Grammar reference

UNIT 1

Talking about the past (p.12)

The main uses of the tense forms relating to the past are the follows.

1 Past simple

We use this tense when we describe a state, an event or an action (single, repeated or habitual) at a point in the past or within a completed past time period.

My parents met in Canada in 1975.

When I was a child, we lived in Vancouver.

Note: The past simple is often used to tell a story or describe a sequence of events. Initially, a time referent or other specific detail is often given to anchor the events to a specific time or situation.

When Chris Marris came to Queensmill in 1982, he was astonished by Stephen’s drawings

Something really amazing happened to us in the USA. (=when we were in the USA)

2 Past continuous

1 One use of this tense is to describe something which was already in progress at a point in the past, and which continued after that point.

I was still working at eight o’clock.

The plane was just taking off when I found I didn’t have my bag with me.

When I first saw him, Stephen was sitting on his own, drawing.

2 We also use this tense to describe something which was interrupted by another event.

We were just setting off to the airport when we heard that all flights were cancelled due to the snow.

3 We can also use it to describe two events occurring simultaneously over a period of time.

Stephen was producing these amazing drawings when other children his age were drawing stick figures.

Note: In narratives, the past continuous is often used to set the background to the story before the actual events are related.

I was sitting on my balcony, enjoying the spring sunshine, when the telephone rang.

3 Past perfect simple

1 We use this tense to make it clear that something happened before another event in the past. We usually need to use it if the events are not described in chronological order.

Chris was amazed. Nothing he had ever seen had prepared him for this.

Note: Once the time reference is clear, it is not always necessary to use the past perfect for all verbs.

By the time I was 21, I had lived in four different countries. I lived in England until I was five. Then my

parents emigrated to New Zealand, where I went to school, and then I went to university in Australia.

Finally I ended up doing my PhD in California.

2 We may also use the past perfect to make the order of events clear when conjunctions such as when and because are used.

She switched off the TV when he walked in. (= he walked in first)

She had switched off the TV when he walked in.

(= she switched it off first)

Note: With conjunctions such as before, after and as soon as, the past perfect is optional as the order of events is shown by the conjunction.

The bell rang before they (had) finished.

4 Past perfect continuous

This tense describes a continuing or repeated activity or event leading up to a particular time or event in the past. The event or activity may stop just before or at this point, or it may continue.

By 1982, Marris had been teaching disabled children for nine years.

She’d just been swimming, and her hair was still wet.