Lesson on Past Tenses in English

In English, there are four main past tenses: Past Simple, Past Continuous, Past Perfect, and
Past Perfect Continuous. Each tense serves to express different types of actions or states that
occurred in the past.

1. Past Simple

Usage:

 To describe completed actions or events that happened at a specific time in the past.
 To list a sequence of actions in the past.
 To talk about past habits or routines.

Structure:

 Affirmative: Subject + past form of the verb.

o Examples: "I walked." / "She walked."
 Negative: Subject + did not (didn't) + base verb.
o Examples: "I did not (didn't) walk." / "She did not (didn't) walk."
 Interrogative: Did + subject + base verb?
o Examples: "Did you walk?" / "Did she walk?"

Examples:

 "I visited my grandparents last weekend."

 "She finished her homework before dinner."
 "We watched a movie and then went to bed."

2. Past Continuous

Usage:

 To describe actions that were in progress at a specific moment in the past.

 To talk about two or more actions happening at the same time in the past.
 To set the scene in a story or describe a background situation.
 To express an interrupted action in the past.

Structure:

 Affirmative: Subject + was/were + verb+ing.

o Examples: "I was eating." / "They were eating."
 Negative: Subject + was/were not + verb+ing.
o Examples: "I was not (wasn't) eating." / "They were not (weren't) eating."
 Interrogative: Was/Were + subject + verb+ing?
o Examples: "Was I eating?" / "Were they eating?"

Examples:

 "I was reading a book when she called."

  "They were playing soccer while we were swimming."
 "It was raining heavily when I left the house."

3. Past Perfect

Usage:

 To describe an action that was completed before another action or specific time in the
past.
 To express a cause-and-effect relationship in the past.

Structure:

 Affirmative: Subject + had + past participle.

o Examples: "I had eaten." / "She had eaten."
 Negative: Subject + had not (hadn't) + past participle.
o Examples: "I had not (hadn't) eaten." / "She had not (hadn't) eaten."
 Interrogative: Had + subject + past participle?
o Examples: "Had you eaten?" / "Had she eaten?"

Examples:

 "I had finished my homework before dinner."

 "She had already left when we arrived."
 "They had never been to Paris before last year."

4. Past Perfect Continuous

Usage:

 To describe actions that were ongoing over a period of time before another action or
specific time in the past.
 To emphasize the duration of an action leading up to a point in the past.

Structure:

 Affirmative: Subject + had been + verb+ing.

o Examples: "I had been eating." / "She had been eating."
 Negative: Subject + had not (hadn't) been + verb+ing.
o Examples: "I had not (hadn't) been eating." / "She had not (hadn't) been
eating."
 Interrogative: Had + subject + been + verb+ing?
o Examples: "Had you been eating?" / "Had she been eating?"

Examples:

 "I had been studying for two hours when she called."
 "They had been working on the project before the deadline was extended."
 "She had been living there for a year before she moved."
Practice Exercises

1. Fill in the blanks with the correct form of the verb in parentheses.
o She __________ (walk) to school yesterday.
o While I __________ (read), the phone __________ (ring).
o He __________ (finish) his homework before he __________ (go) out.
o They __________ (live) in New York for five years before they __________
(move) to Los Angeles.
2. Convert the sentences to the indicated form (negative or interrogative).
o She was eating dinner. (Negative)
o They had finished their homework. (Interrogative)
o I walked to school. (Negative)
o Had you been studying for the test? (Affirmative)
3. Create sentences using the given prompts.
o (completed action) / she / visit / museum / last Saturday
o (ongoing action) / they / watch / movie / 8 PM yesterday
o (prior action) / he / complete / task / before / deadline
o (duration) / we / wait / for an hour / when / bus / arrive

This lesson on past tenses will help students understand how to express actions and states that
occurred in the past with appropriate usage and structures.