Past tenses

We often use the past simple tense for single completed events and past states and we
use the past continuous for temporary or interrupted actions. We use the past perfect
tense for actions which happened before a time in the past. This unit looks at the
differences between the past and the past perfect tenses and used to/would + infinitive.
(For uses of the present perfect tense for past time .3.1, 3.2. For past forms which
refer to the future (future in the past) ~ 5.3.)

2.1A

Most verbs add -ed to the base form to make the past simple tense. The past simple
tense form is the same for all persons (except with the verb be):
watch - I/he/she/it/we/you/they
watched; be -I/he/she/it
was, we/you/they were
Note the following spelling rules with -ed endings:
Base forms ending in a single stressed vowel and a consonant (except w, x or y),

Form

double the consonant, e.g. hug -+ hugged.

In British English, but not US English, we often double final consonant I, e.g. label -+
labelled.
Base forms ending in a consonant and y, change y to i, e.g. copy -+sopied.
Irregular verbs do not form the past tense with -ed, e.g. go -+ went.
We do not use the past form of the verb in questions and negatives; we use did (not) +
infinitive. We usually use the contracted form didn't in speech and informal writing:
)( :"f)id-ljetJ-s(lw-efHj#lj.Rfj-S/:.I5fJieie~
)( :"Ne;--l-did~-S6W-ef/!ft:AiRt:J;-'V 'Did you see anything suspicious?'

'No, I didn't

2.1 B "We use the past simple to describe single completed

Julius Caesar invaded Britain in 55 Be.
Holland was occupied by the Germans in 7940.

see anything.'

actions

in the past:

Past actions
and states

If the context is clear, it is not necessary to give a past time reference:

Caesar's troops failed to defeat the indigenous tribes (in 55 Be).
~ We use the past simple for actions which happened at the same time and also for
repeated actions:
When we got to the junction I took the left turn while Micky took the right. (two
actions at the same time)
My brother applied for a visa six times before he got one. (repeated actions)
" We use the past simple for sequences of actions. Sometimes the actions follow
immediately after each other, or one action causes a result:
Silverman ran to the car, jumped in and raced off into the night. (sequence of actions)

<f

2.2A
Form

Wall Street traders lost a fortune when the Asian markets collapsed. (= The markets
collapsed with the result that the traders lost a fortune.)
We use the past simple to describe states in the past:
We lived just outside Oxford in the nineties, but we didn't have a car.
(For a contrast of the past simple and the present perfect ~ 3.1 B, 3.2.)

We form the past continuous with was or were and the present
the main verb:
Wh~
the children doing while all this was going on?

participle

(~ 1.2A) of

There are some verbs which we rarely use in the continuous tenses, including
continuous. (For more information about this ~ 1.3A B, C)
2.2B

$'The past continuous

Actions in
progress

describes

an action in progress

the past

at a point of time in the past, i.e.

the action began before this point of time and continued after it.
We didn't hear the intruder because we were sleeping on the top floor that night.
At the time of our arrival the city was going through a period of rapid expansion.
'" We often use the past continuous to show that a past action was temporary, or was
changing or developing:
During my training I was earning a lot less than my wife. (a temporary situation)
His symptoms were becoming more pronounced each day. (a changing situation)
'" We can use the past continuous to describe an ongoing action which forms the
background or setting to past events. We often use the past simple for an action that

happened against this background:

Darkness was descending over the hushed city as James staggered back to college.
(darkness was descending = background; James staggered = action)
We can use the past continuous for two actions in progress at the same time:

We were watching the sky and listening for the first sounds of the dawn chorus.
e We usually use the past simple for repeated actions in the past (~ 2.1 B), but we can
use the past continuous if we want to emphasise that the repeated actions took place
over a temporary and limited period of finished time:
She received chemotherapy on a weekly basis. (a repeated action)
For the first three months she was receiving chemotherapy on a weekly basis.
(repeated
2.2C

,It>

Interrupted
actions
II

2.2D
Other uses

action,

but only for three months)

We use the past continuous

to contrast

an ongoing action with a single event which

interrupts it. We use the past simple for the single event:
Elizabeth was hunting when messengers arrived with the news of Mary's plot.
Seventy cars were crossing the bridge when the pier collapsed into the river.
0 If the background action finishes just before the event which interrupts it, we prefer
to use the past perfect continuous (~ 2.4A, B). Compare these examples:
Jane opened the door to let Philip in.
1 He was running in the rain.
2 He had been running in the rain.

