UNIT 2 . TENSES

Grammar.

PAST TENSES

  • PAST SIMPLE

 

AFFIRMATIVE-SUJ +VERB + ED/ 2 COLUMN 

I postponed the celebration due to the situation. / I slept very well.

NEGATIVE-SUJ DIDN´T +VERB 

I didn´t write the report for my boss.

INTERROGATIVE- DID +SUJ+ VERB? 

Did you understand?

 

+++++++ EMPHATIC PAST SIMPLE: we use the emphatic past simple affirmative by including the auxiliary as follows: 

Suj +auxiliary + base form

I did finish the essay.l

She did attend the meeting. 

 

Uses: 

  • Finished past actions: I lived in Paris in 2010. 
  • General truth about the past: We usually went there in spring.
  • Stories/ sayings/ jokes: They set off. Then, I cried.
  • State verbs: mental processes/ permanent states/ likes and dislikes / be and have(= own): I didn´t understand/ I believed in that idea / I loved that lesson…

 

  • PAST CONTINUOUS( WAS / WERE+ ING)

AFFIRMATIVE:SUBJECT + BE( WAS/WERE) + ING.

I was working in London when I met you. /She was living there.

NEGATIVE: SUBJECT+WAS NOT/ WERE NOT  (OR WASN´T/ WEREN´T)+ ING.

I wasn´t working there. /They weren´t working there.

INTERROGATIVE: WAS / WERE+ SUBJECT + ING+ …?

Were you living in this town in 2010?

Was she living in this town in 2010?

Uses:

  • Actions in progress in the past: I was chatting to her when he arrived.
  • Temporary situations in the past: I was living there when I met you.

  • PAST PERFECT SIMPLE 

AFFIRMATIVE: SUBJECT + HAD + PAST PARTICIPLE (-ed/ 3rd column).

I had finished when they called. / I had slept very well that night.

NEGATIVE: SUBJECT + HAD NOT(OR HADN´T) + PART PARTICIPLE.

I hadn´t been  there for months. /She hadn´t worked there before.

INTERROGATIVE: HAD+ SUBJECT + PAST PARTICIPLE…?

Had you been here before? / Had she watched that film before?

Uses:

  • Actions happening before the past.

  • PAST PERFECT CONTINUOUS 

AFFIRMATIVE: SUBJECT + HAD + BEEN+ ING.

I had been studying here for 5 years.   

NEGATIVE: SUBJECT + HAD NOT (OR HADN´T)+ BEEN+ ING.

I had´t been working here before. 

INTERROGATIVE: HAD+ SUBJECT + BEEN+ ING….?

Had you been cleaning all day?

 

Uses:

  • Actions happening before the past but here the emphasis is on the duration of the action. 

Key words: for………., since…….., all ………, how long…….?….

 

Warning: remember state verbs are always written in simple tenses.