Our

Objectives
• To practise the use of Past Tenses

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PAST SIMPLE & PAST CONTINUOUS

PAST SIMPLE How do We Use this Tense?

We use the past simple to talk about:

1. an action started and finished at a specific time in the past.

For example:

- I travelled to Toronto last year.

- I didn't see Sara at the school last day.

2. a series of actions in the past that happened chronologically.

For example:
- I finished my homework at five, went to my favorite restaurant and
spent an hour just watching the world go by.
3. to refer to the present or future in hypotheses (when we imagine
something)
For example:
- It might be dangerous. Suppose they got lost.

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 We use the past continuous:

We use the past continuous:

1. To talk about a long action that was interrupted. Usually the action that interrupts the
long action is the Past Simple.
For example:
- She was reading a book when I interrupted her.
- What was he doing when you left home?
2. To indicate that two actions were happening at the same time; hence parallel actions.

For example:

- I was listening to music while the children

were playing outside.
- While Peter was speaking to John, Rose
was trying to get his attention.

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3. The Past Continuous with words such as 'always' or 'constantly'
indicates something repeated or irritating. Words like 'always' should be placed
between the auxiliary 'be' and the present participle.

For example:

- She was always coming late for meetings. No wonder she was never promoted.
- He was always boasting about his financial successes. It irritated us all no end.

4. With the Past Continuous sentences have clauses that start with ‘while’ or ‘when’. ‘while’
usually starts the clause with the Past Continuous, ‘when’ usually starts the clause with the Past Simple.

For example:

- It started raining while I was walking. / While I was walking, it started raining.
- When it started raining, I was walking. / I was walking when it started raining.

• Notice that although the meaning of each pair of sentences is the same, 'while' or 'when' shift
emphasis.

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Practice

Complete the following with the correct form.

a. Last night I ----------------- (study) for an exam and it took me a

while to realize that my phone was ringing.
b. When you ------------------ (call) I was in a meeting so I couldn’t
answer your call.
c. Why did you disagree with me at the meeting? --------------------
(try) to make me look incompetent?
d. Sarah ------------------- (prepare) the buffet while I was seeing to the
drinks.
e. I ---------------------- (walk/always) to work, even when it rained.

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Practice 1
1.Was studying
2.Called
3.Did you try
4.Was preparing
5.Was always walking

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 PAST PERFECT TENSE
• Sarah and Paul went to the same party last week,
but they didn’t see each other. Paul left the party
at 10.30 and Sarah arrived at 11 o’clock.
• So when Sarah arrived at the party, Paul wasn’t
there.
• He had gone home.
• had gone is the past perfect:
I/We/They/ Gone
You/He/She/It Seen
had (=I’d etc.) Finished
(=She’d etc.)

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A) Past perfect
The past perfect (simple) is had + past participle (gone/seen/finished etc.).
Sometimes we talk about something that happened in the past:
Sometimes we talk about something that happened in the past:
• Sarah arrived at the party.
This is the starting point of the story. Then, if we want to talk about things
that happened before this time, we use the past perfect (had …):
• When Sarah arrived at the party, Paul had already gone home.
Some more examples:
• When we got home last night, we found that somebody had broken
into the flat.
• Karen didn’t come to the cinema with us. She’d already seen the
movie.
• At first I thought I’d done the right thing, but I soon realised that
I’d made a big mistake.
• The people sitting next to me on the plane were nervous. They
hadn’t flown before. or They’d never flown before.

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A.1 Exercises about Past Perfect.
Put the verbs into the correct form (past perfect simple).
1. The storm destroyed the sandcastle that we
(build)________________
2. He (not / be) ________________to Cape Town before 1997.
3. When she went out to play, she (do / already) ________________her
homework.
4. My brother ate all of the cake that our mum (make)
________________
5. The doctor took off the plaster that he (put on)
________________six weeks before.
6. The waiter brought a drink that I (not / order) ________________
7. I could not remember the poem we (learn) ________________the
week before.
8. The children collected the chestnuts that (fall)
________________from the tree.
9. (he / phone) ________________Angie before he went to see her in
London?
10. She (not / ride) ________________a horse before that day.

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Answers
1.had built
2.hadn’t been kept
3.had done
4.had made
5.had put on
6.hadn’t ordered
7.had learned
8.had fallen
9.Had he phoned
10.hadn’t ridden

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B) Present Perfect or Past Perfect?

Present Perfect Past Perfect

 Who is that woman? I’ve  I wasn’t sure who she was.

seen her before, but I can’t I’d seen her before, but I
remember where. couldn’t remember where.
 We aren’t hungry. We’ve just  We weren’t hungry. We’d
had lunch. just had lunch.
 The house is dirty. They  The house was dirty. They
haven’t cleaned it for weeks. hadn’t cleaned it for weeks.

