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Past tenses
Past tenses
The infinitive | Present participle | Past participle |
To + verb | verb + ing | verb+ d or ed Mind the irregular verbs |
To close ,To walk | Closing, Walking | Closed ,Walked |
To drink | Drinking | Drunk |
To take | Taking | Taken |
The simple past |
Simple past | The rule | Example | |
He was/he drank/he went/he played Yesterday, last week, last month, last year, a month ago.... | verb+d or ed | I visited New York City a month ago.
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![]() | He ate chicken yesterday.
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![]() | James smoked for most of his life. (Maybe for 30 years) |
Question | Did + verb | ![]() | Did you find the answer? |
Negation | Did not (didn't)+ verb | ![]() | I didn't find the answer. I did not find the answer. |
Short answer | Did Did not (didn't) | ![]() | Yes, I did. No, I did not (didn't). |
Past Continuous (Progressive) | The rule | Example | |
he was playing/he was eating All night, all day, while, yesterday..) | Was / were+ verb+ing | I was reading a novel yesterday evening. (I spent the whole evening reading) | |
![]() | I was reading a novel, while he was playing. (At the same time) | ||
![]() | They were living in Moscow. (Now, they live in London) |
![]() | Note |
We can use the past simple and the past continuous in the same sentence. | ![]() | I was reading a novel, when the phone rang.
| ![]() |
![]() | We were playing games, when she arrived. | ![]() |
Past perfect | The rule | Example | |
He had played/he had gone | Had+past participle | I had finished my work by nine o’clock. | |
![]() | I had played games before I went to bed. (Two actions: one action before the other one ) |
Past perfect continuous | The rule | Example | |
He had been playing He had been going | Had+been+ present participle | Really, I was very tired! I had been revising all evening. | |
![]() | I had been waiting for James for thirty minutes when he finally arrived. (James arrived after thirty minutes ) |


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