We often use the past simple tense for single completed events and past states and we
use the past continuous for temporary or interrupted actions. We use the past perfect
tense for actions which happened before a time in the past. This unit looks at the
differences between the past and the past perfect tenses and used to/would + infinitive.
(For uses of the present perfect tense for past time .3.1, 3.2. For past forms which
refer to the future (future in the past) ~ 5.3.)
2.1A
Most verbs add -ed to the base form to make the past simple tense. The past simple
tense form is the same for all persons (except with the verb be):
watch - I/he/she/it/we/you/they
watched; be -I/he/she/it
was, we/you/they were
Note the following spelling rules with -ed endings:
Base forms ending in a single stressed vowel and a consonant (except w, x or y),
Form
'No, I didn't
see anything.'
actions
in the past:
Past actions
and states
<f
2.2A
Form
Wall Street traders lost a fortune when the Asian markets collapsed. (= The markets
collapsed with the result that the traders lost a fortune.)
We use the past simple to describe states in the past:
We lived just outside Oxford in the nineties, but we didn't have a car.
(For a contrast of the past simple and the present perfect ~ 3.1 B, 3.2.)
We form the past continuous with was or were and the present
the main verb:
Wh~
the children doing while all this was going on?
participle
(~ 1.2A) of
There are some verbs which we rarely use in the continuous tenses, including
continuous. (For more information about this ~ 1.3A B, C)
2.2B
Actions in
progress
describes
an action in progress
the past
the action began before this point of time and continued after it.
We didn't hear the intruder because we were sleeping on the top floor that night.
At the time of our arrival the city was going through a period of rapid expansion.
'" We often use the past continuous to show that a past action was temporary, or was
changing or developing:
During my training I was earning a lot less than my wife. (a temporary situation)
His symptoms were becoming more pronounced each day. (a changing situation)
'" We can use the past continuous to describe an ongoing action which forms the
background or setting to past events. We often use the past simple for an action that
We were watching the sky and listening for the first sounds of the dawn chorus.
e We usually use the past simple for repeated actions in the past (~ 2.1 B), but we can
use the past continuous if we want to emphasise that the repeated actions took place
over a temporary and limited period of finished time:
She received chemotherapy on a weekly basis. (a repeated action)
For the first three months she was receiving chemotherapy on a weekly basis.
(repeated
2.2C
,It>
Interrupted
actions
II
2.2D
Other uses
action,
to contrast
interrupts it. We use the past simple for the single event:
Elizabeth was hunting when messengers arrived with the news of Mary's plot.
Seventy cars were crossing the bridge when the pier collapsed into the river.
0 If the background action finishes just before the event which interrupts it, we prefer
to use the past perfect continuous (~ 2.4A, B). Compare these examples:
Jane opened the door to let Philip in.
1 He was running in the rain.
2 He had been running in the rain.
fi
suggestions
and questions
more tentative
the past continuous. We often use the verbs think and wonder:
We were wondering if you would like to join us. (= Would you like to join us
Were you planning on going somewhere else later? (= Are you planning on
?)
?)
We form the past perfect with had and a past participle, which is the same for all persons
By the end of the fourth day we had exhausted most of our rations.
I wasn't convinced that she had exhausted all of the possibilities at that stage.
Regular verbs have a past participle form which is the same as the past tense form (i.e_
2.3A
Form
'b
and
states before
By the time the UN task force arrived, the rebel forces had taken the province.
a time in the i9 We can use the past perfect for repeated actions:
past
The new owners found that the timbers had been patched up several times.
Ci We also use the form to describe a state which existed before a past event:
At the time of her trial last year Hinkley had been in prison for eight months.
2.3C ~ We can use the past perfect to make a sequence of events clear. We use the past
Sequence in perfect for the earlier action and the past simple for the later. Compare:
the past
When we got back the babysitter went home.
(sequence: 1 we got back, 2 the babysitter went home)
When we got back the babysitter had gone home.
(sequence: 1 the babysitter went home, 2 we got back)
~ We can use just or already with the past perfect to show that the earlier action was
recent or earlier than expected:
We wanted to talk to the babysitter but she'd just left.
When we got back we found that the babysitter had already gone home.
IJ We can use the past perfect or the past simple with time conjunctions,
e.g. after,
before, as soon as, then:
She ushered me out of the room as soon as I paid/had paid my subscription.
., 0 With before + past perfect the action in the past simple happens first:
I left university before I'd taken the final exams.
d
We can use this for a past action which prevented a later action from happening:
She sacked him before he'd had a chance to explain his behaviour.
e, 0 We don't usually use the past perfect if the sequence is obvious
2.1 B):
[I had opened the door and let him in.]
I opened the door and let him in.
" We often use the past perfect to describe the cause of a past event:
David didn't join the band as he'd signed up with a rivallabel.
