past tense
DESCRIPTION
Past TensesTRANSCRIPT
Past TensePast Simple & Past Perfect SimplePast Progressive & Past Perfect Progressive
Past Simple vs. Past Perfect Simple
•Single or repeated past action/event
•Past state
•Often used with time expression
•Earlier past
•Reported speech
•Express regrets [with wish]
•3rd conditional
Past Simple
Single action/event
Brin and Page met at Stanford in 1995. They founded Google in 1998.
Past Simple
Repeated past event
Messi scored several hat tricks in the previous season.
Past Simple
State, situation, feeling in the past
They liked each other and became good friends.
Past Perfect Simple
Earlier past
The ship had sailed by the time we arrived.
I thought you had heard the news.
1st event 2nd event
2nd event 1st event
Past Perfect Simple
Reported speech
Direct speech
“It has rained for several days” reports the meteorology department.
Reported speech
The meteorology department reported that it had rained for several days.
Past Perfect Simple
Express regrets
I wish I had not made the wrong turn. [I made the wrong turn and it wasted my time]
She wishes she had gone to the airport on time. [However, she didn’t and she missed
the flight]
Past Perfect Simple
Third conditional [past unreal]
If + past perfect, would have + V3
If I had studied hard in high school, I would have had the scholarship. [The fact is I didn’t
study hard in high school, hence no scholarship]
Using Past Perfect Simple with Past Simple
Earlier event
By the time I got to the office, the catalogue had disappeared.
Reason or background of past event, often used with because
She was late because she had forgotten to set up an alarm clock.
Order of Events By the time ...
By the time we arrived at the party, everyone had left.
Meaning: When we arrived, no one was there. They had gone before we got there.
had left arrived
Order of Events
With Before & After, Past Perfect is not always necessary, as the order of events is obvious
We had finished our meal before we proceeded to desserts.
We finished our meal before we proceeded to desserts.
Order of Events When..is different
Past Perfect shows time gap between 2 events
When the buzzer started, she had finished her exam. [She finished her exam. A while after, the buzzer started.
Past Simple shows one event happened very soon after the other
When the buzzer started, she finished her exam. [the events happened in very close time]
Past Progressive vs. Past Perfect Progressive•Background event
•Repeated actions over a past limited period of time
•Progress at a particular time in the past
•Event beginning before the time talked about in the past
•Repeated events up to a moment in the past
Past Progressive
Background eventShe was watching the nightly news when
there was a knock on the door.
✖
== was watching ==
was
Past ProgressiveRepeated actions over a past [limited]
period of time
Jill was singing karaoke every day last week. No wonder she lost her voice.
Past simple is not used in this case because the event happened in a limited time. It was not a regular activity.
Past Progressive
Progress at a particular time in
the past
Leaves were changing colors
last Fall.
Past Perfect Progressive
Event began and kept on going before the time talked about in the past
When I came to the meeting, they had been discussing a new strategy. [The discussion happened and was ongoing until I came in]
Discussion had happened before and been going until I came in
Past Perfect Progressive
Repeated events up to a moment in the past
I had been going to the gym for months before the race. [Use past perfect
progressive to indicate the repeated action. The action stopped before the race.]
Past Perfect Simple & Progressive
Use either Past Perfect Simple or
Progressive
some verbs e.g. live, play, wear, work
Daniel had played/been playing football for
quite some time.