1. PAST TENSES Past Simple, Past Continuous, Past Perfect
Past Simple Passive

2. Past Simple Use it for… Signal words Completed past actions.
One completed action after another.
A past habit or regular past event.
Use it for…
PAST SIMPLE PASSIVE
Use the Past simple passive when the action is unknown, obvious or less important tan the subject of the sentence. +
WAS/WERE + PAST PARTICIPLE
A rescue mission was launched.
She wasn’t found by the police. ?
Where was she found
Use BY to say who or what does the action
She was found BY a rescue party.
Signal words
last year/month/Sunday
In 1992/June
ago
All verbs
+ verb in the past
? DID + Subj + infinitive
Subj + DIDN’t + inf
Verb to be
Was/were
Wasn’t/weren’t

3. Past Simple and Past Continuous
Something which was in progress at a time in the past.
In 2009 she was living a normal life in California.
Something which was going on in the background which set the scene for a specific event or action.
The birds were singing…
Form +
S + WAS/WERE + ing -
S + WASN’T/WEREN’T + ing ?
WAS/WERE + S + ing
Use it for…
Don’t Use past continuous with state verbs such as LIKE, NEED, WANT, KNOW, UNDERSTAND etc.
Past Simple and Past Continuous
We use the past simple and past continuous together to talk about an action that was in progress (past cont.) when another one happened (past simple).
We often use WHEN before the action in the past simple and WHILE or AS before the action in the past continuous
She was sleeping WHEN the phone rang/WHEN the phone rang, she was sleeping
The phone rang WHILE I was sleeping./WHILE I was sleeping, the phone rang.

4. I/YOU/WE/THEY/HE/SHE/IT
Past Perfect
Use
Form
To show that an action happened before another action or time in the past. Use the past simple for the other action/time.
Use it for…
I/YOU/WE/THEY/HE/SHE/IT +
S + HAD + PAST PARTICIPLE.
He had reached the summit.
The contracted form of HAD is ‘D
He’d already climbed several of the world’s highest mountains. -
S + HADN’T (HAD NOT) + PAST PART.
He hadn’t taken any risks ?
HAD + S + PAST PARTICIPLE
Had they taken many risks?
Yes, they had
No they hadn’t
Signal words
BY THE TIME/AGE, ALREADY, JUST; BEFORE and YET.
Jordan had achieved his dream of climbing the world’s seven highest mountains by the age of 15.
You often use the past perfect with BECAUSE to give and explanation.
They were very successful because they hadn’t taken any risks.

5. arrive/cook (in progress)
Past Simple, Continuous and Perfect Match pictures 1-3 to sentences A-C
A – When Judy arrived Eric was cooking dinner.
B – When Judy arrived Eric had cooked dinner.
C – When Judy arrived Eric cooked dinner B
1st cook/2nd arrive C
1st arrive/2nd cook A
arrive/cook (in progress)