Past Tenses

Past Simple Tense

Regular Verbs

Past Simple Tense

Irregular Verbs

Past Simple Tense

We use PST when: the event is in the past the event is completely finished we say (or understand) the time and/or place of the event

Past Simple Tense

Examples: I lived in that house when I was young. He didn't like the movie. What did you eat for dinner? John drove to London on Monday. Mary did not go to work yesterday. Did you play tennis last week? I was at work yesterday.

Past Continuous Tense

Form: to be (was, were) + infinitive + ing

Past Continuous Tense

USE: Interrupted Action in the Past Use the Past Continuous to indicate that a longer action in the past was interrupted. The interruption is usually a shorter action in the Simple Past. Remember this can be a real interruption or just an interruption in time.
Examples: I was watching TV when she called. When the phone rang, she was writing a letter. While we were having the picnic, it started to rain. What were you doing when the earthquake started? I was listening to my iPod, so I didn't hear the fire alarm. You were not listening to me when I told you to turn the oven off. While John was sleeping last night, someone stole his car. Sammy was waiting for us when we got off the plane.

Past Continuous Tense

USE: Parallel Actions When you use the Past Continuous with two actions in the same sentence, it expresses the idea that both actions were happening at the same time. The actions are parallel. Examples: I was studying while he was making dinner. While Ellen was reading, Tim was watching television. Were you listening while he was talking?

Past Continuous Tense

While vs. When Clauses are groups of words which have meaning, but are often not complete sentences. Some clauses begin with the word "when" such as "when she called" or "when it bit me." Other clauses begin with "while" such as "while she was sleeping" and "while he was surfing." When you talk about things in the past, "when" is most often followed by the verb tense Simple Past, whereas "while" is usually followed by Past Continuous. "While" expresses the idea of "during that time." Study the examples below. They have similar meanings, but they emphasize different parts of the sentence. Examples: I was studying when she called. While I was studying, she called.

Past Perfect Tense

FORM [had + past participle] Examples: You had studied English before you moved to New York. Had you studied English before you moved to New York? You had not studied English before you moved to New York.

Past Perfect Tense

USE 1 Completed Action Before Something in the Past

The Past Perfect expresses the idea that something occurred before another action in the past. It can also show that something happened before a specific time in the past.
Examples: I had never seen such a beautiful beach before I went to Kauai. I did not have any money because I had lost my wallet. Tony knew Istanbul so well because he had visited the city several times. Had Susan ever studied Thai before she moved to Thailand?

Past Perfect Tense

I can't believe I (get) that apartment. I (submit) my application last week, but I didn't think I had a chance of actually getting it. When I (show) up to take a look around, there were at least twenty other people who (arrive) before me. Most of them (fill, already) out their applications and were already leaving. The landlord said I could still apply, so I did. I (try) to fill out the form, but I couldn't answer half of the questions. They (want) me to include references, but I didn't want to list my previous landlord because I (have) some problems with him in the past and I knew he wouldn't recommend me. I (end) up listing my father as a reference. It was total luck that he (decide) to give me the apartment. It turns out that the landlord and my father (go) to high school together. He decided that I could have the apartment before he (look) at my credit report. I really lucked out!

Past Simple vs. Past Continuous

She (tell)___ me about her boyfriend when somebody (walk) ____ into my office. We (wake up) ____ to hear that somebody (bang)___ on the door. She (have)___ a bath while her husband (prepare)____ the dinner. She (open)___ the door and (see)___ that a man (stand)____ there. I (see) Alice this morning. She (go) ___ to the dentist.

Past Simple vs. Past Continuous

She was telling me about her boyfriend when somebody walked into my office. We woke to hear that somebody was banging on the door. She was having a bath while her husband was preparing the dinner. She opened the door and saw that a man was standing there. I saw Alice this morning. She was going to the dentist.

Past Simple vs. Past Perfect

When I (reach) ____ my office, I (realize) ____ I (leave) ______ my keys at home. When John (come)___ back from his trip, he (find)____ someone (break)____ into his flat. After we (carry out)____ all the research work, we (write) ____ the report. When George (come)____ home that night, he (forget)____ the quarrel of the previous evening.

Past Simple vs. Past Perfect

When I reached my office, I realized I had left my keys at home. When John came back from his trip, he found someone had broken into his flat. After we had carried out all the research work, we wrote the report. When George came home that night, he had forgotten the quarrel of the previous evening.

Future Simple Tense

USE 1: Promises The first use of the Future Simple to make promises. Examples: I promise I will buy you this toy. Promise you will never leave me! USE 2: Unplanned actions (spontaneous decisions) Use this tense also to talk about unplanned (spontaneous) decisions. Examples: Don't worry! I will help you with this problem. I will close the window. It's starting to rain. USE 3: Predictions based on experience or intuition We often use the Future Simple when making a prediction based on experience or intuition. Examples: It will rain in a moment. It will get more difficult.

Be going to
Use 1) planned actions in the future We are going to sing at the party. 2) You are certain that sth. is going to happen in the future. Look at this car! It is going to crash into the yellow one.