Talking about the Past
What if we want to narrate something that happened in the past? In this case, we will need to know the past tense.
Why Do We Use Past Tense?
The past tense is used a lot among English learners or even English native speakers. Without the past tense, we cannot have clear divisions of time periods. Actually, past tense can refer to even the present and future tense. Now if you would like to learn more, follow the article.
Single or Repeated Actions That Happened in the Past
- Past Simple
- Past Continuous
The past simple tense shows the action or state that happened at an earlier time.
Whether or not the action continued for a period of time or was repetitive is not important; what's important is that it began and ended. It can be a definite time in the past or it can be indefinite. Look at the examples:
Mary
This is an example of an action with a definite time.
Mary
This is an example describing a state of mind and it is timeless (with indefinite time).
Mary
It happened sometimes in the past, again with indefinite timing.
Mary
We can express sequence of actions that happened in the past in an orderly fashion but without definite timing.
Mary
The past continuous shows the time span or repetition of past actions or events and the timing of one activity to another, for example, a background action is described by past continuous, and the action interrupting it would be described by past simple. For example:
Mary
This is an example of an ongoing action.
Mary
This sentence is describing Mary's temporary state of mind at that period of time.
Mary
This example talks about an action with a definite time span.
Mary
We are describing a repeated action with definite timing.
Mary
In this example, it's saying that 'Mary' is trying to study harder at least for a while, temporarily.
Actions or States That were True For Some Time in the Past (Ongoing Actions in the Past)
- Past Simple
- Past Continuous
We use past simple and past continuous to talk about something that was true for some time in the past. Take a look at some examples:
I
I
Story-telling and Narration
- Simple Past
- Past Continuous
We can use the past simple or past continuous for stories or lists of events. Take a look at some examples:
Sid
The other day I
Actions That Happened before Another Action in the Past
- Past Perfect
We use the 'past perfect tense' to talk about the order of two past events. The past perfect shows the earlier action and the past simple shows the later action. So, if there are two actions following each other, for the action closest to the present use Simple Past, and for the action that came before it use Past Perfect.
When the police
Sam's new boyfriend
Using Present Perfect to Talk about Something That Started in the Past and Continues in the Present
Actions That Happened Before a Specific Time in the Past
- Past Perfect
We use the 'past perfect tense' to talk about something that started in the past and continued up to another action or time in the past. Just remember, when the sequences of the actions are obvious do not use the 'past perfect tense.' Here are the examples for more clarification.
On the 3rd of November, I
The author
States That Started in the Past, and Continued up to Some Time in the Past
- Past Perfect
- Past Perfect Continuous
This usage is specific to state verbs, not actions. We use past perfect with verbs such as like, think, love, hate, believe, etc. to refer to a state that started in the past and continued up to some time in the past. Take a look at some examples:
Sara
I
We use the 'past perfect continuous' tense to talk about longer actions in the past before another action in the past. This means the longer action has happened sooner than the shorter action. For example:
Sam
He
Predictions in the Past
- Past with Going To
We use be going to in the past tense to refer to events that we expected or predicted to happen at some point in the past. Here are the examples:
He
Plans and Arrangements in the Past
- Past with Going To
We can use 'be going to' in the past tense to talk about what we planned to be done in the past, but mostly they did not happen. Check out the examples!
She
I
Duration vs. Completion
Activities that have a process and happen during a period of time without mentioning the end time can both be expressed by simple and continuous time. When there is no adverb, we understand the time span is indefinite, like an experience sometime in the past. Check out these examples:
Mary
Mary
Ongoing or One-time Activity
Verbs in both the past tense and past continuous may express that an activity or event was repetitive—happening multiple times. The difference is that the continuous tense places emphasis on the timing but the past does not. (In such a case, context is required for clues about the timing.) A verb in the past tense can be used for an activity, event, or state that is singular in occurrence—happening once.
I wasgetting
I wasliving
Review
Learning the past tense is one of the essentials in English because it helps us talk about events that took place in the past. In this lesson you have learned:
- Past Simple
- Past Continuous
- Present Perfect
- Present Perfect Continuous
- Past with Going To
Each tense can refer to past events in their own special way. Now let us compare them with each other. Look at the table below:
| Past Simple | Past Continuous | Past Perfect | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Earlier Actions | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Background | ✗ | ✓ | ✗ |
| Series of Events | ✓ | ✗ | ✓ |
| Past to Present | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ |
| Ongoing and One-time Events | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Comments
Contents
- Why Do We Use Past Tense?
- Single or Repeated Actions That Happened in the Past
- Actions or States That were True For Some Time in the Past (Ongoing Actions in the Past)
- Story-telling and Narration
- Actions That Happened before Another Action in the Past
- Actions That Happened Before a Specific Time in the Past
- States That Started in the Past, and Continued up to Some Time in the Past
- Predictions in the Past
- Plans and Arrangements in the Past
- Ongoing or One-time Activity
- Review
