Tips on Past Tense

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10 TIPS on PAST TENSE

• Grammar Rules and Tips for using Present Tense

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Classifying Tenses

• Tense is a form of Verb which indicates the time
  and state of and action or event.
• Classifying tenses based on the Time of Action
  He writes letters. (Present Tense Now- Present
  time of an action)He wrote letters. (Past Tense
  Before Now- Past time of an action)He will write
  letters. (Future Tense After Now- Future time of
  an action)

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Classifying Tenses

• Classifying Tenses based on the state of Action
  

Present
Past
Future
Simple
sings
sang
will sing
Continuous (progressive action)
is singing
was singing
will be singing
Perfect (completed action)
has sung
had sung
will have sung
Perfect Continuous (progressive action that is
ongoing)
has been singing
had been singing
will have been singing
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Simple Past Used to describe a completed
activity that happened in the past

• Simple fact- happened onceWe went to Spain for
  our holidays.
• FrequencyWhen I was a boy I walked a mile to
  school every day.
• Duration
• I lived abroad for ten years.
• Definite and Indefinite Point in Time
• I went to the theatre last night. (definite)
• People lived in caves a long time ago.
  (indefinite)
• Negative version- use didnt (did not)I didnt
  see you yesterday. 
• Interrogative version-use did
• Where did you go for your holidays?

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Past ContinuousDescribes actions or events which
began in the past and continued for a period of
time. Also used to set the scene for another
action.

• Unfinished action -interrupted by another action
• I was having a beautiful dream when the alarm
  clock rang.
• Two actions- happening at same time
• While they were painting the door, I was cleaning
  the doors.
• Repeated actionsThey were always quarrelling.
• Story Telling
• The sun was shining and the birds were singing .
• Show change or growthHer English was improving.

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Past Perfect Used to emphasize that an action
was already completed with reference to another
event in the past.

• Actions completed
• I had finished the work.
• One event happened before another The weather
  changed, but the team had planned its next move.
• Reporting
• Teresa wasnt at home. She had gone shopping.
• Conditions, hypotheses and wishes
• I wish I hadnt spent so much money last month.
• Negative and Interrogative version
• The weather changed, and the team had not planned
  its next move.
• Had the team planned its next move before the
  weather changed?

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Past Perfect Continuous Used for an action that
began before a certain point in the past and
continued for a while in the past but had ended
before that point in time.

• Actions that started in the past and continued
  for a while
• Everything was wet. It had been raining for
  hours.
• Repeated actions that continue after that
  pointHe had been playing guitar ever since he
  was a teenager.
• Duration- using Since They had been staying with
  us for over a month.
• To indicate a negative
• She had not been painting the door.
• For Interrogatives
• Had she been painting the door?

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Tips on using Past Tense
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Tip 1 Just
Tip 2 Wonder
Wonder used to make a very polite request in
Past Continuous form, although the request is
being made in the present. Formation Past form
of be verb wondering Example I was
wondering if you could babysit for me tonight.

• Just used with the Past Perfect to refer to an
  event that was only a short time earlier than
  before.
• Formation Had Past Perfect Just
• ExampleThe train had just left when I arrived
  at the station.
• She had just left the room when the police
  arrived.
• I had just put the washing out when it started to
  rain.

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Tip 3 Ago
Tip 4 Did
Did For the negative and interrogative form of
all verbs in the simple past, use 'did'. Did he
go to the cinema last night?He didn't go to bed
early last night. We didn't do our homework last
night. Did you do much climbing in
Switzerland? When the question statement does
not use subject-verb inversion, do not use
did. Who did discover India? (incorrect)Who
discovered India? (correct)

• Ago a useful way of expressing the distance into
  the past. It is placed after the period of time
• Formation period of time ago
• a week ago, three years ago, a minute ago.
• Example
• I met him two months ago.
• Two weeks ago they moved to a new place.

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Tip 6 Wish
Tip 5 If
Wish is used with other verbs (which are in the
past perfect) to talk about wishes for the past.
I wish I had worked harder when I was at
school. I wish it had snowed yesterday. Wish is
used with other verbs (which are in past tense
forms) to talk about wishes for the present. I
wish it wasnt so cold. I wish I had more
money.