2.3D
Unfulfilled
intentions
.
I We use the
g
past perfect with verbs such as hope, expect, want, plan, think about, wish
to describe past intentions which were unfulfilled:
They had hoped to get to the summit but Travers fell ill at base camp.
. ...:JD.1~~
(,;:::::37
;d,
2.4A
Form
We form the past perfect continuous tense with had been and the present participle:
The lake was near bursting point as it had been raining heavily for weeks.
The passive form of the past perfect continuous (had been being + past participle) is
almost never used. We prefer an active form, using an 'empty' subject if necessary:
[The unemployment figures had been being underestimated
for decades.]
v' They had been underestimating
the unemployment figures for decades.
There are some verbs which we rarely use in the continuous tenses, including the past
perfect continuous. (For more information about this'" 1.3A, B, C.)
2.4B
Uses
III
We use the past perfect continuous to describe an ongoing situation or action which
continued up to, or stopped just before, a time in the past (jllIo 2.2C):
He had been working
turned up.
~ We often use this tense to explain a past result, e.g. a situation or an appearance:
The few survivors looked painfully thin. They had been living on meagre rations since
the accident. (= They looked thin because they had been living on meagre rations.)
<i>
2.4C
Contrast with
other forms
We do not mention the number of times that we have done an action when we use the
past perfect continuous:
X d-il/-had-&fll!j-been-wathing-+V-t:wiEe-t:Rat-weelf:.
v Jill
~ 4) We don't usually use the past perfect continuous for completed actions, or actions
and background situations still continuing at the same time as the past simple narrative:
X &he-feu-flti-her-e-e5-!f-we.s-.e.mfrt:!j;-5ef:If'i#J-ltflfJ-been-FefflOVtRfj-eVeRj-t:ftiflfj-;-
v She
everything.
USED TO/WOULD
2.5A
Form and
meaning
(For other uses of would 10.4, 10.5, 10.6; 18.2B, 18.3B, 18.4, 18.5.)
2.5C <lWe use used to to describe past states which have changed:
Past states
Lithuania used to be part of the Soviet Union. (It isn't now.)
There didn't
use to be any crime around here in the old days. (There is now.)
Practice
Match the underlined
phrases,
phrases (1-10)
matches two
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
They ran the same test eight times before they found the bug in the software.
Food was in short supply throughout the war.
It was quite unnerving. The lights flickered while a freezing wind blew through the room.
Claire jumped out of her chair, ran to the balcony and grabbed the screaming child.
Lorenzo the Magnificent died in Florence in 1492.
Diplodocus dinosaurs dominated the Triassic period.
We had a busy morning. Steve answered the phone calls and I dealt with the e-mails.
The Court of Appeal rejected his case on technical grounds.
I'm sick of it, I can't tell you how many times we tried to contact them.
I threw open the doors and walked out into the bright morning sunshine.
A
B
C
D
E
announce blow collapse cook decide feel get up have hit leave live manage
mention
press run into see set off settle down soar spend stand take
1 I
at the bus stop when I
the speeding car slam into the lamp post.
2 The icy wind
through the trees as we
on our journey into the forest.
3 Brad
exhausted so he
onto the sofa,
the button on the remote control and
.......... for an evening vegetating in front of the box.
4 The twins
the afternoon shopping because they
for their flatmates that evening.
S Unfortunately for us, we
on the wrong side of Miami when Hurricane Andrew
.
the city.
6 Share prices
when the government
record growth figures.
7 I
early the next morning so I
to have an early night.
8 They say that he
her because he found out that she
an affair with his best friend.
9 My younger brother
the driving test five times before he
to pass.
10 I
Clare at the supermarket the other day and she
that you might be looking for work.
2 A When
maid
B When
maid
4ED~==---Underline
verb form
in italics.
In about half of the lines of the following text there is a mistake in the use of past forms, used to
or would. For each numbered line (1-18) underline the mistake and write the correct form. Some
lines are correct. Indicate these with a tick (v'). The exercise begins with two examples (0 and 00).
v'
.......................
Anne Frank was a Jewish girl who was living with her family in Amsterdam
harsh anti-Jewish
Holland
to deport
Jews to concentration
.. . . . .iJwa.ded
. . . ..............
that he
4 place. They moved into an attic above Mr Frank's office and build a bookcase
5 to disguise the entrance
6 family each morning,
conditions
of
and had helped each other with their lessons. But somebody
to
the
or March
it in 1947.
and
Complete the text b.y writing the verbs in brackets in the correct tense. Read through the whole
text before you begm as you may need to use passive forms and used to/would in your answers.
TREASURE ISLAND
T
Complete the text b'y writing the verbs in brackets in the correct tense. Read through the whole
text before you begin as you may need to use passive forms and used to/would in your answers.
TREASURE ISLAND
T