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As we can see, the most basic characteristic of regular past is that â€“ed is added to the base form of the verb: opened, knocked, stayed, etc. Verbs ending in â€“e add â€“d only: phone-phoned, smile-smiled.

Some short verbs like stop, beg, rub double their last letter when we add ending â€“ed: stopped, begged, rubbed.

Also, verbs that end in â€“y and have a consonant before â€“y change that â€“y into â€“i when presented in past: cry-cried, carry-carried, fry-fried, try-tried.

Unlike regular verbs, irregular verbs do not have past forms which can be predicted. A small number of verbs have the same form in the present and in the past like hit-hit, cut-cut, put-put. It is important to remember, particularly with such verbs, that the third person singular does not change in the past for example: he hit (past), he hits (present).

The use of the Past Simple Tense

It is used:

1. for actions completed in the past and a certain time is given

I went to the theatre yesterday.

or the time is not given but we can understand from the context:

I bought this hat in Italy.

2. for an action whose time is not given but which

-lasted for a longer period in the past: I lived in her apartment when I was in the USA.

-for an action which was finished at a moment in a period of time now terminated:

He saw the Golden Gate Bridge when he was in San Francisco.

3. for past habit

They always took a walk in the evening when they were at the sea-side.

4. for actual past:

I knew what you meant. You looked as if you had seen a ghost.

5. for narrative past (a retrospective description of some past event):

We walked down the shore and then we turned back to the hotel. We sat on the balcony and watched the moon and stars slowly fading away.

PAST CONTINUOUS (PROGRESSIVE) TENSE

Form

The past progressive is formed with the past of be + the -ing form.

I was

You were

He was

She was

It was waiting, playing, walking ....etc.

We were

You were

They were

The use of the past continuous tense

We use this tense:

1. for actions which continued for some time. In this case it is more important how long the action lasted than when in it was finished:

He was washing his car yesterday afternoon.

2. for duration of an event at one point in the past:

What were you doing yesterday afternoon/ yesterday between 6 and 7?

At 6 oâ€™clock I was sleeping.

3. To express gradual development: I was getting darker.

4. For two past actions running parallel to each other. They may not have begun at the same time but during the period under consideration they were in progress at the same time: Mary way playing the piano while John was singing.

5. For a past action in progress which was suddenly interrupted by another past action.

In this case the action that lasted is presented by the Present Continuous Tense while the action that interrupted the first action is presented in Present Simple Tense:

Mary was preparing lunch when John arrived.

When John arrived Mary was washing the dishes.

We can see the very slight difference between the Present Simple Tense and the Present Continuous Tense in the next examples:

From 2 to 4 John was washing his car. (here the accent is on the duration of the action of washing car)

From 2 to 4 John washed his car. (here what is the most important is that he finished that action in this period)

PAST PERFECT TENSE

Form

The past perfect is formed with had + the past participle (the third part of the verb).

I had (Iâ€™d)

You had (youâ€™d)

He had (heâ€™d)

She had (sheâ€™d)

It had (itâ€™d) finished, arrived, started, drunk....etc.

We had (weâ€™d)

You had (youâ€™d)

They had (Theyâ€™d)

The use of the Past Perfect Tense

Unlike the present tense which is always tied to present time, this tense is always tied to past time. It is used:

1. For an action or event which began before a particular point in a past narrative. It may happen that the past action is expressed by the past perfect:

a) was continuing at the time: When Mary met John, he had been a soldier for two months and has to stay in army for seven months more.

b) stopped at any time or just before it: When Queen Victoria died in 1901, she had reigned for over 60 years. When John arrived, Mary had just left.

c) stopped some time before it: None of us understood how he managed to pass the exam.

2. It is used if we want to make connection between two actions or events:

After he had passed his written exam, he took the oral exam.

PAST PERFECT CONTINUOUS TENSE

Form

The past perfect continuous tense is formed with had been + the -ing form.

I had (Iâ€™d)

You had (Youâ€™d)

He had (Heâ€™d)

She had (Sheâ€™d)

It had (Itâ€™d) been waiting, going, playing, moving....etc.

We had (weâ€™d)

You had (youâ€™d)

They had (Theyâ€™d)

The use of past perfect continuous tense

1. It is used to express the duration of one past event which began before another past event and continued up to that time or stopped just before it or some time earlier.

I told him to stop for a while because he has been learning all morning.

I found my letters in a mess. It was obvious that someone had been reading them.

2. Like the past continuous tense, the past perfect continuous may be used to refer to a past action or event which lasted before it was interrupted by another past event:

She had been reading the book when the electricity suddenly went off.

They had been waiting an hour for the train when it came.

His boss was sent to hospital. He had been looking pale for seven days.

There is the difference between the idea expressed by the past perfect tense and the past perfect continuous:

He had polished the car by seven oâ€™clock. (it is important that the action finished by the time mentioned)

He had been polishing the car. (the accent is on duration of the action)

This tense has no passive form. Its passive equivalent is past perfect tense:

They had been washing the car Ã The car had been washed.

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