Past Tense with its four sub-types

 

                                                Past Tense

This tense is expressing an action that has happened or a state that previously existed.

Past tense has also found 4 sub-types as shown below:

1)     Simple Past Tense: It is used to talk about a completed action in a time before now.

     Structure: Subject+ verb2 + object.

For example: He worked in his club house yesterday.

                                   

Time adverbs

Yesterday, the day before                                                          Seldom. Ago.                                                                                             Frequently. Last Night/Last Week/Last Month/Last Year. Never/None.                                                                               Occasionally,                                                                                                      Always. Often. Once/ twice/ thrice

Examples,

1.      Lisa went to the supermarket yesterday.

2.      Sam cooked a tasty dinner yesterday.

3.      My brother saw a movie yesterday.

4.      Last year, I travelled to France.

5.      I washed the dishes.

6.      My mother bought a dress for me.

7.      They got home very late last night.

8.      I watched TV last week.

9.      I walked last night in this city.

10. I lived abroad for ten years.

11. They always enjoyed visiting their friends.

12. The rain stopped an hour ago.

13. She was beautiful.

14. I saw a movie last week.

15. I didn't see a play yesterday.

16. Last year, I traveled to Japan.

17. Last year, I didn't travel to Korea.

18. Did you have dinner last night?

19. She washed her car.

20. He didn't wash his car.

 

2) Past Continuous Tense: The past continuous tense, also known as the past progressive tense, describes ongoing actions in the past.

Structure: Subject + was/were+ verb4 (-ing) + object.

For e.g.

                        They were watching a movie.

                        He was reading a story.

Time Adverbs

always, constantly, forever , all last night, all the time. always. constantly. continuously and continually. forever. perpetually. the entire time.

 

Examples

1.      It was snowing yesterday.

2.      They were eating at the restaurant.

3.      You were working yesterday.

4.      I was studying last night.

5.      I was waiting for the cab when I met Raj.

6.      The children were shouting when the teacher came in.

7.      It was midnight when it was raining.

8.      Everyone was clapping.

9.      We were working on the project all day yesterday.

10. They were sleeping when the earthquake happened.

11. I was playing video games when my mom called me.

12. She was cooking dinner when her friends arrived.

13. He was talking to his boss when his phone rang.

14. We were walking in the park when it started raining.

15. They were laughing at the joke.

16. I was watching a movie when I fell asleep.

17. She was studying French in college.

18. He was listening to music while doing his homework.

19. We were running late for our flight.

20. They were enjoying the party when the fire alarm went off.

 

Use of When and While in the past to express two different actions:

                                    For ‘When’

Structure: When Subject+ verb2+ object, Subject+ was/were +verb4+ object.

For example:

•      They were watching a movie when I knocked the door.

•      When I knocked the door, they were watching a movie

•      I was travelling in India when I met the Prime Minister.

•      When I met the Prime Minister, I was travelling in India.

                                    For  ‘While’

Structure: While+ Subject+ was/ were+ verb-ing +object, Subject+ verb 2+objrct.

For example:

•      While I was listening to the radio, someone called me outside.

•      Someone called me outside while I was listening to the radio.

•      While they were cleaning the rooms, they found a new laptop.

•      They found a new laptop while they were cleaning the rooms.

 

3) Past Perfect Tense: The Past Perfect tense expresses action in the past before another action in the past.

Structure: Subject+had+verb3+ object.

For example,

1.      I had cooked rice pudding.

2.      They had made a new plan.

3.      He had taken the selfie.

4.      She had committed suicide.

5.      It had rained.

6.      I had found my phone.

7.      We had taken a bath with each other.

8.      They had ended their relationship.

9.      You had played Ludo Star 2018.

10. Google had banned spam sites.

 

Use of ‘’after’’ and ‘’before’’

First action ------Subject+ had+verb3+object.

Second action-----Subject + verb2+ object.

Use of After

Subject + verb2+ object after Subject+ had+verb3+object.

For example,

•      She added tea leaves after she had boiled water.

•      They left their house after they had locked their rooms.

•      We went to the zoo after we had purchased the tickets.

•      I did my assignment after I had received the project.

Use of Before

Subject+ had+verb3+object before Subject + verb2+ object.

He had called me before he left the home.

You had cleaned the rooms before the guests arrived.

4) Past perfect continuous tense: The past perfect continuous tense denotes an action that started in the past, continued in the past, and also ended at a certain point in the past.

Structure: Sub+ had+ been + verb 4+obj.

For examples:

1.      He had been doing this since last four years.

2.      She had been making noises for 10 minutes.

3.      It had been neighing since morning.

4.      I had been laughing for an hour.

5.      We had been studying since last 20 years.

6.      They had been doing that business for 10 months.

7.      You had been cheating on me since last 2 days.

8.      I had not been working all day.

9.      We had not been waiting for her to come.

10. Mona hadn't been checking her emails.

11. My uncle had not been feeling well for quite some time.

12. They had not been funding this project for a couple of months.