7. The past tenses

7.1. The past simple (indefinite)

Affirmative: I / you / he / she / it / we / they + V_ed/II

►You signed contracts yesterday.

Negative: I / you / he / she / it / we / they + did + not + V₀

►You did not sign contracts yesterday.

NOT: You didn’t signed contracts yesterday.

Interrogative: Did + I / you / he / she / it / we / they + V₀

►Did you sign contracts yesterday?

Short answers: ►Yes, I did. No, I did not. (=didn’t)

KEEP IN MIND: the Past Simple for regular verbs (◊ see Unit 6.3)

7.1.1. The use of the past simple

We use the past simple:

• to describe a completed action or state in the past:

►The accountant issued some invoices last week.

• to describe a sequence of past actions, e.g. the history of corporation:

►Mr Moretti set up a company ‘Global trade’ thirty years ago. He dealt with retail trade of brands in France. Three years later, he established subsidiaries all over Europe.

Time expressions: yesterday, ago, a year or so ago, then, when, last quarter, in 2012, etc

7.2. The past continuous (progressive)

Affirmative: I / he / she/ it + was + V_ing

►I was signing contracts.

you / we / they + were+ V_ing

►You were signing contracts.

Negative: I / he / she / it + was + not + V_ing

►I was not signing contracts.

you / we / they + were + not + V_ing

►You were not signing contracts.

Interrogative: Was + I / he / she / it + V_ing?

►Was he signing contracts?

Were + you / we / they + V_ing?

►Were you signing contracts?

Short answers: ►Yes, I was. No, I was not. (=wasn’t)

►Yes, we were. No, we were not. (=weren’t)

7.2.1. The use of the past continuous

We use the past continuous:

• to talk about an action that was in the process in the past:

►We were negotiating the terms of payment yesterday at noon.

• to talk about two actions happening at the same time:

►While the chief accountant was checking the annual balance sheet, her deputy was compiling profit and loss statement.

• to describe an action which was in progress when it was interrupted by another one; the second, shorter action is in the past simple:

►When I came in the lawyer was writing an executive summary.

KEEP IN MIND: ‘state verbs’ are used in the past simple, not the past continuous (◊ see Unit 6.2.1.)

►I didn’t see Jack yesterday at 5.

NOT: I wasn’t seeing Jack yesterday at 5.

Time expressions: when, while, as, yesterday at 6, yesterday from 5 till 6, etc.

7.3. The past perfect

Affirmative: I / you / he / she / it / we / they + had + V_ed/V_III

►They had signed contracts by the time we arrived.

Negative: I / you / we / they / he / she / it + had + not + V_ed/V_III

►They had not signed contracts by the time we arrived.

Interrogative: Had I / you / he / she / it / we / they + V_ed/V_III?

►Had they signed contracts by the time we arrived?

Short answers: ►Yes, they had. No, they had not. (=hadn’t)