Tense And Aspect - 2
2. The Past Tense2.1 The Simple Past Tense:
Structure: Sub + Verb (V2) + Object
Helping Verbs Used: Did (to form questions and negative statements)
(He, She, It, I, We, You and They-------Did + V1 )
Usage in sentences:
1 . She played yesterday.
2. I drew the picture last week.
3. Did she play yesterday?
4. She did not play yesterday.
5. Didn’t she play yesterday?
Simple past tense refers to actions occurred in the past. A past tense should be used with past time
reference. They are like yesterday, 2 minutes ago, in 1 950, the other day, last Friday.
2.2 The Past Continuous Tense:
Structure: Sub + Verb ing form (V4) + Object
Helping Verbs Used: Was & Were (to form questions and negative statements)
(He, She, It, I ---- Was We, You and They-------Were)
Usage in sentences:
1 . She was typing.
2. They were watching cricket.
3. Was she typing?
4. She was not typing.
5. Wasn’t she typing?
Past continuous tense refers to actions continuing from one period of time to another in the past. Generally it is used to refer two actions in a sequence. Some adverbs are used to describe such actions. They are while, when & as long as.
1. When I entered the room the telephone was ringing.
2. I met with accident while I was walking on the road.
2.3 The Past Perfect Tense:
Structure: Sub + Verb (V3) + Object
Helping Verbs Used: Had (to form questions and negative statements)
(He, She, It, I, We, You and They-------Had)
Usage in sentences:
1 . She had finished it.
2. They had settled the issue.
3. Had she finished it?
4. She had not finished it .
5. Hadn’t she finished it?
Past perfect tense refers to actions took place in the past. Generally it is used to refer two actions in a
sequence. The first happened action in the past should always be in the past perfect and the second
happened action in the past should be in the simple past. Some adverbs are used to describe such actions.
They are already, just, never, not yet, once, until that day.
1. When I entered the hall the programme had already begun.
2. The train had already left when I reached the station.
2.4 The Past Perfect Continuous Tense:
Structure: Sub + Verb ing form (V4) + Object
Helping Verbs Used: Had been (to form questions and negative statements)
(He, She, It, I, We, You and They-------Had been)
Usage in sentences:
1 . She had been cleaning it.
2. They had been preparing it.
3. Had she been cleaning it?
4. She had not been cleaning it.
5. Hadn’t she been cleaning it?
Past perfect continuous tense refers to actions took place in the past. Generally it is used to refer two
actions in a sequence. One action in the past should be continuing till another action began. Some adverbs are used to describe such actions. They are when and before.
1. They had been playing before the coach called them.
2. I had been reading the article before my friend invited me for a movie.
