VERB

TENSES:
PAST
Arranged by Aswarini S.
VERB TENSES
• Verbs come in three tenses: past, present,
and future.
• The past is used to describe things that have
already happened
• The present tense is used to describe things
that are happening right now, or things that
are continuous.
• The future tense describes things that have
yet to happen
THE PAST TENSES
Simple Past
Past Continuous
Past Perfect
Past Perfect Continuous
 SIMPLE PAST TENSE
• The simple past is a verb tense that is used to talk about
things that happened or existed before now.

• You can also use the simple past to talk about a past state
of being, such as the way someone felt about something.

• The signal words are yesterday, last month, an hour ago,

last week, etc.
 THE PATTERNS (SIMPLE
PAST)

afirmative negative introgative

S + V2 S + did not + V1 Did + S + V1?
/
He won the silver They didn’t understand WH + did + S + V1?
medal. the material.
Did you come to the party
last night?
 PAST Simple with main
verb be
Subject +To be
• I was
• You were
• He/She/It was
• We were
• You were
• They were
 PAST Simple with main
verb be
Examples:
• I was not really happy actually.
• You were there at that time, weren’t you?
• Was he in your class last semester?
• We were just friends.
• Where were you last week?
• They were outside the house last night.
 PAST CONTINUOUS
• The past continuous tense, also known as the past
progressive tense, refers to a continuing action or state
that was happening at some point in the past.

• The past continuous tense is formed by combining the

past tense of to be (i.e., was/were) with the verb’s present
participle (-ing word).
 The patterns (PAST
CONTINUOUS)

afirmative negative introgative

S + to be + V-ing S + to be not + V-ing To be + S + V-ing?
/
She was learning Math. Mom and Dad were not WH + to be + S + V-ing?
sleeping.
What were you doing
yesterday afternoon?
Fill in the blanks with a correct form, the PAST SIMPLE or the PAST
CONTINUOUS:

1. He ………………………………….. (talk) with Mary, when Mrs. Smith came in.

2. They ………………………………… (study) two hours last night.
3. Jane …………………………………. (sleep) when the telephone rang.
4. As I …………………………………. (walk) to the lab, I met my friend.
5. We ………………………………….. (watch) TV last night.
6. The customer ………………… (pay) his cheque when he dropped his credit card.
7. The barber …………………………………. (cut) my hair yesterday.
8. She ………………………………. (dance) when she hurt her ankle.
9. It …………………………………. (rain) hard when I got up.
10. It …………………………………. (rain) hard last night.
 Past perfect
• The past perfect is a verb tense used to talk about actions
that were completed before some point in the past.

• The past perfect tense is for talking about something that

happened before something else.

• The formula for the past perfect tense is had + [past

participle].
 THE PATTERNS (PAST
PERFECT)

afirmative negative introgative

S + had + V3 S + had not + V3 Had + S + V3?
/
I had ridden the bike He had not played hand WH + had + S + V3
before I was broken. ball.
What had he used for
the work?
 MORE EXAMPLES

• By the time Sam got there, Ann had already left.

• After the guests had left, I went to sleep.
• I had finished the task before I joined them to
cinema.
Fill in the following sentences by using PAST PERFECT TENSE:

1. They went home after they ………. (finish) their work.

2. She ………. (just / go) out when I called her.

3. My brother ………. (eat) all the pie before we got back.

4. He wondered why I ………. (not / visit) him before.

5. She said that she ………. (already / see) the Pyramids.

 Past perfect continuous
• The past perfect continuous tense shows that an action
that started in the past continued up until another time in
the past.

• The past perfect continuous tense is constructed

using had been + the verb’s present participle (root + -
ing).
 The patterns (PAST
PERFECT CONTINUOUS)

afirmative negative introgative

S + had + been + V-ing S + had not + been + Had + S + been + V-
V-ing ing?
I had been working at the /
company for five years It hadn’t been working WH + had + S + been
when I got the promotion. well. + V-ing?

Had they been waiting

long?
Fill in the following sentences by using PAST PERFECT CONTINUOUS TENSE:

1. I was tired because I ………. (type) for a long time.

2. Her boss was very angry with her because she ………. (come) to work very late.

3. I didn’t know about the earthquake because I ………. (not / watch) television.

4. She was too fat because she ………. (not / keep) her doctor’s advice.

5. I took my car to the garage because the brakes ………. (not / work).
 THANKS!
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 references
https://www.grammarly.com/blog/verb-tenses/
https://www.grammarly.com/blog/simple-past/
https://www.grammarly.com/blog/past-continuous-tense/
https://www.grammarly.com/blog/past-perfect/
https://www.grammarly.com/blog/past-perfect-continuous-tense/