Perfecting the Past: Sports and Injuries

Simple Past and Present Perfect

Simple Past and Present Perfect

Learning Objective

At the end of the lesson, you will know the difference between the simple past and present perfect tense, recognize signal words, and apply them in sports-related contexts.

The Simple Past

Simple past tense is used for actions that happened in the past and are finished. We build simple past sentences with the second form of the verb. 

go - went - gone

Yesterday, I went to the park to play football.

Simple Past Questions

We form questions about the simple past using the word did.

Anytime we use did or didn't in a sentence, we must use the first form of the verb. 

play - played - played 

Did you play basketball at school today?

Present Perfect

This tense is used for actions that started in the past and are still true, or important to the present. We build present perfect sentences using have / has and the third form of the verb.

see - saw - seen

I have seen many sports injuries happen in American football. 

Present Perfect

I have _                                          I haven't _                                    Have I_?

You have _                                You haven't_                             Have you_?  

He has _                                      He hasn't _                                    Has he_?

She has _                                   She hasn't _                                 Has she_?

It has _                                            It hasn't _                                        Has it_?

They have _                              They haven't_                           Have they_?

We have _                                    We haven't _                              Have we_?

Signal Words

Signal words for simple past: yesterday, last week, two days ago, when, in 2015.

I visited the doctor last week.

She broke her arm two days ago during a hockey game. 

James won the chess tournament in 2018.

 

Signal Words

Signal words for present perfect: already, never, so far, yet, since

They have already bought new helmets for their biking trip.

I have never fallen during rock climbing, luckily!

She has been diving since 2016.

 

Simple Past vs. Present Perfect

Practice: Fill in the blanks with the correct tense.  (play)

She __________  tennis yesterday. 

She ____________ tennis already.

Sports Activities

Maria (try) snowboarding last winter.

 I (never, be, ski) before.

He (twist) his ankle during the tennis match.

We (never, see) any dangerous animals during our hike.

Sports Injuries Vocabulary

• twist 
• sprain 
• pull
• tear
• fracture
• dislocate
• break

Visiting the Doctor

Complete the sentences: 

I (never, injure) myself during a game. 

The doctor (treat) my sprained wrist last month.

He (pull) a muscle in his leg when he fell. 

I (tear) my ACL three years ago.

Both players (dislocate) their shoulders when they collided.

Writing Practice

Describe the sports injuries that could happen to someone 

• playing football
• kickboxing
• mountain climbing
• skiing

Role-play: Doctor's Visit

Role-play a conversation between a patient with a sports injury and a doctor using the correct tenses in the dialogue.

Write down 3 things you learned in this lesson.

Have students enter three things they learned in this lesson. With this they can indicate their own learning efficiency of this lesson.