Past

Tenses

SWOOSH
Cidália Sousa  Cláudia Regina Abreu  Vanessa Reis Esteves
 Past Simple
and
Past Continuous
 Past Simple
USE
 We use the Past Simple to talk
about a completed or finished
action in the past.
e.g. Yesterday I studied from 4:00 to 6:00.
 Past Simple
USE
 We use the Past Simple to talk
about a completed or finished
action in the past.
e.g. Yesterday I studied from 4:00 to 6:00.

x
Past
Present
Simple
 Past Simple
TIME EXPRESSIONS
 When referring to the Past Simple
we use finished-time expressions
• yesterday
• two (days/weeks/years) ago
• last (week/month)
• in April, on 4th March
e.g. Yesterday I studied from 4:00 to 6:00.
 Past Simple
FORM
Affirmative
REGULAR VERBS  verb + ed

e.g. Last night I watched a film.

IRREGULAR VERBS memorise the

list of the leading forms

e.g. Last night I went to a concert.

 Past Simple

INFINITIVE PAST PAST

SIMPLE PARTICIPLE

to be was ?/ were been

?
to drink drank
? drunk
?
to go went
? gone
?
to buy bought bought
?
?
to make made
? made
?
to speak spoke
? spoken
?
to see saw
? seen
?
to do did done
 Past Simple

INFINITIVE PAST PAST

SIMPLE PARTICIPLE

to be was / were been

to drink drank drunk
to go went gone
to buy bought bought
to make made made
to speak spoke spoken
to see saw seen
to do did done
 Past Simple
FORM
Negative

REGULAR VERBS
IRREGULAR VERBS

didn’t + bare infinitive (without ‘to’)

e.g. Last night I didn’t watch a film.

e.g. Last night I didn’t go to a concert.
 Past Simple
FORM
Interrogative

REGULAR VERBS
IRREGULAR VERBS

Did + subject + bare infinitive (without ‘to’)

e.g. Didn’t you watch a film last night?

e.g. Did you go to a concert last night?
Past Continuous
 Past Continuous
USE
 We use the Past Continuous to
talk about an incomplete action in
the past.
 The action was in progress at a
specific time in the past.
e.g. At 8:00 yesterday I was studying.
 Past Continuous
USE
 We use the Past Continuous to
talk about an incomplete action in
the past.
e.g. At 8:00 yesterday I was studying.

Action in progress
x
Past Past
Present
Simple Continuous
 Past Continuous
USE
 We use the Past Continuous to
talk about an action which was in
progress at or around a specific
time in the past.
e.g. At 10 pm he was playing football.
 Past Continuous
USE
 We use the Past Continuous to
talk about an action which was in
progress at or around a specific
time in the past.
e.g. He was playing the violin at 7 pm.
 Past Continuous
USE
 We use the Past Continuous to
talk about two actions happening
at the same time in the past.
e.g. While she was washing their dog Rex,
her husband was walking their other dog Max.
 Past Continuous
USE
 We use the Past Continuous to
talk about two actions happening
at the same time in the past.
e.g. While they were dancing, their
grandmother was driving over to visit them.
 Past Continuous
TIME EXPRESSIONS

• yesterday
• at (nine o’clock/half past nine)
• all (morning/day)
• while

e.g. While my mother was cooking,

I was watching her.
 Past Continuous
FORM
Past Simple of verb TO BE + verb -ing

e.g. At eight last night I was studying.

At eight last night I wasn’t studying.
What were you doing at eight last night?
 Past Simple
and
Past Continuous

While she was skipping,

a dog appeared.
 Past Simple
and
Past Continuous

While he was working outside,

it started to rain.
 Past Simple
or Past Continuous?

Let’s do some exercises…

 Past Simple
or Past Continuous?
Write sentences.

He / plant / rice / when the storm / begin.

He was planting rice when the storm began.

 Past Simple
or Past Continuous?
Write sentences.

She / shop / at the market at 7 am.

She was shopping at the market at 7 am.

 Past Simple
or Past Continuous?

Both of these tenses are generally

used together to tell a story.
 Past Simple
or Past Continuous?
Complete the story.
were sitting (sit) around the table.
Five people ____________
was raining (rain) outside.
It ___________
opened
Suddenly the door ___________ (open) and a woman
___________
entered was wearing (wear) a
(enter) the room. She _____________
dark blue dress.
Everyone ____________ didn’t
was looking (look) at her but she say
_________ (not
say) anything.

She slowly _________ put

walked (walk) to the table and _________ (put) an
envelope on it.
were just ________
They ______ was leaving
staring (stare) at her while she ___________
(leave) the room.
 Past Simple
or Past Continuous?
Finish the story.

• Who was the woman?

• Who were the other people?
• What was in the envelope?
• What were the people doing after
opening the envelope?
• What was the woman doing after
leaving the room?
Talking about the PAST

PAST TENSES

• Past Simple
• Past Continuous
• Expression USED TO
Used to
 Used to
USE
For finished habits and situations: things
that were true, but are no longer true.

e.g. I used to play the piano, but I stopped.

I didn’t use to like Jazz, but now I do.
 Used to
FORM
used to + infinitive
Affirmative
I used to watch Disney cartoons when I was five.

Negative
I didn’t use to watch Disney cartoons when I was five.

Interrogative
Did you use to watch Disney cartoons when you were
five?
When I was a child…
I used to come here and fly my kite.
When I was a child…
used to ride my bike all day long.
I ____________________
When I was a child…
used to have a cat.
I ______________
When I was a child…
used to go on picnics
we ______________________.
When I was a child…
used to make barbecue.
my father _______________
 Now open your book
on pages 26 and 27 to
practise the PAST TENSES.