Class 2 – Invention of the Telegraph (6/18)

Grammar Focus

  • Past Simple – regular and irregular verbs
  • Past Continuous – interrupted/ongoing past actions

Reading Text

Title: The Invention of the Telegraph

Before the internet and mobile phones, people had very few ways to send messages quickly. One of the most important inventions in the 19th century was the telegraph, which allowed people to communicate across long distances in minutes, not days. The telegraph completely changed communication and helped modernize the world.

In the early 1800s, several inventors worked on electric communication devices. However, it was Samuel Morse, an American artist and inventor, who finally succeeded. In 1837, he developed the Morse code system. This system used dots and dashes to represent letters of the alphabet. With this code, operators could send messages by tapping signals over a wire.

In 1844, Morse sent the first long-distance telegraph message from Washington, D.C. to Baltimore. While he was waiting for a reply, people in the room were watching the machine carefully. The message, “What hath God wrought?”, was received clearly. This moment marked the beginning of a new era in communication.

After that, telegraph lines spread rapidly across the United States and Europe. By the 1860s, workers were building the first transatlantic cable to connect North America and Europe. It was completed in 1866. During this time, many people were learning to operate telegraphs and were working in telegraph offices.

The telegraph played a key role in many events. During wars, generals used it to send important orders. Businesses depended on it to share prices and news quickly. For the first time, information could travel faster than a person on horseback or a ship at sea.

Although the telephone and internet later replaced the telegraph, its invention was a turning point in human history. While Morse was creating the telegraph, he had no idea how much it would change the world. Today, we often forget the importance of this early technology, but without it, modern communication would have developed much more slowly.

Grammar Explanation

1. Past Simple

The past simple is used to describe actions that started and ended in the past.

Regular verbs

  • Add -ed to the base form
    • work → worked
    • play → played

Irregular verbs

  • Have special forms
    • go → went
    • have → had
    • send → sent

Sentence structure

  • Positive:
    • She invented the machine.
    • He went to school.
  • Negative:
    • She did not (didn’t) invent the machine.
    • He didn’t go to school.
  • Questions:
    • Did she invent the machine?
    • Did he go to school?

2. Past Continuous

The past continuous describes actions that were happening at a certain time in the past. It’s often used with the past simple to show interrupted actions.

Sentence structure

  • Positive:
    • I was working
    • They were playing
  • Negative:
    • I was not (wasn’t) working
    • They were not (weren’t) playing
  • Questions:
    • Was he working?
    • Were they playing?

Common uses

  1. Ongoing past actions
    • I was reading at 9 p.m.
    • They were traveling all night.
  2. Interrupted actions
    • I was writing when the power went out.
    • He was cooking when she arrived.
  3. Two simultaneous past actions
    • While I was studying, my brother was sleeping.

Summary Chart

Tense Use Case Example
Past Simple Completed action in the past He invented the telegraph.
Past Continuous Ongoing or interrupted past action She was writing when it rained.

Vocabulary

  1. Telegraph
  2. Morse code
  3. Operator
  4. Transatlantic
  5. Communication
  6. Signal
  7. Device
  8. Invention
  9. Message
  10. Distance
  11. Rapidly
  12. Represent
  13. Tapping
  14. Technology
  15. General
  16. Cable
  17. Office
  18. Era
  19. Develop
  20. Replace