ITTT 006

Unit 6Past tenses

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Unit 6 Past tenses

The Past Tenses

The system and structure of past tenses is not too
different from present tenses, except that past tenses
obviously relate to past time periods. You should begin
to see certain similarities in usage and form emerging.
Some of the rules you should be able to notice at this
stage are:

All continuous forms feature some form of the verb 'to

be' plus the 'ing' form of the verb. If the verb 'to be' is in
the present, it will be the present continuous. If the
verb 'to be' is in the past, it will be the past continuous.
Later on you will see the same principles apply to
future tenses.

All perfect forms feature some form of the verb 'to have'
and the past participle form of the verb. If the verb 'to
have' is in the present, it will be the present perfect. If
the verb 'to have' is in the past, it will be the past
perfect. Later on you will see the same principles
apply to future tenses.

All perfect continuous forms feature some form of the

verb 'to have', plus 'been', plus the 'ing' form of the
verb. If the verb 'to have' is in the present, it will be the
present perfect continuous. If the verb 'to have' is in
the past, it will be the past perfect continuous. Later
on you will see the same principles apply to future
tenses.

After reading and assimilating the more detailed

information contained in this unit, please complete the
accompanying worksheet.

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Unit 6 Past tenses
Past simple

Form

Regular verbs

Affirmative: (add -ed or –d to the base form of the verb)

I worked, I played, I hoped etc.

Negative: (add did not or didn't before the base form)

I didn't work etc.

Question: (add did plus subject before the base form)

Did you work? etc.

Irregular verbs
There is only one simple past verb which has two forms according to person. That is the
verb 'to be' which has the forms 'was' (used with I, he, she and it) and 'were' (used with
you, we and they). For all other verbs the form stays the same for all persons.

Many common verbs in English have an irregular simple past form (i.e. one that is not
created simply by adding ed). Unfortunately, there are no rules to help students know
which are irregular, or how they are formed. For example:

BASE FORM PAST SIMPLE BASE FORM PAST SIMPLE

see saw come came
have had drink drank
make made find found
do did let let
eat ate put put
go went sleep slept
forget forgot think thought
catch caught write wrote
take took understand understood
give gave know knew
get got say said
be was/were pay paid

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Unit 6 Past tenses
Usages It is used for actions completed at a definite time in the past. It is therefore
used:

For a past action when the time is given

n I met him yesterday.

n Pasteur died in 1890.
n Their time expired 30 seconds ago.

When the time is asked about

n When did you meet him?

n When did the Second World War break out?

When the action clearly took place at a definite time even though this time is
not mentioned

n The train arrived ten minutes late.

n How did you get your present job?
n We sold our Porsche a long time ago.
n My grandmother met Queen Victoria.

Sometimes the time becomes definite as a result of a question and answer

in the present perfect

n Where have you been? – I've been to the opera. – Did you enjoy it?

It's probably worth pointing out to students that if they see the word ago, then
the tense associated with it is probably going to be the past simple.

Common mistakes/errors

Most mistakes/errors with this tense arise from the use of did and did not for
questions and negatives, and use of irregular verbs. Usage problems often
lead to confusion with present perfect tense.

Sample activate teaching ideas

n To teach the irregular verb forms: card games, such as memory pairs, fish,
etc. – matching present tense with past (go-went)
n Narrative story telling in conjunction with past continuous and past perfect
n Curriculum Vitae
n Interview role-play
n Discussing past holidays/major events, etc.

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Unit 6 Past tenses
Past continuous

Form
Past tense of the auxiliary verb be (was/were) + the present participle (verb+'ing')

Affirmative: (subject + was/were + verb+ing)

Negative: (subject + was/were + not + verb+ing)

Question: (was/were + subject + verb+ing)

Usages
For interrupted past actions. While I was having a bath, the phone rang.

Used without a time expression, it can indicate gradual development that took place in
the past.
n It was getting darker.

n The winds were rising.

It can express an action, which began before that time and probably continued after it. At
eight he was having breakfast implies that he was in the middle of breakfast at eight, i.e. that
he had started it before eight. He had breakfast at eight would imply that he started at eight.

We use the continuous tense in descriptions. Note the combination of description (past
continuous) with narrative (past simple). When I woke up, the sun was shining and the birds
were singing.

Note that the past continuous almost always requires some form of time reference. For
example, I was playing tennis simply doesn't make sense, as we don't know when. One of the
few occasions when it is possible to use the past continuous without a specific time
reference is with the gradual development usage, as detailed above.

