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Verb - to eat

Vocabulary

Meals

6:00am

12:00pm

10:00pm

Breakfast

Brunch

Lunch

Dinner

Food

Present form - eat

Let's break it down.

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Subject + verb + noun / noun phrase

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The cow eats grass.

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I eat fish and chips

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She eats pizza.

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He eats cereal.

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They eat hamburgers.

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We eat sandwiches.

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You eat chocolate cake.

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It eats wedding cake.

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Note that the subjects [Proper noun], he, she and it change the verb so there is an 's' at the end. 

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Conversation:

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A: What do you have for breakfast?

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B: I eat cereal. 

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A: What does your pet eat?

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B: It eats wedding cake. 

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A: What do you usually eat for lunch?

 

B: I eat a sandwich. 

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Past form - ate

Let's break it down.

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Subject + verb + noun / noun phrase

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The cow ate grass.

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I ate three pizzas

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She ate cereal.

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He ate fish and chips.

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They ate those sandwiches.

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We ate that chocolate cake.

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You ate wedding cake.

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It ate a hamburger.

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Note that the subject does not change the verb.

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Conversation:

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A: What did you have for lunch?

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B: I ate a sandwich. 

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B: I had a sandwich.

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A: What did your sister eat in America?

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B: She ate lots of hamburgers. 

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B: She had lots of hamburgers.

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A: What did your brother have for dinner?

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B: He ate fish and chips and chocolate cake.

 

B: He had fish and chips and chocolate cake.  

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NATURAL ENGLISH

We often use 'had' instead of 'ate', especially when it obvious that the noun was eaten. 

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She had a hamburger.

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It is obvious that a hamburger was eaten and so 'had' is used. 

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They had a lot of pizza

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This means that they ate a lot of pizza, but 'had' is used because it is obvious.  

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For...

We can that we ate a food for a meal, using the word 'for'. Let's see:

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I had pizza for dinner.

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Subject + verb + noun + for + [meal]

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We had cereal for breakfast.

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She had a sandwich for lunch.

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They had hamburgers for dinner.

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