PAST TENSES

PAST SIMPLE

Form

1.Most verbs add -ed to the base form to make the past simple tense. The past simple Form tense form is the same
2.Base forms ending in a single stressed vowel and a consonant (except w, x or g), double the consonant, e.g. hug ' hugged. ln British English, but not US English, we often double final consonant /, e.g. label ' labelled.

  1. Base forms ending in a consonant and Y,
    change Y to I' e.g. copy-copied'
    4.lrregular verbs do not form the past tense with -ed,. go --+went.
    5.We do not use the past form of the verb in questions and negatives; we use did (not) + infinitive. We usually use the contracted form didn't in speech and informal writing.

Use

to describe single completed actions in the past:Julius Caesar invaded Britain in 55 ac

lf the context is clear, it is not necessary to give a past time reference: Caesar's troops failed to defeat the indigenous tribes

actions which happened at the same time and also for repeated actions: When we got to the junction I took the left turn while Micky took the right. (two actions at the same time)

We use the past simple for sequences of actions. Sometimes the actions follow immediately after each other, or one action causes a result:
-Silverman ran to the car, jumped in and roced off into the night. (sequence of actions)

We use the past simple to describe states in the past: We lived just outside Oxford in the nineties, but we didn't have a car

PAST CONTINUOUS

Form

We form the past continuous with was or were and the present participle with ing:
What were the children doing while all this was going on?
There are some verbs which we rarely use in the continuous tenses, including the past continuous.

Use

The past continuous describes an action in progress at a point of time in the past, i.e.
the action began before this point of time and continued after it.
We didn't hear the intruder because we were sleeping on the top floor that night

We often use the past continuous to show that a past action was temporary, or was changing or developing:
During my training l was earning a lot less than my wife. (a temporary situation)

to describe an ongoing action which forms the background or setting to past events. We often use the past simple for an action that happened against this background:
Darkness was descending over the hushed city as Jomes staggered back to college. (darkness was descending -- background; James staggered = action)

We can use the past continuous for two actions in progress at the same time:
We were watching the skg and tistening for the first sounds of the dqwn chorus

We usually use the past simple for repeated actions but we can use the past continuous if we want to emphasise that the repeated actions took place over a temporary and limited period of finished time:
She received chemotherapy on a weekly basis. (a repeated action)
For the first three months she was receiving chemotherapy on a weekly basis. (repeated action, but only for three months)

to contrast an ongoing action with a single event which interrupts it. We use the past simple for the single event

If tne background action finishes just before the event which interrupts it, we prefer to use the past perfect continuous
Compare these examples:
Jane opened the door to let Philip in.
1 He was running in the rain. (still runs)
2 He had been running in the rain( completed action)

We can use the past continuous to describe past arrangements; the arranged event may or may not have taken place. This use is similar to the 'future in the past'
Nancy was taking the next flight to Paris so she had to cut short the interview. (= Nancy had an existing arrangement to take a flight to Paris.)

We can make requests, suggestions and questions more tentative and polite by using the past continuous. We often use the verbs think and wonder
-We were wondering if you would tihe to join us?
-Were you planning on going somewhere else later? (= Are you planning on ...?)

Past Perfect

Form

had and a past participle

By the end of the fourth dag we had exhausted most of our rations.

Regular verbs have a past participle form which is the same as the past tense form (i.e.
we add -ed to the base for

lrregular verbs, e.g. see, often have a past
participle form,

Use

Actions and states before a time in the Past

1. to describe an action which is completed before a time in the past.
We can include a specific time reference:
By the time in the UN task force arrived, the rebel forces had taken the province.
2. We can use the past perfect for repeated actions: The new owners found that the timbers had been patched up several times.
3. We also use the form to describe a state which existed before a past event:
At the time of her trial last gear He had been in prison for eight months.

  1. a sequence of events clear.
    past perfect for the earlier action
    and the past simple for the later. compare:
    When we got back the bobysitter went home. {sequence: 1 we got back, 2 the babysitter went home)
    When we got back the babysitter had gone home. (sequence: 1 the babysitter went home, 2 we got back
  1. use iust or already with the past perfect to show that the earlier action was recent or earlier than expected:
    We wanted to talk to the babysitter but she'd iust left.

6.We can use the past perfect or the past simple with time conjunctions, e.g. after, before, as soon as, then:
She ushered me out of the room as soon as l paid my subscription

  1. before + past perfect the action in the past simple happens first:
    I left university before I'd taken the final exams
  1. We can use this for a past action which prevented a later action from happening:
    She sacked him before he'd had a chance to explain his behoviour.
  1. the cause of a past event:
    David didn't ioin the band as he'd signed up with a rival label'
  1. hope, expect, want, plan, thinls about, wish to describe past intentions which were unfulfilled:
    They had hoped to get to the summit but Travers fell ill at base camp.

Present Perfect Continuous

Form

had been and the present participle:

The take was near bursting point as it had been raining heavilg for weehs.

The passive form of the past perfect continuous (had been being + past participle) is
almost never used. We prefer an active form, using an 'empty'subject if necessary:

Uses

1.We use the past perfect continuous to describe an ongoing situation or action which continued up to, or stopped just before, a time in the past :
He had been working for over an hour before the auditors turned up.

2.to explain a past result, e.g. a situation or an appearance:
The few survivors looked painfully thin. They had been living on meagre rations since the accident (= They looked thin because they had been living on meagre rations.)

  1. to focus on duration:
    Kubrick had been trying to get the film made for more than twenty gears.

4.When we talk about how many time did you do this we use PAST PERFECT