H.
Read about Myra's cooking experience. Underline the verbs and rewrite the passage using
the past forms of the verbs. (Your clue: There are 25 verbs.)
My mother never wants me in the kitchen. She knows of my messy ways. One day, there is
no one at home. Mother has gone grocery shopping. I decide to prepare my breakfast. The
neat rows of eggs in a tray fascinate me. I think of starting with an omelette. I know the
basics. So, I start by chopping onions and tomatoes. Chopping the tomatoes is a messy
job, but the onions are worse; they make my eyes water. However, I do not give up! Then,
it is time to crack the egg. I crack it too hard, and small pieces of shells too fall into the
bowl. They slip off the fork as I try to get them out. After a great struggle, I manage to have
them out. I pour the beaten eggs along with the tomatoes and onions in the pan. It seems
to be cooking well. I toss the omelette to cook the other side and soon have it on my plate.
One bite, and I realise I have forgotten to add any spices. Phew!
Answers
Underlining:
My mother never wants me in the kitchen. She knows of my messy ways. One day, there is
no one at home. Mother has gone grocery shopping. I decide to prepare my breakfast. The neat rows of eggs in a tray fascinate me. I think of starting with an omelette. I know the basics. So, I start by chopping onions and tomatoes. Chopping the tomatoes is a messy job, but the onions are worse; they make my eyes water. However, I do not give up! Then, it is time to crack the egg. I crack it too hard, and small pieces of shells too fall into the bowl. They slip off the fork as I try to get them out. After a great struggle, I manage to have them out. I pour the beaten eggs along with the tomatoes and onions in the pan. It seems to be cooking well. I toss the omelette to cook the other side and soon have it on my plate. One bite, and I realise I have forgotten to add any spices. Phew!
Converting to the corresponding past tense:
My mother never wanted me in the kitchen. She knew of my messy ways. One day, there was
no one at home. Mother had gone grocery shopping. I decided to prepare my breakfast. The neat rows of eggs in a tray fascinated me. I thought of starting with an omelette. I knew the basics. So, I started by chopping onions and tomatoes. Chopping the tomatoes was a messy job, but the onions were worse; they made my eyes water. However, I did not give up! Then, it was time to crack the egg. I cracked it too hard, and small pieces of shells too fell into the bowl. They sliped off the fork as I tried to get them out. After a great struggle, I managed to have them out. I poured the beaten eggs along with the tomatoes and onions in the pan. It seemed to be cooking well. I tossed the omelette to cook the other side and soon had it on my plate. One bite, and I realised I had forgotten to add any spices. Phew!
Knowledge Bytes:
→ Converting sentences in present tense to their corresponding past tense:
✳ Simple present tense - Simple past tense
✳ Present continuous tense - Past continuous tense
✳ Present perfect tense - Past perfect tense
✳ Present perfect continuous tense - Past perfect continuous tense
Some examples are given below:
1. I know her very well. --- Simple present tense
I knew her very well. --- Simple past tense
2. I am going to school. --- Present continuous tense
I was going to school. --- Past continuous tense
3. I have eaten my lunch. --- Present perfect tense
I had eaten my lunch. --- Past perfect tense
4. I have been watching for the past few hours. --- Present perfect continuous tense
I had been watching her for the past few hours. --- Past perfect continuous tense