English Conversation Practice Exercise – Going by Taxi

In the simple past tense, verbs can be used in both active and passive voices. Here’s an overview of how verbs take forms in active and passive voices in the simple past:
Active Voice:
In the simple past active voice, regular verbs take the following form:

1. Regular Verbs:
2. Verb + “-ed” (for regular verbs)
   Example:
   • She played the piano.
   •  They visited the museum.

Irregular verbs, however, have specific past tense forms, which don’t follow the regular “-ed”
pattern:

Irregular Verbs:

• •  Examples:
    •  He went to the store. (Past of “go”)
    • She ate lunch. (Past of “eat”)

Passive Voice:
In the simple past passive voice, verbs follow this structure:

1.  Passive Voice:
   • Was/Were + Verb (past participle form) + by + Subject (optional)
   • Example:
     • The letter was sent yesterday.

1. • The book was read by her.

In passive voice, the action is emphasized rather than the doer of the action. The past participle form of the verb is used with “was” (for singular) or “were” (for plural) to create the passive voice in the simple past tense.
Understanding how verbs change in the active and passive voices in the simple past tense is essential for constructing accurate sentences and conveying ideas effectively.
In English, particularly in the simple past tense, the rule for regular verbs is to add “-ed” to the base form of the verb to create the past tense. The sound produced by adding “-ed” varies based on the ending sound of the base verb.