Past tensesPast tensesPast tensesPast tenses

Past simple• We bought the house a year ago.Complete action – definite time in the past• She got up, took her bag and left.Several actions happened one after another.• The speeding car hit a dog and did not stop.Main events in a narrative Time expressions: a month/year ago,

yesterday, last week/month, in 1963/November, when, the other day.

Past continuous• At nine o’clock last night, we were visiting

friends.Action in progress in a specific time in the past.• I was playing the guitar while Cindy was

singing.2 incomplete actions happening at the same time• We were walking home when the rain started.An action in progress(PC) interrupted by a shorter

action (PS)• We look outside. It was raining hard and the wind

was blowing.The background to a narrative.• The weather was becoming hotter and hotter.Refers to a changing state.Time expressions: yesterday at 9 o’clock, as, while.

Past perfect simple• He did well in his exam because he

had studied really hard.An activity that happened before another

activity or time in the past.Time expressions:By the time, after, before, when, as soon

as, already, no sooner…than, hardly…than.

Past perfect continuous• I had been watching the children all morning

and I felt tired.Action that started before a particular time in the

past and was still in progress at that time. • Joe noticed that Peter had been crying.Action just finished in the past but still relevant at

that time.• We had been waiting for half an hour when

Dave arrived.How long something had been happening before

something else happened.

Time expressions : for, since, all night/week.

Used to - wouldUsed to + bare infinitiv• An action that happened regularly in the past but no

longer happens.I used to go shopping with my parents when I was younger.• A past habit, state or situationI used to own a bicycle, but I sold it.

Would + bare infinitive• Used for past actions or habits but not for states or

situations. We normally use would in positive sentences, not in negative sentences or questions.

My dad would read stories to me when I was little.

be used to/get used to +noun/ gerund

• Be used to +noun / gerundBe accustomed to do something which

is no longer new or strange I am used to sleeping late on the weekend.

• Get used to + noun / gerundThe process of becoming accustomed

to something.We quickly got used to life in the country.