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PAST TENSES (PAST SIMPLE (Use (to describe single completed actions in the…
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.
- 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
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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
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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,
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