Past tenses:

There is a “basic” form and there is a “perfect” form. The perfect form always
contains as an auxiliary the verb “to have” (to have => in past). Each of the
forms has two variants: the simple one and the continuous (progressive) one.

I. Basic form:

- Past simple

e.g. I telephoned you yesterday.

She went to the zoo with her son.
We danced all night at the party.
They had caviar and champagne for breakfast.
You built your carrier on professionalism.
He dreamt/dreamed horrible things that night.

!!! For the Past Simple we always use the second form of the verb (from the
conjugation) – of course we have regular verbs and irregular verbs.

Regular verbs take the first form of the verb + ed => show – showed

֍ with verbs that finish in “e”, we simply add “d” at the end => dance – danced

Irregular verbs can be

→“almost irregular” – to have – had
Ꙭ the root is recognizable!

→“totally irregular” – to run – ran

– to go – went
Ꙭthe root is very little or not at all recognizable!

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 there are some verbs that have 2 past forms – one regular, one irregular
e.g. dream => dreamed and dreamt
dive => dived and dove
plead => pleaded and pled

to be - simple past tense:

to be – was/were - been

I was We were
You were You were
He/she/it was They were

- Past continuous/progressive

e.g. I was drinking my coffee at that very moment.

He was singing in the living room, when we entered.
We were dancing happily that night.
You were smoking as I came in the room.
They were laughing out loud.

!!! The Past Continuous (Progressive) forms by using

to be (simple past tense) + verb_ing

 There is no irregularity for the Past Continuous!!! 

The formula is always the same!

 But there are some rules for the verb_ing formation!

to cry => crying

to drive => driving  the final “e” falls – if there is only one “e”
to agree => agreeing
to lie => lying  “ie” turns into “y”
to sit => sitting  short words – the final consonant doubles
to travel => travelling  final “l” doubles in British English
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 When do we use the simple past and when do we use the continuous past?!

Simple past Continuous/Progressive Past

=> Completed actions => Actions in progress (often interrupted)
e.g. I drank my coffee in the morning. e.g. I was drinking my coffee at that time (but then
the phone rang).

=> Habitual actions => Narrations (to give the idea of action in
e.g. Every day she went to visit her sick progress)
mother. e.g. I entered the room, and John was singing
while Suzan was dancing.

=> States => Changing states

e.g. In those days, he loved her. e.g. Mary was feeling better.
=> Habitual with irony
e.g. She was always criticizing him.

II. Perfect form:

- Past Perfect Simple

e.g. I had talked to John by that time.

He had left the building until you came.
You had sat for hours and hours, hadn’t you?
They’d slept well until the clock rang.
We had spoken of it before the boss came.

!!! For the Past Perfect Simple we always use the past form of “to have” (i.e.
had) + the third form of the verb (from the conjugation) – which can be the
same form like the 2nd form or a different form.
=> leave – left – left (2nd and 3rd form equal)
speak – spoke – spoken (2nd form is not equal to 3rd form)
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- Past Perfect Continuous/Progressive

e.g. I had been sleeping all day.

While Jane had been cooking dinner, John had cleaned the house.
They had been crying all day long, and then mother came.
We’d been studying all week long for that stupid exam!

!!! For the Past Perfect Continuous we always use the past form of “to have”
(i.e. had) + been (past participle of “to be”) + verb_ing.

When do we use the simple past and when do we use the continuous past?!

Sequence of tenses:

When we want to show in the past 2 activities (or more) that occur one after the
other or in the same time => and we need to coordinate the 2 verbs (or more)
that we use!
– usually we have conjunctions like “while” or constructions like “and
after/then” to show that we are coordinating 2 (or more) activities.

I. Basic forms:
=> While I was reading my email, my husband called me on the mobile.
=> I entered the house by the back door. In the living room a lot of people were
dancing, somebody was singing and the dog was jumping up and down.
=> Our dog entered the room, jumped on the sofa and started to lick himself.

!!! If we use Past Continuous (Progressive) to show an activity in progress in the

past – and then we want to show it was interrupted by another activity => we
use the Past Simple for the activity that interrupted the first, progressive,
activity mentioned.
!!! Also, we use the Past Simple to show that something happened all of a
sudden, whilst something else that was happening simultaneously, but needed
more time to develop – we express by using Past Continuous (Progressive!)
!!! But if the focus is on actions that happen one after the other and not on the
progression then we use just Past Simple
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II. Perfect forms:
=> a. While I had been reading my email, my husband had called on the mobile.
=> b. I had entered the house by the back door. In the living room a lot of
people had been dancing, somebody had been singing and the dog had been
jumping up and down. (I know this because I could see the dancing shoes, the
guitar and a lot of broken stuff – but when I entered, there were no people and
no dog in the house!)
=> c. She had been praying to meet a good man and marry, and then John
appeared.

!!! If we use Past Perfect Continuous to show an activity in progress in the past
– and then we want to show it was interrupted by another activity => we use
the Past Perfect Simple for the activity that interrupted the progressive, the first
activity mentioned. (a.)

!!! If we use Past Perfect Simple to show an activity in the past that happened
after another activity even more in the past => we use the Past Perfect
Continuous for the activity further in the past (the 1st activity, that was over
when the second activity happened). Important is that the activity with Past
Perfect Continuous was finished (over) when the second activity, with Past
Perfect Simple, happened. (b.)

!!! If we use Past Perfect Continuous to show an activity in a long progress in

the past – and then we want to show it was abruptly and surprisingly
interrupted by another activity => we use the Past Simple for the activity that
interrupted the progressive, the first activity mentioned. (c.)

 Generally, the use of the Past Perfect Continuous (Progressive) and mostly of
the Sequence of Tenses with Past Perfect (II) is used for narrations, it being a
very long form usually the tone is very pretentious and story-like.

