The use of the past simple (indefinite)

1. We use the Past Simple to express a single action which took place in the past, and the period of time is already over:

I saw her yesterday (adverbial modifiers of time: this morning, today, tonight)

He worked in that bank for four years (He doesn’t work there now).

2. It is used to express an action which occupied a whole period of time now over:

I admit I was wrong. Remember how we quarreled about it? We quarreled for three days.

3. This tense is used in narration to express a succession of actions in the past:

I went up the stairs. I bathed, then I changed and went downstairs, cooked and served dinner for three.

Note: If an action occupied a whole period of time, it is indicated by means of prepositional phrases: for, during, from… to, all day, all night and the like.

I looked and him for a long time and then shrugged.

4. Repeated actions in the past which no longer happen are expressed by means of used to + Infinitive (colloquial) or would +Infinitive (literary):

David used to spend a lot of money on clothes. These days he can’t afford it.

Did you use to eat a lot of sweets when you were a child?

I didn’t use to like them. (I used not to like them).

5. We use the Past Indefinite to express an action going on at a given past moment with the verbs that can’t be used in the Past Continuous (with stative verbs):

I was looking at him but I didn’t see him.

I was enjoying the party, but Chris wanted to go home.

6. We use it to express a future action viewed from the past:

a) in reported speech:

Probably she knew that, whatever happened, he would not give her away.

b) in a complex sentence with a clause of time/condition/concession with when, after, before, till/until, since…

I said that when he saw them they were playing tennis.

c) in the Conditional sentences (type 2):

If someone tried to blackmail me, I would tell the police.

He said if he helped me he would be glad.

The past continuous (progressive) tense

It is formed by means of the Past indefinite of the auxiliary verb “to be” (was/were) and Participle I of the notional verb. In the interrogative form the auxiliary verb is placed before the subject. In the negative form the negative particle ‘not’ is placed after the auxiliary verb.

I was reading.

He was not reading.

Were you reading?

The contracted forms are:

a) negative forms wasn’t / weren’t:

He wasn’t reading. They weren’t reading.

b) negative-interrogative forms:

Was he not reading? – Wasn’t he reading?

Were they not reading? – Weren’t they reading?

The use of the past continuous

1. The Past Continuous is used to express an action which was going on at a given moment in the past, the beginning and the end of the action are not indicated:

Little Marry came in. She was eating an ice-cream.

2. It can be used to express an action which was going on at a given moment which is indicated by another past action expressed by a verb in the Past Indefinite or by an adverbial phrase:

When he came I was reading.

At midnight he was still working, though he was ill and wanted to sleep.

Note! The Past Continuous or the Past Indefinite is used after such phrases as: the whole day, all day long, the whole morning etc.

They were working in the garden all day long. – a routine, casual action

They worked in the garden all day long. – deliberate action, remarkable for the situation

3. We use it to express an action going on at a given period of time in the past, which is generally understood from the context:

“What were you doing in Paris?” “I was trying to find a publisher for my new book”.

4. The Past Continuous is used to express gradual development:

It was getting darker.

The wind was rising.

5. Sometimes we use this tense to convey the attitude of the speaker to the listener. And such expressions have negative emotional characteristics (always, constantly):

He was always ringing me up early in the morning.

In her childhood she was constantly crying.

Note! Was / were + being means behaviour that is not typical in general:

You were being impolite! I couldn’t recognize you!

6. This tense is used to indicate a future action viewed from the past to express a definite previous arrangement:

He was busy packing, as he was leaving that night.

7. It is used in a complex sentence in the subordinate clause (a clause of time) introduced by:

a) the conjunction AS, when the actions of the principal and the subordinate clauses are partially simultaneous:

As I was going inside, Mrs. Drawbell intercepted me.

b) the conjunction WHILE, when the actions of the principal and the subordinate clauses are:

1) fully simultaneous:

She sat still as a statue while he was playing.

2) partially simultaneous:

While I was reading, I heard a splash from the bath.