What is Past Tense And Types Of Past Tense, Examples

Many people have trouble understanding past tense and the different types of past tense. That’s because the subject matter can be somewhat confusing to grasp when compared to the present tense. In this article, we’ll explain in simple terms what each type of past tense means and how you can use it effectively when writing your documents or articles. If you’re familiar with verb conjugation, you know that there are many different ways to conjugate the same verb. There are three basic types of tenses that can be applied to verbs, past tense, present tense, and future tense. These tenses are used to describe actions that happened in the past, actions that will happen in the future, and actions that are happening in the present time respectively. This article will detail what each of these tenses actually means and how they can be applied to specific verbs within a sentence structure.

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Simple Past

Use Past Simple tense when the action happened in the past. The dog ate all my chocolates. Now, I have no chocolates. Yesterday, I bought a new car. Yesterday, my brother was in an accident. In 1820, people went to church on Sundays and studied at home on weekdays. Use Past Continuous tense when action started in past and continued till present: The dog was eating all my chocolates when I saw him doing that. So I threw him out of my room/house/apartment (remove ‘my’ from sentence if using preposition). He was so small and cute then, but now he has grown up into a dangerous animal! Use Future Perfect tense when action will be completed before a specific time or event: By 3 pm tomorrow, John will have finished his report. After two years, we will have saved enough money for our dream vacation. If you want to find out more about English tenses, check these websites: English Grammar Today English Grammar Rules English Grammar 4U LearnEnglish Teens StudyEnglish Kids EasyEnglish News My English Page Presentation Online Course Presentation Poster Presentation Text Poster Presentation Slide Poster Presentation Write your own post based off of the following topic: What is Past Tense And Types Of Past Tense? Past Simple tense is used when talking about things which happened in past. Example: The dog ate all my chocolates yesterday. I had no chocolates today because of it!

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 Perfect Tense

Use Present Perfect tense when you don’t know the exact time but it was recently. I have seen that movie . It was a great one. Present Perfect tense is also used for an event that started in past and it’s still continuing. I have been here for two years now. The training will take place in Washington next week and I am still unsure if I will be able to attend. It is also used when you talk about experiences which happened many times before: He has visited England 3 times. In addition, there are some special cases like yesterday, last year, last month, last week etc. For example Yesterday I went to see my friend. We had dinner together. In present perfect tense we use only have/has + V3 or be + V3 but not both at once (we can use been + V3 only after for): She has lived in London for 5 years . She has worked there since 2006. You should notice that we can use some expressions with present perfect like already , yet , just , never etc.: Have you ever been to China? Yes, I have just returned from Beijing yesterday! (or) Yes, I have just returned from Beijing yesterday!

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Pluperfect Tense

Use Pluperfect tense when an action happened before another action in the past. I had already eaten when he came. We had already finished our homework when my mother phoned. Use Simple past tense when there is a series of actions in a chronological order. The books were sent last week. My new car broke down yesterday. Use Future perfect tense to show action will have been completed by a certain time: I’ll have finished by 6 pm, unless I take an extra break (future meaning) or if I don’t finish on time today, then I’ll do it tomorrow (past meaning). Use Future perfect tense to show that one action will be completed before another takes place: By 9:00 am they will have arrived and we shall not have started lunch yet! Use Present perfect tense to show that something has happened at some point in your life up until now: I’ve seen all of his movies. She’s read all his books. They’ve watched all his TV shows. It’s usually used with expressions like ever, never, once, etc.: Have you ever met him? Once upon a time… There are two forms of present perfect tense which are used for different purposes: One form is used for something that happened at an unspecified point in your life up until now; for example, I’ve lived here since 1995.

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 Simple Future

We’ll have finished building before you arrive. To show an action that happened in a certain time period: I lived there for five years. Explain what happens when something begins or ends: She decided to stop smoking. It’s possible to use will/won’t instead of shall/shan’t, but not always: He said he wouldn’t come. In most cases, if a verb doesn’t indicate a change in time, we use present simple tense. Past simple tense can be used as well to talk about things that happened and are now over, but it’s less common than past continuous and past perfect tense: If I’d had more money, I would have bought that car! The city was beautiful when it was new (but now it’s very run-down). This form is often used with if clauses like these ones – see below for more details about using if-clauses with past simple tense. We use past continuous to say that something started in a certain time period and continued until another action took place in a different time period: He was building a treehouse while she was reading a book. We also use it to show an action that took place repeatedly in a certain time period: They were eating dinner when we arrived. We don’t usually use past continuous for one-off actions or events: He built a treehouse yesterday; She read a book last week; We arrived at 7 o’clock last night; They ate dinner every day last month; There were three people at my party last year. When we want to talk about something happening before another event, we use ‘before’ + present simple tense: Before you arrive, we’ll have finished building.

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Future Perfect

Use Future perfect tense when a future event happens before another future event. As Mark Twain once said, Someday is not a day of the week. The future perfect tense indicates an action that will happen before another future action. In order to create it, users will have + past participle (3rd form) + past participle. For example: By December I will have finished my second novel. The future perfect tense is also used when you are talking about something that happened in a certain period of time before another event that happened in a different period. For example, We will have owned our house for 10 years by next April. Use Present Perfect tense when an action started in past and continues until now.: Present perfect tense is used to talk about actions that started in past and continue until now. To make present perfect tense we need has/have + 3rd form of verb (past participle). It can be positive or negative sentences. Example: She has lived here since 1990. Use Simple Past Tense When An Action Happened Once And Has Ended.: This is one of four simple tenses and it shows actions which were completed at some point in time. It can be positive or negative sentences as well as questions and answers. Example: Tom left school at 16, he got his first job right away; He was very successful businessman; What did you do yesterday? If you are interested to learn new skills, the Entri app will help you to acquire them very easily. Entri app is following a structural study plan so that the students can learn very easily. If you don’t have a  background, it won’t be any problem. You can download the Entri app from the google play store and enroll in your favorite course.

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