Faculty of Letters, Languages and Arts Module: Grammar

Section of English Level: First Year (All groups)

Teacher: Dr. K. Ladjel Lesson: PastTenses

1. The Simple Past Tense

1.1.Use for the relation of past events
• It is used for actions completed in the past at a definite time. It is therefore used:
- for a past action when the time is given: Pasteur died in 1895.
- when the time is asked about: When did you meet him? (yesterday at 8.00)
- when the action clearly took place at a definite time even though this time is not mentioned:
How did you get your present job?
- Sometimes the time becomes definite as a result of a question and answer in the present
perfect: Have you seen my stamps? Yes, I saw them on your desk a minute ago.
• The simple past tense is used for an action whose time is not given but which (a) occupied a
period of time now terminated, or (b) occurred at a moment in a period of time now
terminated. These may be expressed diagrammatically.
e.g. (a) She lived in Rome for a long time. (but she is not living there now)
e.g. My grandmother once saw Queen Victoria.
• The simple past tense is also used for a past habit: He always carried an umbrella.(used to)
• The simple past is used in conditional sentences, type 2(the unreal past after as if, as though, it
is time, if only, wish, would sooner/rather)

2. The past continuous tense

2.1. Uses of the present continuous tense:
• The past continuous is chiefly used for past actions which continued for some time but whose
exact limits are not known and are not important (I waved to Helen, but she was not looking)
• Used without a time expression it can indicate gradual development: It was getting darker.
• Used with a point in time, it expresses an action which began before that time and probably
continued after it e.g. Yesterday Kaven and Jim played tennis. They began at 10 o’clock and
finished at 11.30. So, at 10.30, they were playing tennis. (in the middle of doing something).
• We often use the past simple and the past continuous together to say that something happened
in the middle of something else: I was talking on the phone when Tom arrived.

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 Note: the past simple is used to indicate successive actions (one thing happened after another)
e.g. I was walking along the road when I saw Dave. So I stopped, and we had a chat.

• We use the continuous tense in descriptions. Note the combination of description (past
continuous) with narrative (simple past):
A wood fire was burning on the hearth, and a cat was sleeping in front of it. A girt was playing with piano and
singing softly to herself. Suddenly there was a knock on the door. The girl stopped playing. The cat woke up.

• This tense can be used as a past equivalent of the present continuous:

A Direct speech: He said, 'I am living in London.' Indirect speech: He said he was living in London.
• As the present continuous is used to express a definite future arrangement, the past continuous
can also express this sort of future in the past:
He is leaving tonight he was leaving that night (The decision to leave had been made some time
previously).
• The past continuous with always: He was always working(complaining)
2.2. Past continuous as an alternative to the simple past
• The past continuous can be used as an alternative to the simple past to indicate a more casual,
less deliberate action: I was talking to Tom the other day. In this example, it is not clear who
started the conversation, and it does not matter. Note the contrast with the simple past tense, I
talked to Tom, which indicates that I took the initiative.(deliberate action)
Take these examples: From four to six Tom was washing the car. (routine action)
From four to six Tom washed the car.( deliberate action by Tom)
Note: we use the continuous for apparently parallel actions: Between one and two I was doing the shopping
and walking the dog.
• In questions about how a period was spent, the continuous often appears more polite than
the simple past: What were you doing before you came here? sounds more polite than What
did you do before you came here?
• On the other hand, what were you doing in my room? could indicate a feeling that I think you
had no right to be there, while What did you do in my room? Could never give this impression.

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 3. The past perfect tense
3.1 Uses of the past perfect tense
• The past perfect is the past equivalent of the present perfect.

Present: Ann has just left. If you hurry you'll catch her. Past: When I arrived Ann had just left.
• Unlike the present perfect the past perfect is not restricted to actions whose time is not mentioned.
We could therefore say: He had left his case on the 4.40 train.
• The past perfect can be used similarly for an action which began before the time of speaking in
the past, and :
(a) was still continuing at that time : Bill was in uniform when I met him. He had been a soldier
for ten years (or since he was seventeen), and planned to stay in the army till he was thirty.
(b) stopped at that time: The old oak tree, which had stood in the churchyard for 300 years ,
suddenly crashed to the ground.
(c) for an action which stopped some time before the time of speaking: He had served in the army
for ten years; then he retired and married. His children were at school.
Compare the last sentence with is one: He served in the army for ten years: then retired and
married. His children are now at school.
• The past perfect is also the past equivalent of the simple past tense, and is used when the narrator
or subject looks back on earlier action from a certain point in the past:
▪ Tom was 23 when our story began. His father had died five years before and since then Tom
had lived alone. His father had advised him not to get married till he was 35, and Tom
intended to follow this advice.
▪ He met her in Paris in 1977. He had last seen her ten years before. Her hair had been grey
then: now it was white.(looking back)

But if we merely give the events in the order in which they were occurred no past perfect tense is
necessary:

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 ▪ Tom's father died when Tom was eighteen. Before he died he advised Tom not to marry till he
was 35, and Tom at 23 still intended to follow this advice.
▪ He met her first in 1967 when her hair was grey. He met her again in 1977. Her hair was now
white.(no looking back).
• Note the difference of meaning in the following examples:
▪ She heard voices and realised that there were three people in the next room.
▪ She saw empty glasses and cups and realised that three people had been in the room.
▪ He arrived at 2.30 and was told to wait in the VIP lounge.
▪ He arrived at 2.30. He had been told to wait in the VIP lounge.

