Alice’s Adventures in Grammar Land
Alice finds herself lost in a thick, dark forest. The trees around her are tall, with twisted branches, and the air is filled with strange sounds. She walks slowly, looking for any sign of a path, when she spots a large, green caterpillar resting on a leaf.
“Excuse me,” Alice says politely. “Can you tell me where I am?”
The caterpillar opens its eyes and looks at her with a serious expression. “I am the Present Simple Caterpillar,” it says. “I only speak in the present tense.”
Alice tilts her head in confusion. “The present tense? What does that mean?”
“It means I talk only about things that happen repeatedly or things that are always true,” the caterpillar explains, “like this: I live on leaves, I eat them, and that is my life.”
“Oh, I see,” Alice replies. “So, if I asked you about what you did yesterday, you wouldn’t be able to answer?”
“Exactly,” says the caterpillar, “because the Present Simple only talks about things we do every day or things that are always true, like the sky is blue or cats have fur.”
After thanking the caterpillar, Alice keeps walking and soon arrives at the Grammar Tea Party.
She finds the Mad Hatter and the March Hare in a deep discussion, sitting at a long table filled with teacups and plates.
The Mad Hatter, adjusting his hat, says, “In my opinion, the Past Simple is the key to good storytelling. It helps us show that something has already happened and is complete.”
The March Hare nods in agreement. “Yes, without the Past Simple, it’s hard to know when events took place. If I say, ‘I baked a cake,’ you know I already did it!”
Alice, eager to join the conversation, chimes in. “But don’t you think the Present Simple is also important? We use it to talk about things that happen every day, like ‘The sun rises in the east’ or ‘I brush my teeth every morning.’ It’s how we share routines and facts!”
The Mad Hatter looks at Alice, clearly interested. “You’re right, young lady. The Present Simple is quite useful. But if you want to tell stories, you need the Past Simple. For example, ‘I walked into the forest’ tells us it already happened, unlike ‘I walk into the forest,’ which could be happening now or any time.”
The March Hare points to a note on Alice’s plate. She picks it up and reads it aloud:
“Remember:
Present Simple – For habits, facts, and things that happen regularly.
Past Simple – For actions that happened and are now finished.”
With a smile, Alice nods and joins them at the table, ready to learn more about the mysteries of Grammar Land.
Exercise 1: The Present Simple Caterpillar’s Daily Life
Objective: Practice identifying and creating Present Simple sentences.
Instructions: Imagine you are the Present Simple Caterpillar. Describe your daily life using only the Present Simple tense.
Write 5 sentences about what you do every day. For example, “I eat leaves.”
Draw a picture of the Present Simple Caterpillar doing these activities and label each activity with a sentence you wrote.
Bonus Challenge: Add at least one sentence about something that is always true, like “The sky is blue.”
Exercise 2: Mad Hatter’s Storytelling Magic
Objective: Practice identifying Past Simple sentences and constructing a short narrative.
Instructions: The Mad Hatter loves to tell stories in the Past Simple! Think about something fun you did recently, then create a short story with at least 5 Past Simple sentences. For example, “I walked to the park. I played with my friends.”
Draw a simple comic strip with each sentence illustrated in a different frame.
Share your comic with a partner, and see if they can tell when each action happened.
Exercise 3: Present vs. Past – The Great Tense Debate
Objective: Understand the difference between Present Simple and Past Simple tenses.
Instructions: Imagine Alice is talking to both the Present Simple Caterpillar and the Mad Hatter at the same time. She describes actions in both tenses.
Write 4 sentences that Alice might say to each character, using Present Simple for the caterpillar and Past Simple for the Mad Hatter.
Example:
To the Caterpillar: “I like tea.”
To the Mad Hatter: “I met the caterpillar.”
Instructions: Fill in each blank with the correct form of the verb in parentheses. Use either Present Simple or Past Simple.
1. Alice ________ (find) herself in a strange forest.
2. The caterpillar always ________ (eat) leaves.
3. Yesterday, Alice ________ (meet) the Present Simple Caterpillar.
4. The Mad Hatter and the March Hare ________ (talk) about grammar every day.
5. Last week, the March Hare ________ (drink) tea with Alice.
6. Alice ________ (see) a card on her plate at the Grammar Tea Party.
7. The caterpillar ________ (live) on a large leaf.
8. Yesterday, the Mad Hatter ________ (tell) Alice about the Past Simple tense.