The Past Tense

THE PAST TENSE

We distinguish three aspects of the past tense: the past simple which indicates an action that started and ended in the past, the past perfect which indicates a past action that had happened before another action in the past, and the past continuous/progressive which indicates a continuous action in the past, or an action that took place at a specific time in the past.

THE PAST SIMPLE

Regular verbs: 

VERB + ‘ED’

Irregular verbs:

check page 185 of your agenda

For the negative form of both regular and irregular verbs add 'did not' (didn't) before the infinitive verb.

Example: She went home. (affirmative form)

She did not go home. (negative form)

When the main verb is the verb "to be", add 'not' after the conjugated verb.

Example: She was surprised. (affirmative form)

She was not surprised. (negative form)

The simple past is used to describe:

• actions that started and ended in the past (compare to le passé simple or le passé composé in French)
• a repeated action in the past

Examples:

• I washed my car yesterday.
• I visited my family last year.
• They went to France last summer.
• We played football the other day.
• I often went to the beach.
• I used to play soccer when I was younger.

Time markers that require the simple past tense:

• yesterday
• last week/ month/ year/ summer/ time
• ago

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THE PAST CONTINUOUS/ PROGRESSIVE

the auxiliaryTO BE conjugated in the past (was/ were) + verb +’ing’

For the negative form add 'not' between was or were and the '-ing' verb

It is used to express:

• an action that took place in the past during a longer time frame (compare to l’imparfait in French)
• an action that took place at a specific time in the past
• it is often used with the simple past to indicate a simultaneous, ongoing action in the past (the background action) while something else happened.

Examples:

• It was getting dark.
• They were watching a movie last evening.
• I was reading the newspaper when the phone rang.
• John was taking the driver’s license when his girlfriend called him.

Time markers:

• while
• when
• during
• all day/ night/ evening/ morning/ summer etc.

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THE PAST PERFECT

HAD + PAST PARTICIPLE

For the negative form add 'not' between had and the past participle

It is used to express:

• a past action that took place before another action in the past (compare to le plus-que-parfait in French).

Examples:

• They had parked their car and rushed into the shop. (First they parked their car and then went into the shop)
• By the time I called them, they had already sold the car. (First they sold the car and then I called them, but I was too late)
• When I returned home I noticed that my apartment had been broken into. (First someone broke into my apartment and then I returned home)
• The next day he realized that he had made a mistake. (First he made a mistake and then he realized his mistake the following day)

Time markers:

• There are no clear time markers for the past perfect. However, a good comprehension of the sentence is essential.

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