Past tenses

Past tenses

Past Simple

We use this tense to describe actions completed in the past.

Most verbs end with -ed but there are irregular verbs too, like teach-taught, find-found etc.

Questions and negations are with did:

Did you work yesterday?

I didn't see her.

My brother applied for a visa.

This investor lost a fortune last year.

Past Continuous

This tense describes an action in progress at a point of time in the past, in example 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 last night.

We often use past continuous to show that a past action was temporary, or was changing or developing.

During my training I was earning less than my life. (temporary situation)

His symptoms were becoming more pronounced each day. (changing situation)

She received chemotherapy on a weekly basis. (a repeated action)

For the first 2 months she was receiving chemotherapy on a weekly basis. (repeated action but only for 2 months)

We use the past continuous to contrast an ongoing action with a single event which interrupts it:

Elizabeth was sleeping when messenger arrived.

Seventy cars were crossing the bridge when it collapsed into the river.

We use the past continuous to describe past arrangements:

Nancy was taking the next flight to Paris so she had to cut short the interview.

We can make requests or polite suggestions:

We were wondering if you would like to join us.

Past perfect

We use this tense to describe an action which is completed before a time in the past. We can include specific time reference.

By the time UN forces arrived, the rebel army had taken the province.

When we got back home the babysitter had gone home.

We wanted to talk to him but he'd just left.

I left university before I'd taken the final exams.

We use past perfect to describe past intentions which were unfulfilled:

They had hoped to get to the summit but their companion fell ill at base camp.