We can use the past continuous to describe past arrangements;

the arranged event
mayor may not have taken place. This use is similar to the 'future in the past' (~ 5.3):
Nancy was taking the next flight to Paris so she had to cut short the interview.
(= Nancy had an existing arrangement to take a flight to Paris.)

fi

We can make requests,

suggestions

and questions

more tentative

and polite by using

the past continuous. We often use the verbs think and wonder:
We were wondering if you would like to join us. (= Would you like to join us
Were you planning on going somewhere else later? (= Are you planning on

?)

?)

We form the past perfect with had and a past participle, which is the same for all persons
By the end of the fourth day we had exhausted most of our rations.
I wasn't convinced that she had exhausted all of the possibilities at that stage.
Regular verbs have a past participle form which is the same as the past tense form (i.e_

2.3A
Form

we add -ed to the base form

2.1 A). Irregular verbs, e.g. see, often have a past
participle form, e.g. seen, which is different from the past tense form, e.g. saw.
We often use the contracted form of had ('d) in spoken English:

We were exhausted; we'd been up all night with the baby.

2.3B
Actions

'b

and

We use the past perfect to describe

an action which is completed

before a time in the

past. We can include a specific time reference:

states before
By the time the UN task force arrived, the rebel forces had taken the province.
a time in the i9 We can use the past perfect for repeated actions:
past
The new owners found that the timbers had been patched up several times.
Ci We also use the form to describe a state which existed before a past event:
At the time of her trial last year Hinkley had been in prison for eight months.
2.3C ~ We can use the past perfect to make a sequence of events clear. We use the past
Sequence in perfect for the earlier action and the past simple for the later. Compare:
the past
When we got back the babysitter went home.
(sequence: 1 we got back, 2 the babysitter went home)
When we got back the babysitter had gone home.
(sequence: 1 the babysitter went home, 2 we got back)
~ We can use just or already with the past perfect to show that the earlier action was
recent or earlier than expected:
We wanted to talk to the babysitter but she'd just left.
When we got back we found that the babysitter had already gone home.
IJ We can use the past perfect or the past simple with time conjunctions,
e.g. after,
before, as soon as, then:
She ushered me out of the room as soon as I paid/had paid my subscription.
., 0 With before + past perfect the action in the past simple happens first:
I left university before I'd taken the final exams.
d
We can use this for a past action which prevented a later action from happening:
She sacked him before he'd had a chance to explain his behaviour.
e, 0 We don't usually use the past perfect if the sequence is obvious
2.1 B):
[I had opened the door and let him in.]
I opened the door and let him in.
" We often use the past perfect to describe the cause of a past event:
David didn't join the band as he'd signed up with a rivallabel.

2.3D
Unfulfilled
intentions
.

I We use the
g

past perfect with verbs such as hope, expect, want, plan, think about, wish
to describe past intentions which were unfulfilled:
They had hoped to get to the summit but Travers fell ill at base camp.

. ...:JD.1~~

(,;:::::37
;d,

2.4A
Form

We form the past perfect continuous tense with had been and the present participle:
The lake was near bursting point as it had been raining heavily for weeks.
The passive form of the past perfect continuous (had been being + past participle) is
almost never used. We prefer an active form, using an 'empty' subject if necessary:
[The unemployment figures had been being underestimated
for decades.]
v' They had been underestimating
the unemployment figures for decades.

There are some verbs which we rarely use in the continuous tenses, including the past
perfect continuous. (For more information about this'" 1.3A, B, C.)
2.4B
Uses

III

We use the past perfect continuous to describe an ongoing situation or action which
continued up to, or stopped just before, a time in the past (jllIo 2.2C):
He had been working

for over an hour before the auditors

turned up.

~ We often use this tense to explain a past result, e.g. a situation or an appearance:
The few survivors looked painfully thin. They had been living on meagre rations since
the accident. (= They looked thin because they had been living on meagre rations.)
<i>

We use this tense when we want to focus on duration:

Kubrick had been trying to get the film made for more than twenty years.
The eager fans had been waiting in line for over six hours.

