3 Past simple and past continuous USE Combine the two tenses if you want to make clear something happened while you were in the middle of a longer action going on. e.g. I was browsing on my laptop when my phone vibrated. e.g. We were telling ghost stories, when we suddenly heard a shrieking sound.
heard past simple
Now
Past simple and present perfect
N
HOW TO describe past experiences
Yes, I have!
Really?? What did it look like?
VA
Have you ever seen a ghost?
Present perfect
©
Future
IN
were telling past continuous
Past
It was a tall dark figure, with long black hair. It looked weird and a bit gnarly.
Past simple
to describe (life) experiences, without a specific reference to time e.g. Have you ever seen a ghost? Yes, I have!
to talk about precise details of a particular experience: who, when, what, where etc. e.g. Really?? What did it look like? It looked weird and a bit gnarly.
Use keywords such as: ‘ever’ and ‘never’, but also ‘lately’, ‘recently’, ‘already’, ‘yet’, ‘so far’, ‘up until now’ are used in combination with present perfect tense.
Give specific information: e.g. I saw it around midnight. It was a tall figure.
eighty-nine
Keep in mind: The form of the present perfect is explained in the Summary of Unit 1, p. 34.
UNIT 2
SPOOKTACULAR
89
