We use this tense in English to talk about events or situations that are finished. Normally we use a time reference.
For example:
"Last year I went to Spain."
"In 1997, he changed his job."
"She called an hour ago."
We also use the Past Simple tense in English to talk about long-lasting events or situations in the past.
"When I was a child, I lived in the countryside."
To talk about repeated activites in the past, we also use the Past Simple.
"I often went to the beach as a child."
Past Continuous Tense ("I was doing")
There are three main uses of this tense:
1. To talk about what was happening at a particular time in the past and to give descriptions and background information.
2. To talk about temporary situations in the past.
3. To make polite requests.
1. Talking about what was happening at a particular time in the past.
"This time yesterday, I was reading a book."
We often use the Past Continuous tense with the Past Simple tense. The Past Continuous gives the background to an event in the Past Simple:
"When he got home, the children were playing in the garden." (The children started playing in the garden before he got home.)
"I was eating dinner when there was a knock on the door." (The knock on the door came in the middle of my meal.)
We can use the Past Continuous to give descriptions.
"The girl was wearing a yellow dress. She was eating ice-cream and was watching television."
2. Talking about temporary situations in the past.
"When I was living in London, I often went to the theatre." (Living in London was temporary – perhaps I only lived there for a short while.)
Compare with: "When I was a child I lived in the countryside." Living in the countryside was a longer event – I was a child for more than a couple of years. For more permanent situations, we use the Past Simple tense.
3. Making polite requests.
If we want to make polite requests, we can use the Past Continuous tense. This is because we put a distance between ourselves and the person we are asking.
"I was wondering if you had time to see me."
"I was hoping we could discuss a pay raise."
40 comments on “Past tenses in English”
now i can differentiate the different btw past continous and past tense.
thats great.
i had improved myself.
thanks.
now i am trying to differentiate btn past tense and past continuos tense, so continue to help me
I really appreciate your affort to teach us good english, but i have a doubt about this sentence"I was wondering if you had a time to see me" so why we have to use HAD instead of HAVE.The meaning of this sentence is like you are hoping to see you by someone means you have not seen yet so why do we have to use HAD? please clear my concept.
I think it would also be correct to use "have", but as "was wondering" is in the past continuous, using "had" helps to maintain the sense of distance that we use when we want to be very polite.
Thnax for teaching as a good way but i didn't understand the 3rd point of using the past continuous tense to make a polite request.
We just use this tense in polite, formal situations. We could also say "Could I…" or "Would you…" but the past continuous creates a distance between us and the other person, so is considered very polite.
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Is this sentence correct… When I was a child, I used to live in the countryside.
Yes, it's correct.
As an English teacher, I find your page very useful. I would really like your adding readings containing the tenses you explain so well in short sentences. This enhances the students' comprehension and use of the tenses. Thank you very much.
this is very useful information
this is a lovely site, it helps me understand more about grammar, please keep teaching us more and more example, thank you very much
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thank you.
I just saw the following two sentences:
I’m not sure either. I just wanted to point out that we need to be careful in sth
Here, the past tense is used to be polite instead of past continuous tense. Is there any reason?
Qi » Yes – it's more normal to use "want" in the simple rather than continuous form. Want is a state verb, and not generally used in continuous tenses.
help me clare! is this sentence correct " i had hoped that you would call me yesterday" or we use word "wish" instead of "had hope". help me!
Yes, "I had hoped…" is correct.
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Hi,i have a question:coud you tell me in what ways these two sentences are different in their tenses?"1.I lived in Oxford for three years." and "I HAD BEEN LIVING in Oxford for three years"
thanks,
The first is just a statement about a past event. The second gives you the background of a story – it explains what had happened / what had been happening before another event in the past.
wich sentence is correct * She was looked the castle *she looked the castle
"She looked at the castle" is correct.
Which one is correct.
Your tire burst because it is over pressured.
or
Your tire burst because it is over pressure.
Thanks in advance.
I'd say the first.
hi,whats the tense we can use for an action which had a lot of pauses in the past and now its happeninig or is going to happen in the future?
I don't really understand what you are asking. Can you give me an example?
just imagine i taught english for six years, 2 years i taught then ididnt teach for 1 Year again i taught for one year and istopped teaching for another one year and im teaching for two years until the last pause up to now. for the action "teaching for six years with a lot of pauses" what tense should i use?
thanks,
I've taught English on and off for six years. (present perfect)
"He has his court case tomorrow so I suppose he wants to put word around that he is being helpful."
Are verb forms "has", "is being" right?
Yes, they are fine.
Hi,about "until" i wonder if we can use it before an exact hour?if so what is the problem with this sentence: Until 2:00 a.m i am at university but after 3:00 a.m i am available.
Your sentence is OK, but are you sure you're at the university until two in the morning?!
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hi dear clare
what is different between " I did sleep" and " I slept" some times i here peple insted of using past tens they use did+ present tense
please explain for me thanks.
We use "did" when we are emphasising. Normally we'd use the past simple to talk about events in the past.
You didn't go to the shops for me.
I did go!
thank you now i understand the differences
hello this is great i can learn all about past tenses.thanks anyway!!!!
I gave you part 1 when we went there Sat. just void that part 1, that was incomplete.
Let me know if this sentence is correct
Yes, it's correct for spoken English. For written English it would be "… on Saturday. Just void that part 1 which was incomplete."
i found this in the story book..please explain me why the words store and collect are not in past tense in this sentence.."..He helped the ants collect food and store them away for the winter.."
Because it's part of the construction help + verb without "to":
He helped them collect…