Language learning | English » The Past Simple

Source: http://www.doksinet A The past simple Form 1 Basic rule: regular verbs The past simple is usually formed by adding -ed to the infinitive of the verb: • • The translator asked the question in English. We only learned Latin when I was at school. 2 Basic rule: irregular verbs The past forms of some verbs are irregular, e.g be - was, begin - began, come came, etc • • I wrote the letter in English. She taught him to speak Esperanto. Irregular verbs table The past tense of modal verbs 3 Questions and negations In past simple questions and negations we use did and the infinitive of the verb: • • • • Did the translator ask the question in English? Did she teach him to speak French? (a situation) The translator did not ask the question in English. She did not teach him to speak German. When we speak, also in informal writing, we usually shorten did not to didnt: • She didnt teach him to speak German. 4 Passive The passive form of the past simple is made with

was/were + the past participle of the verb. • • Were you required to study English at school? In the Middle Ages, Latin was used as an international language of science. Function 1 Talking about the past Source: http://www.doksinet The past simple is used to talk about the past: short, quickly finished actions, longer actions and situations, repeated actions and successive actions that were completed in the past: • • When did you start your English course? (a short action) I lived in the United States until I was eleven. (a situation lasting for a long time) • • When I was a child we always went to France in August. (a repeated action) Jill put in the CD, started the learning programme and did the grammar exercises in the first unit. (a series of actions happening one after the other) 2 Definite time in the past With the past simple tense we often say when the past action: happened, e.g • last week, two years ago, in 1963, earlier, after that, when I was a

child, one day, etc. .or we understand that it must have happened at a definite time in the past, without actually saying so (i.e a time in the past is implied ): • Ian Fleming originally wrote the James Bond novels in English. (It is clear from the context that writing the James Bond novels is an action that was completed in the past.) 3 Past habits These two constructions are used for talking about past habits, things which happened regularly but do not happen now: • • We used to go to France every August until it became too expensive for us. (We always went but now we dont go anymore.) The children would always manage to communicate with the local kids. (The children always did that when we were in France but now they dont do it anymore.) Used to + infinitive can be used to talk about states and situations as well as actions. Would is only used for repeated actions: • There didnt use to be so many English words in the German language. (There wouldnt be so many English

words in the German language means something else; it does not imply a past habit.) Used to is more common in informal English than would. 4 Polite requests and suggestions In some expressions the past simple is used to make the statement more polite or respectful, not to refer to past time. Source: http://www.doksinet • • I thought you might like some help. (Would you like me to help you?) Did you want to see me now? (I can see you now, if you want me to.) Past continuous for polite requests or suggestions B The past continuous Form 1 Basic rule The past continuous is formed with was/were and the -ing form of the verb: • • • • The Prime Minister was smiling. The children were screaming. They were not really watching the film. Was she following what he was saying? 2 Passive The passive form of the past continuous is made with was/were + being + the past participle of the verb. • We couldnt use the language lab last week as it was being overhauled . Function 1

Actions in progress at a certain time in the past We mainly use the past continuous to talk about what was already happening at a particular moment in the past or what was happening over a particular period of time in the past: • • • • What were you doing yesterday at six oclock? I was working between 6 and 10 last night . In the late 90s, unemployment was rising steadily. (This development was going on at the time.) This time last year the school was still being renovated. (The work wasnt finished yet.) The past continuous is often used together with the past simple to show a longer background action or situation. The past simple then refers to a shorter action that happened in the middle of the longer one, or even interrupted it: • • As I walked in the door, the receptionist was already explaining that I would be late. ("Walking in the door" is a shorter action that happens in the middle of "explaining", a longer background action.) He was having a

shower when the telephone rang. ("Showering" was a longer action interrupted by the telephone ringing.) Source: http://www.doksinet We can also use the past continuous for two longer actions that happened in parallel: • Janet was studying for her final exam while Fred was surfing the Internet. Present continuous for actions in progress at the moment of speaking 2 Temporary actions The past continuous is used for temporary actions and situations: • I picked up some Arabic last summer while I was working in Cairo as a tour guide. (This was a temporary job; Im no longer working in Cairo as a tour guide.) Present continuous for temporary actions 3 Past continuous + always When used with always, the past continuous means very often: • Franz was always telling me how much he wished he had learned English at school. (He said it many times) It can also mean too often when a repeated action in the past is irritating or annoying. Instead of always, similar words can be