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! Compare:

She had been praying all her life to meet a good man and marry, and then, all of
a sudden, John appeared.

~~~~~~~~~~~~
She prayed to meet a good man and marry, and then John appeared.

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 I.Complete either with Past Simple or Past Continuous:

1. John: What …………………………………………….. (you, do) when the accident occurred?

Mike: I ………………………………………….. (try) to change a light bulb that had burnt out.

2. After I …………………………………………………. (find) the wallet full of money, I

…………………………………………. (go, immediately) to the police and
……………………………………………. (turn) it in.

3. The doctor ……………………………………………….. (say) that Tom …………………………………

(be) too sick to go to work and that he ………………………………………….. (need) to stay at
home for a couple of days.

4. Sebastian ……………………………………………….. (arrive) at Susan's house a little before

9:00 PM, but she ……………………………………… (be, not) there. She …………………………….
(study, at the library) for her final examination in French.

5. Sandy is in the living room watching television. At this time yesterday, she
……………………………………. (watch, also) television. That's all she ever does!

6. Cristina: I …………………………………… (call) you last night after dinner, but you (be, not)
there. Where were you?
Alex: I (work) out at the fitness center.

7. When I …………………………………… (walk) into the busy office, the secretary

…………………………… (talk) on the phone with a customer, several clerks
……………………….. (work, busily) at their desks, and two managers
………………………………. (discuss, quietly) methods to improve customer service.

8. I ……………………………………… (watch) a mystery movie on TV when the electricity went

out. Now I am never going to find out how the movie ends.

9. Sharon …………………………………. (be) in the room when John told me what happened,
but she didn't hear anything because she ………………………………………… (listen, not) .

10. It's strange that you ………………. (call) because I ……………………. (think, just) about you.

11. The Titanic …………………………. (cross) the Atlantic when it …………… (strike) an iceberg.

12. When I entered the bazaar, a couple of merchants …………………………. (bargain, busily)
and …………………………….. (try) to sell their goods to naive tourists who ……………………..
(hunt) for souvenirs. Some young boys ………………………….. (lead) their donkeys
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 through the narrow streets on their way home. A couple of men …………………..
(argue) over the price of a leather belt. I ……………………………. (walk) over to a man
who ……………………………….. (sell) fruit and ………………………… (buy) some bananas.

13. The firemen ………………………………… (rescue) the old woman who …………………. (be)
trapped on the third floor of the burning building.

14. She was so annoying! She ………………………………………… (leave, always) her dirty dishes
in the sink. I think she ……………………………….. (expect, actually) me to do them for her.

15. Samantha ……………………………………… (live) in Berlin for more than two years. In fact,
she ………………………………….. (live) there when the Berlin Wall came down.

II. Complete the sentences in past perfect simple (affirmative form):

a. I lost the key that he ………………………………… (give) to me.

b. He told me that he …………………………………….(see) the film.

c. I went outside as I ……………………………………… (hear) a noise.

d. When they came home, Liza ……………………………………………..(cook) dinner.

e. We could not send you a postcard because we ………………………………………….. (lose)

your address.

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 III. Complete the sentences in past perfect simple (negative):

a. The waiter served something that we ……………………………… (not / order).

b. He went to the country which he ………………………………….. (not / visit) before.

c. She picked out the red dress, which she ………………………………. (not / wear) for ages.

d. He ……………………………………… (not / swim) in the beach before that day.

e. His mother was angry because he ……………………………….. (not / do) the shopping for
her.

IV.Put the verbs between brackets in the correct tense (past perfect simple or past
perfect continuous):

a. I …………………………………(try) to get tickets for that play for months before my friend
finally got them.
b. When I arrived at the theater, my friend ………………………….. (pick, already) up the
tickets.
c. He was really angry because he ……………………………………… (wait) for more than half an
hour when I arrived.
d. When the play started, I ……………………………… (already, apologize) to my friend.
e. We ……………………………………………(watch) the play when the lights went off.
f. What bad luck! The poor actors …………………………………………. (rehearse) for weeks and
then that silly accident!
g. We …………………………………………. (sit) quietly for the situation to be solved, while the
actors ……………………………………………… (served) us some refreshments.
h. After the lights ……………………………………… (repair) by the electrician, the play
……………………………………….. (continued) as normal.
i. In the end, my friend …………………………………… (enjoy) the play.
j. During the play, I ……………………………………… (think) of inviting him to a drink after, but
he refused politely.

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 V. Choose the correct variant:

a. I knew that she ….. Madrid before, so I asked her to recommend a good hotel.

1. has visited
2. has been visiting
3. visited
4. had visited

b. She promised to help me if I ……………………………… the answer myself.

1. haven't found
2. didn't find
3. won't find
4. wouldn't find

c. He said that they …………………… each other for many years.

1. know
2. have known
3. knew
4. had known

d. I saw that she ……………………….. to hold back her tears.

1. tries
2. is trying
3. has been trying
4. was trying

e. He knew that she ……………………….. as her eyes were red.

1. is crying
2. has been crying
3. was crying
4. had been crying

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f. I asked her whether she ……………………….. there with me, but she said no.

1. goes
2. is going
3. will go
4. would go

g. She said that the robber …………………. her when she was opening the door to her
apartment.

1. attacked
2. has attacked
3. was attacking
4. had attacked

h. I wanted to see her but I didn't know if she …………………….. in town.

1. is
2. was
3. were
4. had been

i. He told me that he would visit them when he …………………… from Japan.

1. has returned
2. returned
3. will return
4. would return

j. My younger daughter learned in class yesterday that the Earth …………………. around the
Sun.

1. revolves
2. is revolving
3. revolved
4. was revolving

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