11/11/2011
Past Simple •
1. Past Simple 2. Past Continuous 3. Past perfect
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Actions, events, states that started and finished in the past (…ago, last …, yesterday… ) Regular verbs: -ed
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* Be careful with spelling changes
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Irregular verbs: Unfortunately this forms need to be memorized
For list of irregular verbs, see : • New English File (page 156) • English Grammar in Use (page 293)
Tell your partner – use past tense verbs!
Remember –ed spelling rules? English Grammar in Use (pages 298-299)
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What did you do yesterday? What did you do Friday night? Where were you Saturday morning? What did you do to celebrate your last birthday?
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Past Continuous Subject + was / were + verb+ing Negation: Subject + was / were + not + verb+ing Yes/ No Question: Was / Were + subject + verb+ing ? Information Question: (WH) + Was / Were + subject + verb+ing ?
Remember –ing spelling rules? http://www.eflnet.com/tutorials/spellinging.php English Grammar in Use (pages 298-299)
Examples • Some verbs are NOT tipically used in the continuous tense. Instead, we prefer to use these verbs in the simple tenses (simple present or past). • These verbs are called STATIVE (or nonaction) verbs. Here are some examples: – want, like, love, hate, know, need, see, hear, believe, understand, have (possession) forget, remember, belong
I liked Rome NOT: I was liking Rome She had a headache. NOT: She was having a headache. I knew the answer. NOT: I was liking the answer.
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Past Continuous: Three Uses
Tell a classmate – use past continuous verbs: I was _______ing
• Use 1:
Past actions that were in progress at a particular time in the past; actions that were not yet finished at a past time
Erika’s Schedule 8 – 9: had breakfast 9 – 10: finished her homework 10 – 11: exercised 11 – 12: cooked lunch 12 – 2: shopped 2 – 5: talked to a friend on the phone
At 8:30, Erika _________________ breakfast. At 9:15, she ___________________ her homework. At 10, she _____________________. At 11:30, she ___________________. At 1, she ____________________ lunch. At 3, she ______________ to a friend.
Past Continuous 2 • Use 2: Two (or more) actions that were in progress in the past at the same time
• Where were you last Thursday at 8 p.m.? What were you doing? • What were you doing Sunday morning at 7 a.m.? Who were you with? • What were you doing last night at this time? • What were you doing last week at this time? • What were you doing last year at this time?
Using past simple and past continuous together • Use past continuous to say what was in progress – I was crossing the street …
• Use while • Examples: Sorry, I wasn’t listening to you while you were talking. While I was reading, he was writing.
• Use simple past for the interrupting action – when the driver ran the red light.
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Other examples:
I was sleeping when the telephone rang and woke me up.
More Examples: We were watching the news when the announcer made a special live report. I was trying to study when you called.
He was driving too fast when he crashed the car.
Final Tips … • Use while for two actions in progress at the same time in the past: – She was talking while he was driving.
• Use when when telling about sequence of events (one action that was in progress that was interrupted by another event in the past): – I was just leaving when you called. (first action in progress)
(interrupting event)
Student examples:
Punctuation with When and While • When and while at the front of a sentence, use a comma: – When you called, I was watching TV. – While he was washing the clothes, I was doing the dishes.
• When and while in the middle of a sentence, no comma – I was watching TV when you called.
– I was doing the dishes while he was washing the clothes.
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PAST PERFECT Subject + had + past participle Negation: Subject + had + not + past participle
Examples • You had studied English before you moved to New York. . • Had you studied English before you moved to New York? • You had not studied English before you moved to New York
Yes/ No Question: Had + subject + past participle
PAST PERFECT • We use the past perfect to talk about an action which happened before another action in the Past – Ali had played football before he went back home.
Look at this example.
After he had taken his music lesson, he made a telephone call.
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What had Ali done before he went fishing?
Ali had repaired his car, before he went fishing.
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