PAST SIMPLE
FORM:
I played football.
I did not play football. I didn't play football.
Did you play football?
She drove a car.
She did not drive a car. She didn't drive a car.
Did she drive a car?
We add the ending -ed to the verb or use the second form of irregular verbs.
In questions and negative statements we add the auxiliary verb DID.
FUNCTION:
Past Simple tense expresses:
-a completed action at a specific time in the past
I saw Bill yesterday. She sent the letter last week. We went to France in February. He was born in 1998.
-past habits, repeated actions in the past that no longer occur
I played tennis when I was younger. He watched cartoons when he was a kid. We went to the cinema every week.
-actions that cannot happen again, for example actions of dead people
My grandma lived in Boston. Shakespeare wrote 37 plays. Prešeren wrote many poems.
PAST CONTINUOUS
FORM:
I was watching television.
I was not watching television. I wasn't watching television.
Was I watching television?
They were running.
They were not running. They weren't running.
Were they running?
We use the auxiliary verb BE in the following forms: WAS, WERE. The full lexical verb has the ending -ing.
FUNCTION:
Past Continuous tense expresses:
-an action that was going on over a longer period of time in the past
We were watching television all day. They were arguing for half an hour. He was sleeping.
-an interrupted activity in the past (together with Past Simple)
I was watching television when the phone rang. She was taking a shower when the water ran out.
-two simultaneous activities in the past - activities that were going on at the same time
I was watching television and she was making dinner. The kids were playing and the parents were reading newspapers.
PAST PERFECT SIMPLE
FORM:
She had made dinner before I came home.
She had not made dinner before I came home. She hadn't made dinner before I came home.
Had she made dinner before I came home?
The Past Perfect Simple is formed with the auxiliary verb had and the past participle of the verb we use. This stays true for all persons, both in singular and plural:
I/you/he/she/it had lived in Perth before we moved here.
We/you/they had lived in Perth before we moved here.
FUNCTION:
The Past Perfect Simple is used when expressing an action that happened before another action in the past. It is usually combined with the Past Simple tense.
I had brushed my teeth just before I drank that beer.
FORM:
I played football.
I did not play football. I didn't play football.
Did you play football?
She drove a car.
She did not drive a car. She didn't drive a car.
Did she drive a car?
We add the ending -ed to the verb or use the second form of irregular verbs.
In questions and negative statements we add the auxiliary verb DID.
FUNCTION:
Past Simple tense expresses:
-a completed action at a specific time in the past
I saw Bill yesterday. She sent the letter last week. We went to France in February. He was born in 1998.
-past habits, repeated actions in the past that no longer occur
I played tennis when I was younger. He watched cartoons when he was a kid. We went to the cinema every week.
-actions that cannot happen again, for example actions of dead people
My grandma lived in Boston. Shakespeare wrote 37 plays. Prešeren wrote many poems.
PAST CONTINUOUS
FORM:
I was watching television.
I was not watching television. I wasn't watching television.
Was I watching television?
They were running.
They were not running. They weren't running.
Were they running?
We use the auxiliary verb BE in the following forms: WAS, WERE. The full lexical verb has the ending -ing.
FUNCTION:
Past Continuous tense expresses:
-an action that was going on over a longer period of time in the past
We were watching television all day. They were arguing for half an hour. He was sleeping.
-an interrupted activity in the past (together with Past Simple)
I was watching television when the phone rang. She was taking a shower when the water ran out.
-two simultaneous activities in the past - activities that were going on at the same time
I was watching television and she was making dinner. The kids were playing and the parents were reading newspapers.
PAST PERFECT SIMPLE
FORM:
She had made dinner before I came home.
She had not made dinner before I came home. She hadn't made dinner before I came home.
Had she made dinner before I came home?
The Past Perfect Simple is formed with the auxiliary verb had and the past participle of the verb we use. This stays true for all persons, both in singular and plural:
I/you/he/she/it had lived in Perth before we moved here.
We/you/they had lived in Perth before we moved here.
FUNCTION:
The Past Perfect Simple is used when expressing an action that happened before another action in the past. It is usually combined with the Past Simple tense.
I had brushed my teeth just before I drank that beer.