PAST TENSES

REVISION
PAST SIMPLE
 We use past simple to talk about:

 Completed actions or events in the past.

Tom passed all his exams
What time did they arrive?

 Past states.
I was really happy at school
He lived in his house for three years
Regular Past Simple Forms
 Most verbs  + -ed
play played work worked

 Verbs ending in –e  + -d
notice noticed decide decided

 Verbs ending in a consonant + -y  y + -ied

apply applied study studied

 Verbs ending in –l  -ll + ed

travel travelled
Regular Past Simple Forms
 Verbs of one syllable ending in a vowel + a consonant
 double the final consonant and add –ed.
plan planned

 Verbs of two or more syllables ending in a stressed

vowel double the final consonant and add –ed.
admit admitted permit permitted
Used to/ be used to/ get used to
 Used to + infinitive.
 Regular past actions. They don’t happen now. (Past)

 Be used to + ing.
 You accustomed to do something. It is a routine for you.
(Any tense)

 Get used to+ ing.

 Becoming used to something. It’s the process that we are
becoming accustomed to something. (Any tense)
 Tom used to be a baker. He used to wake up at 4.30 in
the morning to bake bread. He was used to hard work
and he was used to waking up early. He always woke up
on time. Now, Tom has retired. He still sometimes wakes
up very early but, most days, he wakes up at 9.00. He is
getting used to waking up late and he is getting used
to retirement.
Complete the explanations with get used
to, used to or be used to.

 a. _______________________ means something

happened or was true in the past but no longer happens
or is true.
 b. _______________________ means something is
normal, not unusual.
 c. _______________________ means something is
becoming normal.
 Note: Used to as a verb only exists as a past tense. Be
used to and get used to can refer to the past, present
or future.
 Used to (past): I used to wake up early.
 Be used to (past, present, future):
I was used to waking up early
I am used to waking up early
I will be used to waking up early
 Get used to (past, present, future):
I got used to waking up early
I get used to waking up early
I will get used to waking up early
 Video
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=56IG3zK3DAc
PRONUNCIATION PAST SIMPLE
(regular verbs)
 Voiced and Voiceless sounds:

 Voiced sounds: Feel the vibration of the vocal chords in

your throat:
/m/ /n/ /r/ /l/ /v/ /b/ /z/ /g/ vowel sounds

 Voiceless sounds: Less vibration of the vocal chords.

Sounds are made closer to the mouth:
/k/ /s/ /p/ /ch/ /sh/
For example
Pronunciation with past tenses
Pronunciation Exercises
IRREGULAR VERBS
PAST SIMPLE
 We use past simple to talk about:

 Completed actions or events in the past.

Tom passed all his exams
What time did they arrive?

 Past states.
I was really happy at school
He lived in his house for three years
 PAST CONTINUOUS
 USE
 We use past continuous to talk about:
 Actions in progress at a specific time in the past.
At 7 o’clock, Kate was talking to a friend.
He was still eating dinner when she arrived.
 Past actions which are interrupted by anothe
action.
I was studying at home when my boyfriend rang.
She was shopping in town one day when she saw her cousin
PAST SIMPLE AND PAST CONTINUOUS
 We use past simple to talk about an action in the past
that has finished.
 We use the past continuous to talk about an action that
is in progress at a specific time in the past.

“I studied last night. I started at seven and finished at half past

ten.” (finished action = past simple)

“What were you doing at 9 o’clock? I was studying”

 WHEN/WHILE
 We can combine the past simple and the past continuous
using when and while. We can vary the order of the two
tenses within a sentence.

While I was eating the phone rang = The phone rang while I
was eating.
When the phone rang, I was eating = I was eating when the
phone rang.

Past continuous sentence is preceded by while.

Past Simple sentence is preceded by when.
 WOULD*
 Would + infinitive To talk about past events

 “Would” is less common.

 We cannot use “would” to talk about past states. To talk

about past state we use “used to” or past simple
PAST SIMPLE
PAST SIMPLE
 USOS:
 Hablar de acciones acabadas que ocurrieron en un
momento concreto del pasado.
 Expresar acciones consecutivas del pasado.
 Indicar que una acción corta (introducida por when)
ocurrió cuando otra más larga estaba en proceso.
Jane was returning home when her car broke down. (Jane
estaba volviendo a casa cuando se le estropeó el coche).
 Describir o contar cómo eran las cosas en el pasado.
In the 19th century, London was a dangerous city.
( En el siglo XIX, Londres era una ciudad peligrosa)

La expresión temporal ago se pone detrás del periodo

de tiempo indicado y se traduce por “hace”.
She left two hours ago. (Se fue hace dos horas)
PAST CONTINUOUS
 PAST CONTINUOUS
 USOS:
 Decir lo que estaba ocurriendo en un momento concreto
del pasado.
 Expresar que una acción larga estaba en proceso cuando
ocurrió una corta. La larga a precedida de while o as y la
corta, de when.
 Expresar que varias acciones ocurrían simultáneamente
en el pasado. En este caso van unidas por while o as.
 Con always indicamos que una acción pasada nos
desagradaba por repetida y monótona.
He was always talking about his trips.
(Él siempre estaba hablando de sus viajes).