2.4C
Contrast with
other forms

We do not mention the number of times that we have done an action when we use the
past perfect continuous:
X d-il/-had-&fll!j-been-wathing-+V-t:wiEe-t:Rat-weelf:.

v Jill

had only watched

TV twice that week. (repeated action - past perfect simple)

~ 4) We don't usually use the past perfect continuous for completed actions, or actions
and background situations still continuing at the same time as the past simple narrative:
X &he-feu-flti-her-e-e5-!f-we.s-.e.mfrt:!j;-5ef:If'i#J-ltflfJ-been-FefflOVtRfj-eVeRj-t:ftiflfj-;-

v She

found her desk was empty; security had removed

everything.

(completed action = past perfect simple)

[We had been living in New York when John was made redundant.]
We were living in New York when John was made redundant.

(an ongoing situation which forms the background = past continuous)

USED TO/WOULD
2.5A

Form and
meaning

Used to is followed by an infinitive. Notice the spelling in questions and negatives:

It used to take me over an hour to get to work.
Supermarkets didn't use to be open on Sundays in Britain.
Did you use to get free milk at school?
4) Don't confuse used to + infinitive with be/get used to (+ verb -ing) which means

'be/become accustomed to':

I used to live alone. (= I lived alone at a time in the past.)
He wasn't used to living on his own. (= He wasn't accustomed to it.)
She's getting used to the new technology. (= She is becoming accustomed to it.)
2.5B ~ Both forms describe actions which happened regularly in the past but no longer happen
Past habits (or vice versa) or now happen with more or less frequency:
They used to get paid every three months. (Now they get paid weekly.)
We would get up early every Sunday to go to church. (We don't now.)
6> To avoid confusion with other uses of would,
we usually mention the past time or
situation:
He would give her a lift to work in the days before she passed her test.

(For other uses of would 10.4, 10.5, 10.6; 18.2B, 18.3B, 18.4, 18.5.)
2.5C <lWe use used to to describe past states which have changed:
Past states
Lithuania used to be part of the Soviet Union. (It isn't now.)
There didn't

use to be any crime around here in the old days. (There is now.)

~ 4) We cannot use would for past states:

X France WOY/d be a menaFEh-y-bl:ft-new it:'s a repulJl-i.:.

France used to be a monarchy

but now it's a republic.

~ Pages 70 and 71 for Round up of present

and past tenses

Practice
Match the underlined
phrases,

phrases (1-10)

with the explanations

(A-E), Each explanation

matches two

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10

They ran the same test eight times before they found the bug in the software.
Food was in short supply throughout the war.
It was quite unnerving. The lights flickered while a freezing wind blew through the room.
Claire jumped out of her chair, ran to the balcony and grabbed the screaming child.
Lorenzo the Magnificent died in Florence in 1492.
Diplodocus dinosaurs dominated the Triassic period.
We had a busy morning. Steve answered the phone calls and I dealt with the e-mails.
The Court of Appeal rejected his case on technical grounds.
I'm sick of it, I can't tell you how many times we tried to contact them.
I threw open the doors and walked out into the bright morning sunshine.

A
B
C
D
E

A single or completed action in the past.

A sequence of actions in the past.
Two actions which happened at the same time in th~ past.
Repeated actions in the past.
A state in the past.

announce blow collapse cook decide feel get up have hit leave live manage
mention
press run into see set off settle down soar spend stand take
1 I
at the bus stop when I
the speeding car slam into the lamp post.
2 The icy wind
through the trees as we
on our journey into the forest.
3 Brad
exhausted so he
onto the sofa,
the button on the remote control and
.......... for an evening vegetating in front of the box.
4 The twins
the afternoon shopping because they
for their flatmates that evening.
S Unfortunately for us, we
on the wrong side of Miami when Hurricane Andrew
.
the city.
6 Share prices
when the government
record growth figures.
7 I
early the next morning so I
to have an early night.
8 They say that he
her because he found out that she
an affair with his best friend.
9 My younger brother
the driving test five times before he
to pass.
10 I
Clare at the supermarket the other day and she
that you might be looking for work.

A I felt sick when I ate the pudding.

B I felt sick when I'd eaten the pudding.

2 A When
maid
B When
maid

we returned to our hotel room, the

made the bed.
we returned to our hotel room, the
had made the bed.

5 A The show started

when we got there.

B The show had started

when we got there.

