In this lesson we’re looking at regular and irregular verbs, and looking at a fable in English.
Have a read of this story, which was adapted from a 2500 year-old fable by Aesop. Look especially at the past tenses that are used.
Have fun with the lesson, and don’t forget to try the quizzes.
– James.
Lesson Contents
Text: Androcles and the Lion
A slave named Androcles once escaped from his master and ran away to the forest. As he was walking he heard a lion roaring in pain. At first he turned to run, but noticing that the lion did not pursue him, he turned back and went up to him. As he approached, the lion put out his paw, which was bleeding badly, and Androcles found that a huge piece of wood had injured the lion, and it was causing all the pain. Androcles pulled out the wood and healed the lion’s paw, who was soon able to get up and lick the hand of Androcles like a dog. Then the lion took Androcles to his cave, they became good friends.
But shortly afterwards both Androcles and the lion were captured, and Androcles was sentenced to be thrown to the lion, after the lion hadn’t eaten for several days.
The emperor and all the nobles came to see the spectacle, and Androcles was thrown into the middle of the arena.
Soon the lion was released, and rushed towards his victim. But as soon as he came near to Androcles he recognized his friend, and stopped, and licked his hands like a friendly dog.
The emperor, surprised at this, called Androcles to him, who told him the whole story. Then Androcles was pardoned and both he and the lion were freed.
Adapted from the Aesops Fable
Read the story again and order the events.
Regular and irregular verbs
- Regular verbs finish in +ed in their past simple and past participle form (2nd and 3rd form in a dictionary). Have a look at these examples:
work → worked → worked
I work at a bank.
Yesterday I worked.
I had never worked before.
play → played → played
The girls like to play.
They played all morning.
They had played tennis before.
Other regular verbs: Act, brush, drop, row, travel, try…
- Irregular verbs have different forms in their past simple and past participle forms:
go → went → gone
I go swimming every Friday.
I went swimming yesterday.
I had never gone to the beach before.
see → saw → seen
I see what you mean.
I saw you yesterday.
I had seen the film before.
Other irregular verbs: eat, fall, lay, smell, write…
Choose the sentence that uses the tense demanded.
Complete the three forms of each verb. Each verb can be found in the “Androcles and the Lion” text.
