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The Past Tense
Every tense in the English language has two forms: the
simple form and the progressive form.
Choosing the wrong one can send the wrong message. This is also true for the past tense.
1 THE SIMPLE FORM
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I worked.
You worked.
We worked.
They worked.
He worked.
She worked.
It worked.
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I did not
work.
You did not work.
We did not work.
They did not work.
He did not work.
She did not work.
It did not work. |
Did I work?
Did you work?
Did we work?
Did they work?
Did he work?
Did she work?
Did it work? |
Yes, I did.
Yes, you did.
Yes, we did.
Yes, they did.
Yes, he did.
Yes, she did.
Yes, it did. |
No, I didn't.
No, you didn't.
No, we didn't.
No, they didn't.
No, he didn't.
No, she didn't.
No, it didn't. |
1.1 EVENTS AT A TIME IN THE PAST
When
you talk about an
event that happened in the past, it is very natural to tell your listeners when it happened.
And if you don 't, it is very natural for your listeners to ask about
when it happened.
Either way, "when it happened" becomes clear very quickly.
Once the time of a past event is identified, you should continue to use the simple past tense.
By the way, it does not make any difference at
all whether the event happened many, many years ago or only a few seconds ago.
(A) Dinosaurs
WALKED the earth 60 million years ago.
(B) I FLEW to New York last month.
(C) She CALLED me five minutes ago.
1.1.1 TIME SIGNALS for the PAST TENSE
Words and phrases that tell us when an
event takes place are called time signals. Here are some time signals for the past tense:
A TIME ON THE CLOCK
at 6:45 a.m.
at a quarter past three
A DAY
yesterday
last Friday
A PART OF THE DAY
yesterday morning
at noon yesterday
last Tuesday afternoon
yesterday evening
last night
A DATE
on October 31st
on Christmas Day
A MONTH
last month
last January
A YEAR OR A CENTURY
in 1861
in the 17th century
A TIME AGO
5 days ago
5 months ago
5 years ago
A PERIOD OF TIME
for six weeks
from Monday to Friday
A TIME WHEN SOMETHING ELSE HAPPENED
when the earth's crust was cooling
when I was in school
before microelectronics was invented
before Clinton was president
after the earthquake
after I got married
It is
important to realize that these times are COMPLETELY CONTAINED in the past.
That is, they BEGIN and END in the past.
They do not touch the present moment.
(This is an important point to remember later when we talk about the present perfect
tense.)
Here are some typical sentences.
I
SAW a movie
yesterday.
George
WAS
at the beach three days ago.
He FINISHED the project
last week.
She MET some interesting people
when
she was in college.
We TALKED about tennis
at dinner.
They DISCUSSED politics
before the
concert.
1.2 PAST EVENTS IN A SEQUENCE
Very often when we speak,
we tell stories about what someone did or what happened to someone.
Stories describe a sequence of events; first this happened,
and then this, and then this, etc.
When talking about a sequence of events, you should ALWAYS use the
simple form of the past tense.
This is a good rule of thumb.
Here is an example:
(A) I
FINISHED the report on Friday afternoon and
WENT home early.
(B) After I got home, I
PLAYED with my children and
FED the dog.
(C) After dinner, my wife and I
WATCHED a movie and then
TALKED
until midnight.
Now let's look at the progressive form (also called
the continuous form) and
see how it is used.
2 THE PROGRESSIVE FORM
I was working.
You were working.
We were working.
They were working.
He was working.
She was working.
It was working. |
I was not
working.
You were not working.
We were not working.
They weren't working.
He was not working.
She was not working.
It was not working. |
Was I working?
Were you working?
Were we working?
Were they working?
Was he working?
Was she working?
Was it working? |
Yes, I was.
Yes, you were.
Yes, we were.
Yes, they were.
Yes, he was.
Yes, she was.
Yes, it was. |
No, I wasn't.
No, you weren't.
No, we weren't.
No, they weren't.
No, he wasn't.
No, she wasn't.
No, it wasn't. |
2.1 AN EVENT IN
PROGRESS AT A PRECISE MOMENT IN THE PAST
When we say that something was in
progress at a PRECISE MOMENT in the past, we mean that it began BEFORE the precise moment
and it was still happening AT the precise moment.
Sometimes, we know the precise moment
from
the exact time
on the clock.
They
WERE WATCHING the news on TV
at eleven o'clock.
I
WAS SITTING at my computer
at midnight.
He WAS WORKING in the garden
at
10:30 a.m.
Other times,
we know the precise moment by a second event which took place at the precise moment:
She
WAS EATING
breakfast when I came in.
We WERE WALKING in the park
when it
began to rain.
I WAS SLEEPING
when the phone rang.
Notice that
the event in progress might continue beyond the precise moment . or it might stop
suddenly, as in the last example above.
What is the difference between these two sentences?
(1) They WERE LAUGHING
when John
walked into the room.
(2) They LAUGHED
when John walked
into the room.
(1) In the first sentence above, the progressive
form of the past tense (were laughing) means the event was already
in progress at the precise moment when John walked into the room.
The laughter began before John walked into the
room.
(2) In the second sentence above, the
simple form of the past tense (laughed) means the event was not
already in progress at the precise moment when John walked into the room.
The laughter began when John walked into the room.
2.2
TWO EVENTS IN PROGRESS AT THE SAME TIME
If two events were in progress at the same time, you CAN use
the progressive form of the past tense for BOTH events.
I
WAS SITTING at my desk while he
WAS LOOKING for me.
George
WAS COOKING the steaks while his wife
WAS MAKING the salad.
They
WERE TALKING at the same time we
WERE PLAYING ping pong.
However, if you change both verbs to THE SIMPLE
FORM, the meaning is not changed.
I
SAT at my desk while he
LOOKED for me.
George COOKED the steaks while his wife
MADE the salad.
They TALKED at the same time we
PLAYED ping pong.
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