PAST TENSES Simple and Continuous: Form and Usage

Past Tenses Very similar to the present simple and the present continuous, there is also a  past simple and a  past continuous In terms of form, there are a lot of parallels between the present and the past. For example: the auxiliary ‚do‘ plays an important role in the simple tense and the verb ‚to be‘ is essential for the continuous tense.

Past Tenses  First, we will have a look at the form and usage of the past simple. If you have the present simple in mind, you will recognise a lot of similarities!  Second, we will have a closer look at the form and usage of the past continuous. Having the present continuous in mind helps a lot! Let‘s get started…!

PAST SIMPLE Form and Usage

1. Past Simple: Form The past simple‘s form:  Regular verbs: adding -ed  walk – walked  open – opened  study - studied  etc.  Irregular verbs: learn by heart!  hold – held  bring – brought  forget – forgot  be – was / were

Past Simple: Form  Positive sentences:  add -ed: worked, liked, walked  He worked all night.  Add -ied when verb finishes with a consonant + y: try > tried, study > studied (but vowel+y: enjoy > enjoyed, stay > stayed)  They studied really hard last year.  She enjoyed the music at the disco.

Past Simple: Form  Negative sentences: We need the auxiliary verb ‚did‘ to form negative sentences in the present. I liked chocolate as a child. > I didn‘t like chocolate. He walked home. > He didn‘t walk home. The auxiliary verb does the job!! The main verb can stay in the infinitive! ‚To be‘ and modal verbs don‘t need the auxiliary! > He wasn‘t late. > She couldn‘t help him.

Past Simple: Form  Questions We need the auxiliary verb ‚did‘ to form questions in the past. You liked chocolate. > Did you like chocolate? He walked home. > Did he walk home? They stayed here. > Why did they stay here? How long did they stay here? The auxiliary verb does the job!! The main verb can stay in the infinitive! ‚To be‘ and modal verbs don‘t need the auxiliary! > Was he late? > Could she help him?

Past Simple: Don‘t forget! To form the past, you need to know a lot of irregular verbs… So: don‘t forget to learn the irregular verb forms! do-did-doneforget-forgot-forgotten see-saw-seenbreak-broke-broken hit-hit-hitswim-swam-swum make-made-madeetc. etc.

Past Simple: Usage We generally use the past simple to talk about events that happend at a specific time in the past (with ‚no‘ connection to the present)  Yesterday he came home really late.  Mozart wrote more than 600 pieces of music.  When she was young, she didn‘t like pizza at all.  Last weekend we had a awesome barbecue.  etc.

Past Simple: Usage To talk about finished events that happend at specific time in the past, we use the past simple: pastpresent

Past Simple: Usage There are some signal words that help you decide, whether you have to use the past simple. Learn these signal words! yesterday last week, last month, last year, etc. in 1987, in th 19th century, etc. on Monday, on Saturday evening, etc. ago: ten minutes ago, four years ago, etc. when: when I was a child, when we arrived in Madrid, etc.

PAST CONTINUOUS Form and Usage

2. Past Continuous: Form The past continuous is formed like the present continuous: to be + ing-form > The only difference: the ‚to be‘ has to be used in the past form!  Positive sentences:  Was / were + ing-form  They were trying to help him  She was walking home when her phone rang.

Past Continuous: Form  Negative sentences: No auxiliary is necessary. > was / were has to be negated by adding a ‚not‘: They were helping him. > They weren‘t helping him. She was walking home. > She wasn‘t walking home.

Past Continuous: Form  Questions No auxiliary is necessary. They were helping him.> Were they helping him? She was walking home. > Was she walking home? You were sitting there. > How long were you sitting there?

Past Continuous: Usage We generally use the past continuous to talk about events that  are happening at the ‚background‘ in the past  are in the middle of happening when something else happens in the past  She was watching TV, when he ran into the room.  It was raining all day so we didn‘t have a barbecue.  They were boarding the plane, when the baby started to cry.  He used a lot of bad words. He didn‘t know that she was still watching him through the half-open door.