Verb tense is one of the essential and most crucial topics you’ll
encounter in your IELTS Review Online. Mastering the proper use of each
tense means that you understand how each one relates to another, and you
utilize their unique characteristics to express your thoughts and ideas either
in speaking or in writing.
Where the present tense is used in summaries or in explaining
directions or processes, the past tense is used to describe actions done in the
past. Past tense can either be SIMPLE PAST or PAST CONTINUOUS OR PROGRESSIVE.
SIMPLE
PAST TENSE
Forming the simple past tense of a verb in English is quite simple
enough. Unlike in other languages like Spanish or French, there is only one
past tense form of a verb no matter what the subject is. An exception to this
rule is the verb to be, which has two forms (was, were).
To form the simple past tense of a verb, we usually add -ed
to the base form of the verb:
play → played
look → looked
laugh → laughed
Other verbs, however, change their spelling altogether:
sell → sold
give → gave
bite → bit
While still others retain their spelling in the past tense:
cut → cut
hit → hit
let → let
The simple past tense is used to describe an action that began and
ended before the present, thus presenting a complete act.
I watched The Shining yesterday on Blue-Ray.
The duration of the act is unimportant; it only matters that it
occurred and was completed in the past.
Our coach played basketball for 12 years before retiring.
He heard the rumble first and then felt the earth
shudder beneath his feet.
Luke stayed home all night.
PAST
CONTINUOUS OR PROGRESSIVE
Past continuous or progressive, on the other hand, describes the
action being done or progressing at a certain point in the past.
They were working on a peace treaty before the war broke
out.
People were doing regular office work when the planes hit
the World Trade Center in 2001.
He was drinking five bottles a day before he quit.
It can be used to describe the background to a scene that occurred
in the past.
They were operating on the patient when the wife burst in
the operating theater. She was hysterical, and the nurses were
thinking of what to do. Fortunately, the head nurse, who was observing
from the corner of the room, was able to calm her down.
One
final note: If you intend to emphasize an action done in the past but is no
longer happening, you can use the form USED TO + MAIN VERB.
She used to sing at the church before her throat operation.
They used to be friends; now they’re ex-lovers.
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SOURCES:
Learning for Empowerment and Development (LEAD), Inc. Be Your Own English Teacher! Grammar Review.
Milflores Publishing, Inc., New Manila, Quezon City, 2006.
“The Past Simple Tense.” Ginger. Accessed on June 30,
2019. Accessed from: https://www.gingersoftware.com/content/grammar-rules/verbs/the-past-simple-tense/
Aida. “Past Simple Rules.” Study.com. Accessed on June
30, 2019. Accessed from: https://study.com/academy/lesson/rules-for-using-past-tense.html
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