Past tenses

pasT tenses

Past simple, Past continuous, Past Perfect and Used to

1. Past simple and Past Continuous

index

2. Past Perfect Simp. and Continuous

3. Used to

Past simple and continuous

vs

s. + v-ed/Simple past (+)s. + did not + Verb (-) Did + S. + verb (?)

S. + was/were + v-ing (+)S. + was/were + not + v-ing (-) Was/were + S. + V-ing (?)

• Completed actions in the past
• Habits in the past
• One thing happen after another

• Activities in progress in the past
• Describes scenes
• Activity in progress that was interrupted

eXAMPLES:

Past Simple:I flew to Russia two years ago. Did you go to school yesterday?

Past Continuous:At seven o'clock I was doing my homework. While I was riding my bike, I saw Ana.

PAST perfect simple and continuous

vs

S. + had + been + v-ing (+)S. + had + not + been + v-ing (-) had + S. + been + V-ing (?)

s. + HAD + PP (+)s. + had + n0t + Verb (-) Had + S. + PP (?)

• Actions that happened before another action in the past
• Gives importance to the duration of an activity

• Actions that happened before another action in the past
• Gives importance to the completion of an activity

eXAMPLES:

Past Perfect Simple:When the interview had finished, I left. Had you bought a ticket?

Past Perfect Continuous:I was tired because I had been studying all night. I had been working at the company for five years when I got the promotion..

Used to

S. + used to + verb (+)S. + did not + use to + verb (-) Did + S. + use to + verb (?)

• Past habits
• Things we did regularly in the past but not now

eXAMPLES:

Used to:She used to live in Paris. Did he use to be a teacher?

Thanks a lot!