 In 1969 the first men landed on the moon.

 finished events in the past (we know the

exact time when they happened).

 The door opened and two boys came into the

room.
 narrative (retelling events)
 I looked out of the window and saw that it
was raining.
 continuing unfinished action in the past.

 While Jim was painting the outside of the

house, Sarah was decorating the bedrooms.
 two continuing past events happening at the
same time.
 Past Continuous is often used in combination
with Past Simple:

 While I was getting ready for bed, the

doorbell rang.
 continuing unfinished action in the past
interrupted by a sudden shorter past action.
 By the time we got to the cinema, the film had
started.
 He felt really tired because he had been working
all morning.
 Both tenses are used to refer to past events
which happened before other events in the past.
 Past perfect Simple refers to finished events,
while Past Perfect Continuous refers to
unfinished, recently completed or continuing
events.
 Both tenses denote an action which happened
before Past Simple.
 They are common with the verbs like realize,
remember, know, understand.
 Suddenly, I remembered that I had forgotten
to lock the door.
 Compare:
 While we were watching a film, the fire alarm
went off. (past events)
 I remembered the events of the day before.
At 11:00, while we had been watching a film,
the fire alarm had gone off. (past seen from
the past).
 I used to play chess quite often, but I haven’t
played for ages.
 He used to be a good student, I don’t know
why his grades are so bad now.

 USED TO describes habitual actions and

states in the past.
 It doesn’t have a present form.
 Did you use to…? – question
 I didn’t use to… - negative form
 Every summer we would spend our holidays
in a small village in the mountains.
 Would can be used to describe habitual
actions in the past.

 It cannot be used to describe past states.

 He would be a good student, I don’t know
why his grades are so bad now.
 We found out that he was innocent.
 I never thought that I would see him again.
 He hinted that he wanted money.
 He knew that he had done the right thing.

 Rule: When the verb in the main clause is in

the past tense, the verb in the subordinate
clause goes ‘one step back’ (tense-shift).
 The rule doesn’t apply if the subordinate
clause expresses a universal truth:
 He said that honesty is always the best policy.

 The rule doesn’t apply when the verb in the

main clause is in the present or future tense
(no tense-shift):
 He will say that he is interested.
 She knows that I’m not lying.