Grammar Reference

 

2.1 ■ Narrative tenses

Past simple

Affirmative	verb + -ed / -d
Negative	didn't + infinitive
Questions	did + subject + infinitive

She described the holiday in detail.

They didn't see the sights.

Did you go backpacking? Yes, we did. / No, we didn't.

Many verbs have irregular past simple forms, e.g. have ➞ had, see ➞ saw, buy ➞ bought.

Use

We use the past simple to talk about:

• completed past actions or past states.
  e visited several important sites during the week.
• a sequence of actions in the past.
  I tried to ask the man for directions in French. He smiled at me and replied in perfect English.
• past habits.
  Before he bought a car, John travelled everywhere by bike.

We use when + past simple + past simple to talk about two connected actions that happen at around the same time.

When Rosa read Rachel's note, she started laughing.

When can appear in the middle of the sentence, without a comma.

Rosa started laughing when she read Rachel's note.

Past continuous

Affirmative	was / were + -ing form
Negative	wasn’t / weren’t + -ing form
Questions	was / were + subject + -ing form

It was raining when we arrived.

We weren't cycling very fast.

Were you waiting very long for the coach?

Yes, we were. / No, we weren't.

Use

We use the past continuous to talk about:

• background descriptions.
  The sun was shining and everyone was smiling and laughing.
• actions in progress at a specific time in the past.
  I was talking to a very interesting person this afternoon.
• longer actions interrupted by shorter actions.
  I was putting my bag in the luggage rack when I dropped my phone.

We use while to introduce an action in the past continuous.

While isn't followed by the past simple.

While you were talking to Denise, Jack phoned.

We don't use the past continuous with state verbs, e.g. believe, need etc.

Past perfect

Affirmative	had + past participle
Negative	hadn’t + past participle
Questions	had + subject + past participle

Sue had remembered to bring a torch.

I hadn't been on a coach tour before.

Had you tried a house-swap before this summer?

Yes, I had. / No, I hadn't.

Use

We use the past perfect to talk about:

• an action or event that happened before another action in the past.
  They had saved up a lot of money before they went on the cruise.
• to talk about two completed past actions, introduced by when or after.
  The past perfect always refers to the action that happened first.
  When / After we had checked into the hotel, we found our room and went to bed.

This is quite similar to when + past simple + past simple, but the use of the past perfect generally suggests a longer period of time between the two actions.

When / After Rosa had read Rachel's note, she started laughing.

2.2 ■ used to and would

We use used to + infinitive to talk about:

• past habits that do not happen now.
  When I was young, I used to walk 8 km to school every day.
  My family used to stay at the same campsite every year.

We don’t use used to for single actions.

My family used to stay at the same campsite every year.

NOT My family used to stay at the same campsite last July.

Mum used to work as a tour guide.

It didn’t use to be obligatory to wear a seatbelt.

Did your grandparents use to go on a working holiday every year? Yes, they did. / No, they didn’t.

We can use would + infinitive in the same way as used to to talk about past habits and repeated actions.

As children, they used to play together for hours.

As children, they would play together for hours.

However, would is not used to describe past states.

NOT Grandad would be a postman when he was younger.

When we are talking about past habits, we generally use would only in the affirmative.

NOT We wouldn’t go on holiday to the same place every year when I was little.

NOT Would you go on holiday to the same place every year when you were little?

Although would and used to are very similar, used to simply expresses a fact, while would emphasizes that the action is typical of a person or a situation.

When we were little, it used to rain on the first day of the holidays.

When we were little, it would always rain on the first day of the holidays.