• If used in the past perfect talking about
  something which did not happen in the past .
• If we hadnt spent all our money, we could take
  a holiday.
• If I had had time, I would have been able to
  complete this task.

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Tip 7 Seldom, Often, Generally,
Tip 8 Since, Before, Last
Definite point of time in the past is denoted
by words like since, earlier, ever since, last,
back, yesterday, the other day etc for Simple
Past Tense . I met your brother yesterday. She
went to Spain last month. The other day when I
went to market, I met John. Ever since I met you
I've liked you.

• Adverbs of Frequency such as, often, generally,
  regularly, seldom, occasionally, rarely, would,
  used to, always are used in Simple Past Tense to
  depict a habit or action and its frequency.
• They never drank wine.
• He always carried an umbrella.
• I used to go to Mumbai by train.
• She would go there daily.

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Tip 10 Want, Hope, Expect
Tip 9 Ever, Already, Yet
Want, Hope, Expect, Intend, Mean Suppose, Think
when used in Past Perfect tense, these words
indicate that the action intended did not take
place. I had wanted to help my brother. (but
could not help) I had expected to pass. My
sister had hoped that her friend would help
her. Mihir had intended to set up his own
business.

• Ever, Before, Already, Yet, After, By the time,
  So far, Till are used to imply/indicate preceding
  action in Past Perfect Tense.
• I had already taken breakfast.
• I had finished the book before he came.
• I had returned from college then.
• I finished my homework after I had returned from
  school.

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Spot the Errors
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Spot the Error
She has bought a car two years ago. The house
was belonging to him. She swept the floor when
I called on her. He didnt knew the
answer. She had been knowing him for two years.
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Spot the Error

• She has bought a car two years ago. She had
  bought a car two years ago.
• The house was belonging to him. The house
  belonged to him.
• She swept the floor when I called on her.
• She was sweeping the floor when I called on her.
  
• He didnt knew the answer.He didnt know the
  answer.
• She had been knowing him for two years.
• She had known him for two years.

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Spot the Error

• The light went out while I read a book.
• I breaked my arm when I was 12.
• Where was you last weekend?
• She was owning this flat in Mumbai for ten years
  but never telled any one.
• The movie already started when we entered the
  theater.

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Spot the Error

• The light went out while I read a book. The
  light went out while I was reading a book.
• I breaked my arm when I was 12.
• I broke my arm when I was 12.
• Where was you last weekend?
• Where were you last weekend?
• She was owning this flat in Mumbai for ten years
  but never telled any one.
• She owned this flat in Mumbai for ten years but
  never told any one.
• The movie already started when we entered the
  theater.
• The movie had already started when we entered the
  theater.

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Spot the Error

• What was the policeman doing when the accident
  was happening?
• He has been going to college since August but
  then stopped attending classes.
• All the students listening to the professor
  carefully when the bell rang.
• It rained when we left the apartment, so we took
  the umbrella.
• She constantly sang.

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Spot the Error

• What was the policeman doing when the accident
  was happening?
• What was the policeman doing when the accident
  happened?
• He has been going to college since August but
  then stopped attending classes.
• He had been going to college since August but
  then stopped attending classes.
• All the students listening to the professor
  carefully when the bell rang.
• All the students were listening to the professor
  carefully when the bell rang.
• It rained when we left the apartment, so we took
  the umbrella.
• It was raining when we left the apartment, so we
  took the umbrella.
• She constantly sang.
• She was constantly singing.

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Spot the Error

• I was living abroad for ten years.
• I meet my wife a long time ago.
• The other day I am waiting for a bus when
• I would have helped him if he was asking.
• We not got home until very late last night.

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Spot the Error

• I was living abroad for ten years.
• I lived abroad for ten years.
• I meet my wife a long time ago.
• I met my wife a long time ago.
• The other day I am waiting for a bus when
• The other day I was waiting for a bus when
• I would have helped him if he was asking.
• I would have helped him if he had asked.
• We not got home until very late last night.
• We didnt get home until very late last night.

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