Past Tenses

PAST
TENSES
PAST SIMPLE
How to form it:
Affirmative sentence: Negative sentence:
subject + verb regular: -ed or subject + did not/didn’t + verb (infinitive)
subject + verb irregular: 2nd
Example: Example:
They played football. They didn’t play football.
She bought a dress yesterday. She didn’t buy a dress.
Questions: Short answers:

Did + subject + verb (infinitive)
Did they play football? Yes, they did/No, they didn’t
Did she buy a dress?
We use past simple for:
• Actions which happened at a specific time in the past.
They got home very late last night.

• Past habits
She played a lot of tennis when she was younger.

• Past actions which happened one immediately after the other
Tom woke up, made his bed and took a shower.

• Past actions which won’t take place again
Neil Armstrong landed on the Moon in 1969.
• Time expressions use with the past simple:
Yesterday, yesterday morning/evening, last week/night, a month ago, in 1969, etc.

Used to, be/get used to and
used to:
•
would
We use Used to + infinitive to talk about a past situation that is no longer true. It tells us that there was a repeated action or
state in the past which has now changed.
We used to live in New York when I was a kid.
• We can also use used to to talk about past habits (repeated past actions) that don't happen any more.
I used to go swimming every Thursday when I was at school.
be used to and get used to:
• Be used to means 'be familiar with' or 'be accustomed to'.
She's used to the city now and doesn't get lost any more.
We use get used to to talk about the process of becoming familiar with something.
• I'm finding this new job hard but I'm sure I'll get used to it soon.
would:
• We can use would to talk about repeated past actions that don't happen any more.
Every Saturday I would go on a long bike ride.
• would for past habits is slightly more formal than used to. It is often used in stories. We don't normally use the negative or
question form of would for past habits.
PAST CONTINUOUS
Affirmative Formation: Negative
was/were + verb (I form + ing) wasn’t/weren’t + verb (I form + ing)
Interrogative Short answers
Was … verb (I form + ing) …? Yes/No, … was/wasn’t/were/weren’t

We use past continuous for:
• An action which was in progress at the stated time in the past
We do not know when the action started
Example: we were fixing the car at 8 o‘clock yesterday.
• A past action which was in progress when another action interrupted it

Past continuous is used for the action in progress (longer action) and the past simple for the action which interrupted it
(shorted action)
Example: When her car broke down, I was shopping.
• simultaneous actions (two or more actions which were happening at the same time in the past)
Example: They were making dinner while he was building a snowman.
• to give background information in the story

Example: His grandmother was going to the forest, despite it was getting darker and darker.
• Time expressions: while/when/all day/yesterday/last morning

Past Perfect
It is formed using had + past participle. Questions are indicated by inverting the subject and had.
Negatives are made with not. Past perfect is the past equivalent of the present perfect.
Statement: You had studied English before you moved to New York.
Question: Had you studied English before you moved to New York?
Negative: You had not studied English before you moved to New York.
We use Past Perfect for:
• Talking about time up to a certain point in the past:
She had published her first poem by the time she was eight.
• An action which finished before another past action or before a stated time in the past
The thieves had escaped when the police arrived.
The shopping mall had closed by 10 p.m
• An action which finished in the past and whose result was visible at a later point in the past
Bethany was happy because she had won the race
• We can also use the past perfect followed by before to show that an action was not done or was incomplete when the past
simple action happened.
They left before I had spoken to them.
• Time expressions used with the past perfect: before, after, already, just, for, since, till/until, by, never
Past perfect continuous
Past perfect continuous is formed using
had + been + present participle (verb + -ing).
Affirmative:
You had been waiting there for more than two hours when she finally arrived.
Negative:
You had not been waiting there for more than two hours when she finally arrived.
Question:
Had you been waiting there for more than two hours when she finally arrived?
Yes, I had.
No, I hadn’t / had not.
We use past perfect continuous
for:
• To put emphasis on the duration of an action that began in the past and continued up to another action or time in the past.
Example: When I arrived, Ram had been waiting for two hours.
We had been trying to open the door for five minutes when Jane found her key.
• For an action which lasted for some time in the past and whose result was visible in the past.
Example: John was very tired. He had been running for an hour.
The children had been playing all afternoon and so the room was a mess!
• Time expressions: for, by, before, after, since, how long, before, until, etc.

Past Tenses

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PAST

Questions: Short answers:

They got home very late last night.

She played a lot of tennis when she was younger.

Tom woke up, made his bed and took a shower.

Neil Armstrong landed on the Moon in 1969.

• Time expressions use with the past simple:

Yesterday, yesterday morning/evening, last week/night, a month ago, in 1969, etc.

Affirmative Formation: Negative

was/were + verb (I form + ing) wasn’t/weren’t + verb (I form + ing)

Interrogative Short answers

Was … verb (I form + ing) …? Yes/No, … was/wasn’t/were/weren’t

• A past action which was in progress when another action interrupted it

• to give background information in the story

• Time expressions: while/when/all day/yesterday/last morning

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