6 A I hoped to get a good result.

B I had hoped to get a good result.

7 A I watched TV when Jane called round.

B I was watching TV when Jane called round.
3 A I explained to my host that I'd been
repairing the car.
B I explained to my host that I was repairing
the car.

8 A Carrie was excited because she was

travelling to Jamaica.
B Carrie was excited because she had
travelled to Jamaica.
4 A By the time we arrived at the zoo the
elephants were having their bath.
B By the time we arrived at the zoo the
elephants had had their bath.

4ED~==---Underline

the most suitable

verb form

in italics.

1 So I turned/had turned on my heels and walked out of the shop in disgust.

2 When we got to the station the train had just leftljust left, so we missed our connection.
3 The mechanics had been taking/had taken the engine apart several times before they were able to
locate the source of the mysterious rattle.
4 By 1492 the Spanish had expelled/had been expelling the Moors from the mainland entirely.
5 She was surprised to find the fridge empty; the children had eaten/had been eating everything!
6 Our lead actor turned up and he was word perfect; apparently he was practising/had been
practising his lines all day.
7 The children wanted to go to the circus but their father already booked/had already booked tickets
for the ice-skating spectacular.
8 Debbie couldn't understand why her computer crashed; it had been working/was working perfectly
for as long as she could remember.
9 My niece's riding accident was rather a setback because she hoped/had hoped to pursue a career
as a ballet dancer.
10 Mrs Lawson arrived at casualty in quite a state; she suffered/had been suffering from severe
stomach

pains for hours.

In about half of the lines of the following text there is a mistake in the use of past forms, used to
or would. For each numbered line (1-18) underline the mistake and write the correct form. Some
lines are correct. Indicate these with a tick (v'). The exercise begins with two examples (0 and 00).

v'
.......................

Anne Frank was a Jewish girl who was living with her family in Amsterdam

00 when the Germans were invading

1 introduced
2 tamps

harsh anti-Jewish

Holland

laws and started

to deport

Jews to concentration

in Eastern Europe. In July 1'942 Anne's father did hear a rumour

3 w~s. going to be arrested

.. . . . .iJwa.ded
. . . ..............

in 1940. The German authorities

that he

by the police and the family resolved to find a hiding

4 place. They moved into an attic above Mr Frank's office and build a bookcase
5 to disguise the entrance
6 family each morning,

to the secret apartment.

Friends would bring food to the

and they use to keep up to date with the news by listening

7 the BBe on a small radio. Anne would have no friends

8 confided

her feelings to a diary. In August another

9 Franks with their sixteen-year-old

11 and Peter were becoming

camps and killing them. Anne

very fond of each other in the cramped

conditions

of

and had helped each other with their lessons. But somebody

13 had given away the family's

secret. The German police had been watched

14 hiding place for several days and on August

15 all the occupants.

her own age, so she

Jewish family joined the

son Peter. Peter was telling Anne that the

10 Germans had been sending Jews to concentration

12 the secret apartment

to

the

14th 1944 they burst in and arrested

The Germans were sending Anne to the Belsen concentration

16 camp and she was killed in February

17 before the British army arrived.

or March

1945, only a month or six weeks

Anne's father was taken to Auschwitz

18 survived the war. He found Anne's diary and had published

it in 1947.

and

Complete the text b.y writing the verbs in brackets in the correct tense. Read through the whole
text before you begm as you may need to use passive forms and used to/would in your answers.

THE TRUE STORY OF

TREASURE ISLAND
T

reasure Island is one of the best known and most

loved children's adventure stories. It (1)

