Past tenses

• Engels
• Middelbare school
• havo
• Leerjaar 4

Review of past tenses

There are 4 past tenses you need to know. They are:

1. Past simple                     I worked / I gave (didn't work)
2. Past continuous           I was working / I was giving (wasn't giving)
3. Present Perfect             I have worked / I have given (haven't given)
4. Past Perfect                    I had worked / I had given (hadn't given)

Past simple: verb + -ed/2nd irregular

to talk about events in the past which:

a) occured at a particular time:

- I drove back from London last night

b) happened regularly (in the past):

- Matthew worked most weekends at 

the supermarket.

Notice how there is always a time phrase that gives context.

Past continuous: was/were & verb + -ing

to talk about events in the past which:

a) had a longer duration than another 

action/was interrupted

- I was reading a book when my brother 

barged in.

b) were temporary/didn't last long

- Barcelona was losing two-nil, with only 

five minutes to go.

Present perfect: have/has & verb + -ed/irregular 3rd

to talk about events or a period of time which:

a) started in the past but are still 

ongoing or still true

- We have lived here for 8 years.

b) happened in the past but have

an effect in the present

- They have cancelled tonight's 

 concert.

Past perfect: had & verb + -ed/3rd irregular

to talk about events which:

a) happened earlier than 

something else

When I had finished all 

my exams I started going

out again.

We use to past perfect when it is important to show a time difference in the past, especially when you want to show in which order events took place.

Use past simple, past continuous or past perfect to fill in the blanks in the story.

This story is based on true events that 1 ...........(happen) many, many years ago in Scotland. One day, Mr Clark 2 ..........(walk) home with a smile on his face. He 3.......... (carry) something very valuable in his hand: tickets for a long, long journey.

After many years working and saving, Mr Clark 4.......... (save) all the money he needed to take all his family to the United States. Earlier that afternoon he 5 ..........(buy) all the tickets that now he 6.......... (hold) in his hand. It was the opportunity of their lives. “The United States of America,” he repeated aloud just to see how nice it 7 ..........(sound) in his ears.

A few days before their departure, Mr Clark’s son 8.......... (play) in the street when a dog 9.......... (bite) him. The doctor 10.......... (go) to their home and 11 ..........(treat) the child’s wound. Then he 12.......... (hang) a yellow sheet on their front door. That yellow sheet meant that they 13.......... (just/be) quarantined. They 14.......... (have) to stay at home for two weeks because of the possibility of rabies.

Five days later, Mr Clark was at the docks. He 15.......... (leave) the house and now he 16.......... (watch) their ship leave to the United States without him or his family. When the ship 17 ..........(disappear) in the horizon, he 18.......... (stand up) and 19.......... (go) back home, crying.

A few days later, the tragic news spread throughout Scotland - the mighty Titanic 20 .......... (sink), taking hundreds of lives with it.

1. happened ➪ We use the past simple to talk about completed actions in the past.

2. was walking

3. was carrying ➪ We use the past continuous the set the scene in a story.

4. had saved ➪ We use the past perfect simple (and not continuous) to say how much or how many we had done of something earlier in the past.

5. had bought ➪ We use the past perfect simple to talk about single actions completed earlier in the past.

6. was holding ➪ We use the past continuous for actions in progress in the past.

7. sounded ➪ The verbs of the senses (look, sound, taste, etc.) are stative verbs, which means that they cannot be used in continuous verb forms.

8. was playing

9. bit ➪ We use the past continuous when a longer action (was playing) is interrupted by a shorter action in past simple (bit).

10. went

11. treated

12. hung ➪ We use the past simple to talk about past events in chronological order; i.e. the main events of a story.

13. had just been ➪ We use the past perfect simple to talk about single actions completed earlier in the past.

14. had ➪ We use the past simple to talk about past states.

15. had left ➪ We use the past perfect simple to talk about single actions completed earlier in the past.

16. was watching ➪ We use the past continuous for actions in progress in the past.

17. disappeared

18. stood up

19. went ➪ We use the past simple to talk about past events in chronological order; i.e. the main events of a story.

20. had sunk ➪ We use the past perfect simple to talk about earlier events and experiences.

Now you try:

past simple or past continuous?:  

https://www.perfect-english-grammar.com/past-simple-past-continuous-exercise-1.html 

https://www.englisch-hilfen.de/en/exercises/tenses/simple_past_progressive2.htm

past simple or present perfect?

https://www.perfect-english-grammar.com/past-simple-present-perfect-3.html

https://www.englisch-hilfen.de/en/exercises/tenses/simple_past_present_perfect2.htm

past simple or past perfect?: 

https://www.perfect-english-grammar.com/past-perfect-exercise-3.html

https://www.englisch-hilfen.de/en/exercises/tenses/past_perfect_simple_past.htm

Unit 5.2: Grammar

Now that you've tried some online exercises, move on to the ones in your book. Do exercises 1-4 on past tenses and check your answers, then do exercises 5 & 6 (Use of English part 2)

Video explanations

The next slides contain more videos about these 4 tenses: how to make them and when to use them. 

All videos are in Dutch to help you get a good grasp of these tenses since it is important to get it right.

The final video is on regular and irregular verbs (see page 168 of your OF book). You need to know these to use the past tenses properly.