> Cleared

9. Climb-------> Climbed

10. Close------> Closed

11. Clone-------> Cloned

12. Dance--------> Danced

13. Deliver-------> Delivered

14. Dress----------> Dressed

15. Enjoy--------> Enjoyed

16. Finish-------> Finished

17. Fix-------> Fixed

18. Help--------> Helped

19. Improve------->Improved

20. Jump------>Jumped

21. Kiss--------> Kissed

22. Learn-------> Learned

23. Listen------> Listened

24. Live--------> Lived

25. Look------> Looked

26. Love------> Loved

27. Need------> Needed

28. Paint-------> Painted

29. Play--------> Played

30. Pray-------> Prayed

40. Rain--------> Rained

41. Ruin-------> Ruined

42. Damage-----> Damaged

43. Dash---------> Dashed

44. Debate-------> Debated

45. Decay-------> Decayed

46. Deceive------> Deceived

47. Decide------> Decided

48. Declare----> Declared

49. Defeat-------> Defeated

50. Defend-------> Defended

IRREGULAR VERBS

These verbs do not follow rule of adding –ed at the end of verbs. They are number of irregular verbs, you should memorize as many as you can.

1. Be----> Was or were

2. Write----> Wrote

3. Speak----> Spoke

4. Take-----> Took

5. Build----> Built

6. Put------> Put

7. Cut----> Cut

8. Rise----> Rose

9. Teach------> Taught

10. Buy----> Bought

HOW TO USE SIMPLE PAST?

The following words show the simple past / Amagambo akurikira yerekana impitagihe

1. Yesterday

Ex: My parents locked her house yesterday.

2. Last

Ex: Last year, I learned English.

3. Ago

Ex: She called me two days ago.

4. Once upon time

Exercise

Conjugate the following verbs into simple past / Tondagura inshinga zikurikira mu mpitagihe

1. Mary………………(to bump) into chair

2. KARABO……………(to compose) a good poem.

3. I…………… (to learn) English.

4. My grandmother…………(to give) me a good prizes.

5. They…………….(to visit) Akagera national park.

6. Peter……………(to run) toward the teacher’s staff

7. Isimbi…………..(to sit) together with her best friend.

8. Umwiza………(to study) English few months.

9. They………….(to pack) different goods into car.

10. Rain…………..(to ruin) our house.

Answers: 1. Bumped, 2. Composed, 3. Learned, 4. Gave, 5. Visited, 6. Ran, 7. Sat, 8. Studied, 9. Packed, 10. Ruined.

Next we shall keep on exploring another tenses, comment what you want us to cover. God bless you!!!!

English Tenses with some Kinyarwanda Explanation