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B.1) Past Perfect vs Present Perfect Exercises
Choose the appropriate tense either Present Perfect or Past Perfect to
complete the following sentences.
1. There was no sign of a taxi although I (order)
had ordered
_________________it half an hour before.
Had had
2. I was really tired last night. I (have) ______________ a hard
day. Have turned
3. It’ll get warmer in here. I (turn) _______________ the heating
on. Had sold
4. We had no car at that time. We (sell) _____________ our old
one. Have made
5. This bill isn’t right. They (make) ______________
Has stopped a mistake.
6. It isn’t raining now. It (stop) _____________.have finished
7. Has started with it.
You can have that magazine. I (finish) ______________
8. Do you want to see this film? It (start) ______________.

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C) Past Perfect or Past Simple?
Past simple
• a: Was Tom there when you arrived?
b: Yes, but he left soon afterwards.
• Kate wasn’t at home when I phoned. She was
at her mother’s house. Past perfect
• a: Was Tom there when you arrived?
b: No, he’d already left.
• Kate had just got home when I phoned. She’d
been at her mother’s house

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C.1) Past Perfect vs. Past Simple Exercises
Put the verbs in brackets into the gaps in the correct tense –Past Perfect or Simple Past.
A) After Fred _______________ (spend) his holiday in Italy he _______________
(want) to learn Italian.
B) Jill _______________ (phone) Dad at work before she _______________ (leave)
for her trip.
C) Susan _______________ (turn on) the radio after she _______________ (wash) the
dishes.
D) When she _______________ (arrive) the match __________already
_______________ (start) .
E) After the man _______________ (come) home he _______________ (feed) the cat.
F) Before he _______________ (sing) a song he _______________ (play) the guitar.
G) She _______________ (watch) a video after the children _______________ (go) to
bed.
H) After Eric _______________ (have) breakfast he _______________ (phone) his
friend.
İ) I _______________ (be) very tired because I _______________ (study) too much.
J) They _______________ (ride) their bikes before they _______________ (meet)
their friends.

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C.1) Past Perfect vs. Past Simple Exercises
a.Had spent/wanted
b.Had phoned/left
c.Turned on/had washed
d.arrived/had already started
e.Had come/ fed
f.sang/had played
g.watched/had gone
h.Had had/phoned
i.was/had studies
j.Had ridden/met

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PAST PERFECT CONTINUOUS TENSE

Yesterday morning I got up and looked out of the window. The sun was shining, but the
ground was very wet.
It had been raining.
It was not raining when I looked out of the window. The sun was shining. But it had been
raining before.
had been -ing is the past perfect continuous:

D) Past Perfect Continuous

I/We/They/
You/He/She/It had (=I’d etc.)
(=She’d etc.) been doing
working
playing etc.

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Some more examples:
• My hands were dirty because I’d been repairing my bike.
• Tom was tired when he got home. He’d been working hard
all day.
• I went to Madrid a few years ago and stayed with a friend
of mine. She hadn’t been living there very long, but she knew the
city very well.
You can say that something had been happening before something
else happened:
• We’d been playing tennis for about half an hour when it
started to rain heavily.

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E) Present Perfect Continuous vs Past Perfect Continuous

Present Perfect Continuous Past Perfect Continuous

 At last the bus came. I’d

 I hope the bus comes soon.
been waiting for 20
I’ve been waiting for 20
minutes. (before the bus
minutes. (before now)
 came)
James is out of breath.  James was out of breath.
He’s been running. (= he
He’d been running. (= he
has been …)
had been …)

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E.1) Present Perfect Continuous vs. Past Perfect Continuous

has been driving

1. Mike has never had an accident and he....................................... (drive)
for years.
had not been watching (not /
2. She had no idea it was so late because she.......................................
watch) the time.
have you been taking (you / take) your medicine regularly, Mrs
3. “.......................................
Smith?” “Yes, doctor.”
had been looking
4. They eventually found the dog after they....................................... (look)
for it all night.
had
5. How long ....................................... been working
your father.......................................
(work) for the company when he retired?

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F) Past Continuous or Past Perfect Continuous
Compare was -ing (past continuous) and had been -ing:
• It wasn’t raining when we went out. The sun was shining. But it had
been raining, so the ground was wet.
• Katherine was lying on the sofa. She was tired because she’d been
working hard.
Some verbs (for example, know) are not normally used in continuous forms
(be + -ing):
1. We were good friends. We had known each other for years. (not had
been knowing)
2. A few years ago Lisa cut her hair really short. I was surprised
because she’d always had long hair. (not she’d been having)

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 Let’s watch some videos
Simple Past- Past Continous
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v6PIm2gvDJs
Past Perfect
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bGvDiycGoOg
Past Perfect Continous
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4XEZpGHvR4w
Present Perfect Continous
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AKzqRMA_1lo
Present Perfect
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q1LKzp2ozVM

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