
- •7. The past tenses
- •7.1. The past simple (indefinite)
- •7.1.1. The use of the past simple
- •7.2. The past continuous (progressive)
- •7.2.1. The use of the past continuous
- •7.3. The past perfect
- •7.3.1. The use of the past perfect
- •7.4. The past perfect continuous
- •7.4.1. The use the past perfect continuous
- •7.6. Practice file
7. The past tenses
7.1. The past simple (indefinite)
Affirmative: I / you / he / she / it / we / they + Ved/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.
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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 + Ving
►I was signing contracts.
you / we / they + were+ Ving
►You were signing contracts.
Negative: I / he / she / it + was + not + Ving
►I was not signing contracts.
you / we / they + were + not + Ving
►You were not signing contracts.
Interrogative: Was + I / he / she / it + Ving?
►Was he signing contracts?
Were + you / we / they + Ving?
►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.
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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 + Ved/VIII
►They had signed contracts by the time we arrived.
Negative: I / you / we / they / he / she / it + had + not + Ved/VIII
►They had not signed contracts by the time we arrived.
Interrogative: Had I / you / he / she / it / we / they + Ved/VIII?
►Had they signed contracts by the time we arrived?
Short answers: ►Yes, they had. No, they had not. (=hadn’t)