|
PAST SIMPLE |
|
The Past Simple formula is: |
|
verb +
–ed [for
regular verbs]
or
verb +
irregular past
[for irregular verbs] |
|
The regular past form is made by adding
-ed to the infinitive: |
|
paint
>> painted
look >> looked |
|
Irregular past forms must be learnt by heart: |
|
go
>> went
know >> knew
rise >> rose |
|
The past simple indicates an action which happened, or a state which existed, at
a time in the past. The time reference is given or understood from the context: |
|
I
went back to it a few years ago.
The name of the house
was Grasslands. |
|
Some examples of adverbials used to refer to past time
are: |
|
yesterday
/
last year
/
in 2001
a week ago
/
at the end of the last century
earlier this month
/
when I was a child |
|
PAST HABITS |
|
You can express past habits with the past simple and an adverbial
such as always or twice a week: |
|
Mariana
always
made a
delicious chocolate cake.
My grandmother baked bread
twice a week. |
|
You can also use the structures used
to + infinitive or would/'d + infinitive: |
|
My grandmother
used to make ice cream and we'd eat it in
the kitchen. |
|
These forms show that something happened regularly
in the past, but that it no longer happens. Please, remember that would is
more common in written than in spoken English. |
|
PAST
PROGRESSIVE |
|
The Past Progressive (also Past
Continuous) formula is: |
|
was / were +
–ing form |
|
It
was snowing
but she left all the same.
Grandma was baking
a coffee cake. |
|
The past progressive indicates an action in progress at a particular time in the
past. It suggests that the action was temporary and incomplete: |
|
Her parents
were
working abroad at the time. |
|
Often the past progressive action is
interrupted by another action; the past simple is used
for the interrupting action: |
|
I
was picking and
eating the strawberries in the garden when my
grandmother came
to the window and
told me to stop. |
|
The past progressive also indicates background in a
story: |
|
All the furniture
was wearing clothes.
It was snowing. Night
was falling. Johnny walked to the
window.
He was waiting for someone
... |
|
PAST PERFECT
SIMPLE |
|
The Past Perfect Simple formula is: |
|
had
+
past participle |
|
The house
had shrunk. |
|
The past perfect indicates an action that happened, or a state that existed, at
some time before another action or state in the past: |
|
Laura went back to it a few years ago and
she had the feeling that the house
had shrunk; it
had become smaller. |