3.2. Past and past perfect tenses in time clauses

• When one past action follows another “He called her a liar. She smacked his face “ ,we can
combine them by using when and two simple past tenses provided that it is clear from the
sense that the second action followed the first and that they did not happen simultaneously.
That is to say, the first action led to the second and that the second followed the first very
closely: When he called her a liar she smacked his face.
When he opened the window the bird flew out.
When the play ended the audience went home.
When he died he was given a state funeral.
• The past perfect is used after “when” when we want to emphasize that the first action was
completed before the second one started:

When he had shut the window we opened the door of the cage.
When she had sung her song she sat down. When she sang her song she sat down.
When he had seen all the pictures he said he was ready to leave.
When he saw all the pictures he expressed amazement that one man should have painted so many.
(Immediately he saw them he said this.)

• The past perfect can be used with till/until and before to emphasize the completion or expected
completion of an action. But note that:
in ( till/until+ past perfect + simple past) combinations, the simple past action may precede the
past perfect action.
in (before+ past perfect + simple past) combinations, the simple past action will always precede
the past perfect action: He refused to go till he had seen all the pictures.
He did not wait till we had finished our meal.
Before we had finished our meal he ordered us hack to work.
Before we had walked ten miles he complained of sore feet.

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 Exercise 01: Put the verbs between brackets into the simple past or the past continuous
tense. Justify your answers.

1- I (make) a cake when the light went out. I had to finish it in the dark.
2- I didn't want to meet Paul so when he entered the room I (leave).
3- Unfortunately when I arrived Ann just (leave), so we only had time for a few words.
4- He (watch) TV when the phone rang. Very unwillingly he (turn) down the sound and
(go) to answer it.
5- He was very polite. Whenever his wife entered the room he (stand) up.
6- The admiral (play) bowls when he received news of the invasion. He (insist) on
finishing the game.
7- When I arrived she (have) lunch. She apologized for starting without me but said that
she always (lunch) at 12.30
8- He always (wear) a raincoat and (carry) an umbrella when he walked to the office.
9- What you (think) of his last book? ~ I (like) it very much.
10- I (share) a flat with him when we were students. He always (complain) about my
untidiness.
11- He suddenly (realize) that he (travel) in the wrong direction.
12- I just (open) the letter when the wind (blow) it out of my hand.
13- The burglar (open) the safe when he (hear) footsteps. He immediately (put) out his torch
and (crawl) under the bed.
14- When I (look) for my passport I (find) this old photograph.
15- You looked very busy when I (see) you last night. What you (do)?
16- The boys (play) cards when they (hear) their father's step. They immediately (hide) the
cards and (take) out their lesson books.
17- He (not allow) us to go out in the boat yesterday as a strong wind (blow).
18- As I (cross) the road I (step) on a banana skin and (fall) heavily
19- I still (lie) on the road when I (see) a lorry approaching.
20- How you (damage) your car so badly? ~ I (run) into a lamp-post yesterday. ~ I suppose
you (drive) too quickly or were not looking where you (go)
21- She was very extravagant. She always (buy) herself new clothes.

Exercise 02: Put the verbs between brackets into the past simple or past perfect. Justify your
answers

1. When the old lady (return) to her flat she (see) at once that burglars (break) in during her
absence, because the front door (be) open and everything in the flat (be) upside down.
The burglars themselves (be) no longer there, but they probably only just (leave) because
a cigarette was still burning on an ornamental table. Probably they (hear) the lift coming
up and (run) down the fire escape. They (help) themselves to her drinks too but there
(be) a little left, so she (pour) herself out a drink. She (wonder) if they (find) her
jewellery and rather (hope) that they had. The jewellery (be given) by her husband, who
(die) some years before. Since his death she (not have) the heart to wear it, yet she (not
like) to sell it. Now it (seem) that fate (take) the matter out of her hands.

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2. I put the £5 note into one of my books; but next day it (take) me ages to find it because I
(forget) which books I (put) it into.
3. A woman (come) in with a baby, who she (say) just (swallow) a safety pin.
4. I (think) my train (leave) at 14.33, and (be) very disappointed when I (arrive) at 14.30
and (learn) that it just (leave). I (find) later that I use an out-of-date timetable.
5. He (park) his car under a No Parking sign and (rush) into the shop. When he (come) out
of the shop ten minutes later, the car (be) no longer there. He (wonder) if someone
(steal) it or if the police (drive) it away.
6. It (be) now 6p.m.; and Jack (be) tried because he (work) hard all day. He (be) also
hungry because he (have) nothing to eat since breakfast. His wife usually (bring) him
sandwiches at lunch time, but today for some reason she (not come).