overview past tenses

• Engels
• Middelbare school
• vwo
• Leerjaar 3

I have a pretty clear idea of how the past tenses all work

Past simple

Statement: You called Debbie.

Question: Did you call Debbie?

Negative: You did not call Debbie.

Use:

Habits in the past, finished events, facts about the past, series of events in the past

Words like: yesterday, a week ago, in 2001, when ..., 

Last week my mother bought a new car.

My grandfather always walked to work when he was younger.

Yesterday I bought a new bike, went to the dry-cleaner's and had diner with my parents.

Past continuous

Statement: You were studying when she called.

Question: Were you studying when she called?

Negative: You were not studying when she called.

Use: 

Talk about actions in the past that were interrupted, several actions that took place at the same time, describe atmosphere.

Often used with 'while'

I was doing my homework, whan my mum came in.

Yesterday at 6 pm, I was having diner.

We were having a cup of coffee while the children were watching a film on TV.

Past perfect

Statement: You had studied English before you moved to New York.

Question: Had you studied English before you moved to New York?

Negative: You had not studied English before you moved to New York.

Use:

when you want to emphasize that something happened before another action in the past.

When he arrived at the train station, his train had already left.

We had had that car for ten years before it broke down 

let op: voorbeeld zin 2 vergelijken met past perfect continuous. 'had' is een non-continuous verb

Past perfect continuous

Statement: You had been waiting there for more than two hours when she finally arrived.

Question: Had you been waiting there for more than two hours when she finally arrived?

Negative: You had not been waiting there for more than two hours when she finally arrived.

Use:

to talk about an action that was going on up until to the moment something else happened, or to show cause and effect in the past.

Often with expressions like: for two hours, since Friday etc.

She had been crying for over an hour, when she finally calmed down.

Carry was sweaty because she had been jogging for 3 hours.

Past simple passive or past perfect passive

Many of these houses were built in the 1940s.

Those books had not been sold due to stains on the cover.

use of passive voice

Use: when it's not important who did something, but rather that it has been done.

The sentence would sart with the direct object, not the subject

Further, check whether you need to use a simple of perfect past tense.

I have a pretty clear idea of how the past tenses all work

When Charlene _________ (enter) the kitchen she _______ (pick) up a big knife and _________ (start) to cut the vegetables.

A bird pooed on the window that I _________ (clean) just a minute before.

The reporter ________ (say) that a car ________ (crash) into a stop sign just before reaching the crossroads.

My room _________ (already - clean) by mother when I entered.

zinnen uit d-toets nalopen, bespreken en onderstrepen wat belangrijk is

1. sequence of finished events that succeed each other

2. it was just finished, before something else happened. 

3. crash happened before, then reporter talks about it now. So one befor ethe other and still important.

4. it was just finished, before something else happened. But: room is direct object, not subject so passive voice.

In 1943 my grandfather __________ (build) a house in Spain, at that same time Picasso _________ (paint) ‘Guernica’.

 

I was really angry at John yesterday. By the time he finally arrived, I _________ (wait) for over an hour!

Kathy told me you ________ (be) late several times in the past and that she would not make new plans with you in the future.

The letters _________ (already, write) before I even asked Linda to do so.

5. specific time in past so continuous (time functions as interruption) and also both actions happen simultaneously. 

6. irritation, emphasis on duration of time (for over an hour) before something else happens

7. actions in the past have consequences

 for later on. now no more new plans> something else happened before.

8. it was already finished, before something else happened. 

I have a pretty clear idea of how the past tenses all work