used in this structure to mean the same, e.g, forever, constantly and continually: • • He was always switching languages in mid-conversation. (He did it a lot and it got on my nerves.) My boss was continually asking me to take his phone calls if they were in English. (She often asked me and I didnt see why I had to do it for her) Present continuous + ALWAYS 4 Polite requests and suggestions The past continuous can be used to make a polite request or suggestion: • • I was wondering if you could let me have an English translation of the contract? (Could I have an English translation of the contract, please?) I was hoping you might want to come and see the film with me in English (Would you like to come and see the film with me?) Past simple for polite requests or suggestions 5 State verbs Some verbs which express states, not actions, also called state verbs are not used in the continuous: Source: http://www.doksinet • When I was a child my family owned a house in

Cornwall. (WRONG: When I was a child my family was owning a house in Cornwall.) More examples of verbs expressing states: believe, consist of, contain, depend, exist, hate, know, like, mean, need, prefer, seem, understand, want, wish. Some verbs have two different meanings, an action meaning and a state meaning. The state meaning usually cannot be made continuous: • • We were thinking about learning Japanese. (Action: We were trying to decide.) I thought Chinese would be too difficult. (State: I believed it would be too difficult.) See these verbs in the present continuous See these verbs in the present perfect continuous C The past perfect simple Form 1 Basic rule: regular verbs We form the past perfect simple tense by using had and the past participle : • • Jack was surprised that the interview was in English. They hadnt explained about having to speak English when he first applied for the job. Had she finished her English course when you met her? 2 Basic rule: irregular

verbs The past participles of some verbs are irregular, e.g be - been, begin - begun, come - come, etc. • • It wasnt a new language for me - I had heard it several times before. He explained that he had forgotten much of his school English. Irregular verbs table 3 Passive The passive form of the past perfect simple is made with had been + the past participle of the verb: • The guide explained that the local language hadnt been spoken for several generations. Function 1 Earlier time in the past Source: http://www.doksinet If we are talking about the past, we use the past perfect to go back to an earlier past time. • • The translation was good. I had worked hard on it all night She had learnt American English, but it wasnt much help to her in Scotland. 2 Reported speech The past perfect is common in reported speech after reporting verbs in the past like said, told, asked, explained, thought, wondered, etc.: • • I told them I had never chaired a meeting in English

before. She wondered who had translated the text into English. Reporting verbs in the past: change of tense 3 With conjuctions of time The past perfect can often be used instead of the past tense with conjunctions of time, e.g when, after, as soon as, etc • The meeting started as soon as the chair (had) arrived. However, we often must use the past perfect tense with when in order to express that one action was finished before the other one started. • When Id prepared my presentation for the London meeting, I asked Mary to check it. The past tense can imply that one action led to the other. • When the president started speaking the delegates fell silent. 4 Unrealised wishes The past perfect can also be used to express unrealised hopes or wishes: • • • I had hoped my Japanese business partner would speak German, but he didnt. I wish you had told me before that you dont speak English. (Why didnt you tell me?) If Jack had learnt English instead of Latin, hed have had an

easier time of it. (He didnt learn English.) Conditional sentences, type 3 D The past perfect continuous Source: http://www.doksinet Form 1 Basic rule The past perfect continuous is made with had been and -ing: • The course had been going well until she missed two lessons and fell behind. • He hadnt been using an interpreter at meetings but soon discovered he needed one. Had they already been having English lessons before they went to live in Canada? • Function 1 Actions in progress at an earlier time in the past The past perfect continuous is used to talk about longer actions or situations in an earlier past time. These actions or situations were in progress continuously up to the past moment that we are thinking about: • • Id been trying for ages to explain in broken German when he told me he spoke English! They realised that they had been expecting too much from the US market. The past perfect continuous focuses on the action going on, whereas the past perfect

simple focuses on the fact that it happened (or did not happen): • Although they had been attending the course for two weeks, they had not yet spoken a word of English themselves, they had only listened to the teacher. Talking about the past Present perfect continuous vs. present perfect simple