1)The Past
Simple
2)The Past Continuous
3)The
Past Perfect
1)The
Past Simple:
-
Its form is: the stem of the verb plus “ed”
or “d”
for the regular verbs.
e.g.
played,
looked,
phoned,
...
- The
irregular verbs take a different form. [consult
the irregular verbs list]
-
It is used to describe an action which took place at a specific time in the
past, and is often used with time expressions in the past, such as:
yesterday,
last week,
this morning,
…
e.g.
I went
to the park
yesterday.
- It is used to describe an action which took place for a period of time in
the past, but is now finished.
e.g.
I lived
in the countryside when I was a child. (= Now I live in town.)
*Past simple or Present perfect:
- The present perfect expresses a non finished action whereas the past
simple expresses a finished action.
e.g.
I
have
lived
in Algiers for three years. (= I still live there).
I
lived
in Algiers for two years. (= I live in Bejaia now).
2)The Past Continuous:
-
Its form is:
to be
in the past simple plus
the gerund of the verb.
e.g.
He
was
riding
a bicycle.
- It is used to describe an action continuing at a specific point in the
past, while not stating when it began or finished.
e.g.
I
was
working
upstairs then.
- It is used to describe an action continuing in the past which is
interrupted by another action.
e.g.
I
was
revising
my lessons when someone knocked at the door.
- It is used to describe a scene in the past with no specific time limits.
e.g.
The wind
was
blowing
strongly.
3)The Past Perfect:
-
Its form is:
to have
in the past simple plus
the past
participle of the verb.
e.g.
They
had
written
the report before he made the speech.
- It is used to describe an action taking place before a specific point in
the past about which we are already speaking:
e.g.
He
died
in 2002 while his wife
had
died
ten years earlier.
- It is used with
after
to describe a sequence of actions.
e.g.
After
I
had
revised
the lesson I did the exercise.
Copyright © EnGrammar-dz, 2003, ARAB Mouloud, Bgayet (Béjaia), Algeria. All Rights Reserved.