Typical student errors/mistakes

n Omission of the verb to be

n Omission of the -ing
n Use of -ing with state verbs (see present continuous)
n Confusion with past simple

Sample activate stage teaching ideas

n Detective game: Where were you yesterday at 7:00 p.m.? What were you
doing? Etc
n Use of diaries/journals. What were you doing at 7.00am on Monday?
n Telling stories: Narrating and describing a story using a combination of past
simple and past continuous; these can be based on visual prompts and/or
other stimuli.

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Unit 6 Past tenses
Past perfect

Form

Affirmative: (subject + had + past participle)

Negative: (subject + had+ not + past participle)

Question: (had + subject + past participle)

Usage
The past equivalent of the present perfect, e.g. When I arrived the concert had started.

So, which was first, my arrival or the start of the concert? And how do you know? Well,
hopefully your answers to the two questions were:

n The start of the concert.

n Because I wrote 'had started'.

Had started is an example of the Past Perfect. Now have a look at these 4 sentences:

1. When I got to the car park I realised that I had lost my keys.
2. She told me she had worked in France and Germany.
3. He arrived late; he hadn't realised the roads would be so icy.
4. She was upset because Paul hadn't telephoned.

You should see that all of the past perfect verbs (in bold type) represent actions that occurred
before other actions in the past. Thus we can say the past perfect is 'the past in the past', or
the past viewed from another past viewpoint.

Completely finished actions

Try to complete these 2 sentences with a suitable word to emphasise the fact
that a past perfect action is 100% over:

n “______ he had painted the kitchen, he decided to rest.”

n “______ she had finished the report, she realized that it was too late to post
it.”

As you have probably guessed, after and when are often used to show that a
past action had completely finished before another action in the past started.

Sample activate stage teaching ideas

n Story telling/writing in conjunction with other past tenses.
n Give students a final situation and ask them to think of reasons why that
situation had happened.
n Students see a story and then retell the story backwards, starting from the
end and describing what had happened before.

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Unit 6 Past tenses
Past perfect continuous

Form

Affirmative: (subject + had + been + verb+ing)

Negative: (subject + had+ not + been + verb+ing)

Question: (had + subject + been + verb+ing)

Usage
The past perfect continuous certainly isn't the most frequently used (or taught) tense in the
English language but it does have one major use:

To talk about longer actions or situations in the past that had been going on continuously
up to the past moment that we are thinking about. We don't know or are not concerned
with whether or not it continued after.

E.g. Before eating lunch, she had been clipping her toenails for two hours.

Common student mistakes/errors

As this tense has two auxiliary verbs – 'had' and 'been' – the omission of either one of those
or the failure to add 'ing' to the main form are the major errors with this structure. Some
problems with usage can also be expected as it can be easily confused with the past perfect
(which stresses completed actions), and the past continuous. The latter implies that the
action happened around a time and not just up to that time.

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Unit 6 Past tenses

Task sheet
Check your knowledge before attempting the unit test.

Please note that this task sheet is solely for checking

that you have understood the course unit content. You
do not need to submit this task sheet – just use it to
check you have understood the major points.

Task 1 – Identify the following tenses, giving your reason for the identification:

a) Peter went to the cinema yesterday evening.

b) He had been living there for most of his life.

c) I was sleeping at 2:00 a.m.

d) John and Mary hadn’t been there before.

Task 2 – State as many usages as possible of the past tenses below, with an example sentence for each usage
(not a sentence from the unit!).

a) Past simple

b) Past continuous

c) Past perfect

d) Past perfect continuous

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Unit 6 Past tenses

Task 3 – State how the tenses below are formed grammatically. Explain positive, negative and question forms:

a) Past simple

b) Past continuous

c) Past perfect

d) Past perfect continuous

Task 4 – Give at least 2 teaching ideas (suitable for the Activate stage of a lesson) for the tenses below and give examples
of sentences that you would expect your students to produce:

a) Past simple

b) Past continuous

c) Past perfect

d) Past perfect continuous

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Unit 6 Past tenses

Task 5 – Complete the past simple form of these irregular verbs:

VERB PAST SIMPLE VERB PAST SIMPLE

tell hide

be eat

bring find

do buy

see

Task6 – Complete the past participle form of the same irregular verbs:

VERB PAST PARTICIPLE VERB PAST PARTICIPLE

tell hide

be eat

bring find

do buy

see

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Unit 6 Past tenses

Task 7 – How would you explain the difference in structure and usage between these tenses to a low-level student?
Illustrate your explanations with example sentences of your own:

a) Past simple and past continuous

i) Explanation of differences in structure:

ii) Differences in usage:

iii) Example sentences:

b) Past simple and present perfect

i) Explanation of differences in structure:

ii) Differences in usage:

iii) Example sentences:

c) Present perfect and past perfect

i) Explanation of differences in structure:

ii) Differences in usage:

iii) Example sentences:

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