2TTO - Unit 2 - verb tenses past

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• Middelbare school
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• Leerjaar 2

2TTO - Unit 2 - verb tenses past

What grammar do you need to know?

• Past simple and past continuous
• Past perfect simple
  
• Past perfect continuous

Do you remember what verb tenses are used here?

I walked home yesterday.

I was walking home a week ago when I saw a squirrel.

When do we use the past simple?

When do we use the past continuous?

Past simple - when do we use it?

We use the past simple:

- to describe finished actions or situations in the past

• I went to Ireland last year.
  

- say that one thing happened after another.

• When the teacher came in, we took out our books.
  

Past continuous - when do we use it?

- to talk about activities in progress at a moment in the past.

At 4 o’clock this afternoon I was watching TV.

- describe scenes in a story or description

They were all wearing coats because it was bitterly cold.

- talk about an activity in progress in the past that was interrupted by another activity.

I was listening to music when my father suddenly ran into the room.

Past simple or continuous?
1. He was sitting in the garden when a wasp stung him.

1. present simple
2. past continuous

Past simple or continuous?
2. The car stopped at the lights.

1. present simple
2. past continuous

Past simple or continuous?
3. Soft music was playing when I went into the room.

1. present simple
2. past continuous

Past simple or continuous?
4. It was cold when we left the house that day.

1. present simple
2. past continuous

Past simple or continuous?
5. It was raining when we came to the shopping centre.

1. present simple
2. past continuous

What does the verb show in this sentence?

Past perfect - when do we use it?

FORM

To make the past perfect (simple), we use had + past participle.

USE

We use the past perfect (simple) to talk about actions that happened before another action or actions in the past. It gives importance to the completion of an activity.

• When the interview had finished, I left.
  

Past perfect continuous - when do we use it?

FORM

To form the past perfect continuous, we use had + been + verb-ing

USE

We use the past perfect continuous to talk about actions that happened before another action or actions in the past. It gives importance to the duration of an activity.

• We had been trying to open the door for five minutes when Jane found her key.

Difference between the two?

We use the past perfect (simple) to emphasize that an action is done.

• The builders had put up the fences around the house.
  
  

We use the past perfect continuous to show that an event or action in the past was interrupted by another action.

• The builders had been putting up the fences around the house when the roof fell in.
  
  

We use the past perfect continuous if an action started before a specified time in the past and continued afterward.

• At midnight, everyone at the party was still having fun.