(be)
first published in 1883 but remains popular to this day.
People (2)
(think) that the story was solely the
work of Stevenson's imagination, but recent research
has uncovered the true origin of this thrilling tale of
hidden treasure and bloodthirsty pirates.
Treasure Island's author, Robert Louis Stevenson,
(3)
(be) a Scotsman born in Edinburgh in 1850.
Altbougb be (4/
(live} abroad 10 many years jJ]
1881 he returned to the land of his birth for a holiday.
With him (5)
(be) his American wife Fanny,
~
whom he (6)
(meet) five years earlier in France, and his stepchildren from Fanny's
first marriage. The location of their holiday was Braemar in the rugged Scottish
Highlands.
The family soon settled into a relaxing routine. Each morning Stevenson (7)
.
(get up) early and take them out for long walks over the hills. They (8)
(enjoy)
this for several days when the weather suddenly took a turn for the worse. Trapped
indoors by the heavy rain, Robert's twelve-year-old stepson, Lloyd, (9)
(become)
increasingly bored and restless. Desperate to keep the boy amused, Robert
(10)
(get out) some drawing paper and asked the boy to do some painting.
After he (11)
(paint) for several hours the boy (12)
(return) to his
stepfather with a beautiful coloured map of a tropical island. Robert noticed that his
stepson (13)
(draw) a large cross in the middle of the island. 'What's that?' he
asked. 'That's the buried treasure,' said the boy. The thirty-one-year-old author suddenly
had a flash of inspiration. He (14)
(recently ask) to contribute stories to a
children's magazine published by his friend W E Henley and h~ (15)
(begin) to see
the germ of an adventure story in the boy's picture. While the rain (16)
(beat
down) on the roof of his rented holiday cottage the author (17)
(sit down) by the
fire to write a story. He would make the hero a twelve-year-old boy, just like his own
stepson. But who would be the villain of the piece?
For the last four years Henley (18)
(publish) Robert's stories in his magazine,
and the two had become good friends. But there was something unusual about Henley;
as a young man one of his legs (19)
(amputate) and he walked around with the
aid of an artificial wooden leg. Robert (20)
(always want) to include such a
character in a story and thus Long John Silver, the pirate with a wooden leg, was born.
So, thanks to a rainy September in Scotland, a publisher with a wooden leg, and the
inventiveness of a twelve-year-old American boy, we have one of the greatest adventure
stories in the English language.
J

Complete the text b'y writing the verbs in brackets in the correct tense. Read through the whole
text before you begin as you may need to use passive forms and used to/would in your answers.

THE TRUE STORY OF

TREASURE ISLAND
T

reasure Island is one of the best known and most

loved children's adventure stories. It (1)

(be)
first published in 1883 but remains popular to this day.
People (2)
(think) that the story was solely the
work of Stevenson's imagination, but recent research
has uncovered the true origin of this thrilling tale of
hidden treasure and bloodthirsty pirates.
Treasure Island's author, Robert Louis Stevenson,
(3)
(be) a Scotsman born in Edinburgh in 1850.
Although he (4)
(live) abroad for many years, in
1881 he returned to the land of his birth for a holiday.
With him (5)
(be) his American wife Fanny,
~.~
. .,
whom he (6)
(meet) five years earlier in France, and his stepchildren from Fanny's
first marriage. The location of their holiday was Braemar in the rugged Scottish
Highlands.
The family soon settled into a relaxing routine. Each morning Stevenson (7)
.
(get up) early and take them out for long walks over the hills. They (8)
(enjoy)
this for several days when the weather suddenly took a turn for the worse. Trapped
indoors by the heavy rain, Robert's twelve-year-old stepson, Lloyd, (9)
(become)
increasingly bored and restless. Desperate to keep the boy amused, Robert
(10)
(get out) some drawing paper and asked the boy to do some painting.
After he (11)
(paint) for several hours the boy (12)
(return) to his
stepfather with a beautiful coloured map of a tropical island. Robert noticed that his
stepson (13)
(draw) a large cross in the middle of the island. 'What's that?' he
asked. 'That's the buried treasure,' said the boy. The thirty-one-year-old author suddenly
had a flash of inspiration. He (14)
(recently ask) to contribute stories to a
children's magazine published by his friend W E Henley and h~ (15)
(begin) to see
the germ of an adventure story in the boy's picture. While the rain (16)
(beat
down) on the roof of his rented holiday cottage the author (17)
(sit down) by the
fire to write a story. He would make the hero a twelve-year-old boy, just like his own
stepson. But who would be the villain of the piece?
For the last four years Henley (18)
(publish) Robert's stories in his magazine,
and the two had become good friends. But there was something unusual about Henley;
as a young man one of his legs (19)
(amputate) and he walked around with the
aid of an artificial wooden leg. Robert (20)
(always want) to include such a
character in a story and thus Long John Silver, the pirate with a wooden leg, was born.
So, thanks to a rainy September in Scotland, a publisher with a wooden leg, and the
inventiveness of a twelve-year-old American boy, we have one of the greatest adventure
stories in the English language.