Past tenses in English - Linguapress online grammar (2024)

The different ways of expressingpast timeinEnglish.

English uses threeprincipal forms of the past, the Simple Past (orpreterite),thePresent Perfect (or compound past), and thePast perfect, sometimes called thePluperfect. There is also aspecial tense called the futureperfect.
The three past tenses of English all have simpleandprogressiveforms, as illustrated below. These tenses can be used intheactive, as in the examples on this page, or the passive.

Forms of past tenses : sample verb make

For passive forms, see Formsof the passive

Look at English grammar with Linguapress. Simple rules, clearexamples.

1.Thesimple past.

This is used to relate past events in a historic context.Often,you will know that it must be used, because the sentence also containsan adverb (or adverbphrase) of time,such as yesterday, a date or time as inexample 1, or an implied but unstated moment, as in example 3.

Examples:
1)Queen Victoria died in1901.
2) TheTitanic sankwhenit hit an iceberg.
3)I toldyou not to drink too much
4)Next,they wentand cookeddinner.

1.1.Simple past - progressiveorcontinuous forms:

Here aresomeexamples with a progressive or continuous formtoo: both of the events in each sentence are "historic", but one tookplacewhile another longer-lasting situationwas true:

Examples:
5)John Lennon diedwhile he waslivingin New York.
6) Thestudents shoutedas the Presidentwasspeaking.

1.2. Usedto andwould - thepast of finished situation or finished habit

To express a finishedhabit, or terminatedsituation or action, there are two additional possiblestructures,one with used to,the otherwith would.To express a terminatedsituation, only the structure with used tocan be used. Terminated situation can also be expressed using thesimple past often reinforced by an adverbof duration or of time.

Examples:
1)I used togo to Brighton when I was a child. But I don't any longer.
2) He wouldcall her every day when she was younger, but he doesn'tnow
3) This street used to bevery quiet; but nowadaysit's full of traffic.
4) This street wasoncevery quiet,but nowadays it's full of traffic.

For more on this, see: Problem words - Usedto.

2.The Present Perfect (or compound past)

InBritishEnglish, the presentperfect (which Samuel Johnson called, perhaps moreappropriately, the compoundpreterite) is used to situate pastevents, or the consequences of past events, in relation tothe presentsituation (that's why it is called the "present"perfect).Americans do not always use the present perfect in this situation.

Examples:
1. I have ordered a new refrigerator,darling!
(i.e.,the speaker means "A new refrigeratoriscomingandwill be here soon").
2. I've eaten too much!
(i.e.thespeaker implies: "At thismoment now, I do not feel verywell;I have a funny feeling in my stomach!)
3. Manchester United have won theCup
(i.e.ManchesterUnited arenow, at this moment , football champions).

You do not usually find adverbs of timeused with verbs in the present perfect, but there are some exceptions:

1.already:
2.adverbsof frequency:
3.adverbs or adverb phrases of duration related to the present:

1. Come on, we've alreadystarted eating!
2. I'veoftenseenpeople driving too fast downthat road.
3. I'velived in London forten years.
(Contrastwith: Ilived in London for ten years (but I don't live there now) - a historicstatement)
4. I'velived in London since1985.
5. I'vebeenliving in London since1985. (Both of these forms are acceptable)
6. Upto now, I'vealways refused toeat fish.

2.1.Present-perfectprogressive orpresent-perfect continuous:

Theseprogressive forms are used when we want to imply that an event / eventsin the past have been continuing until the present point in time, orhave taken place over a period of time in the past

I'vebeen waiting foryou since three o'clock.
The doctor has beenseeing patients for most of the afternoon.

(► Cross reference:since and for)

3. Thepast perfectorpluperfect.

Thepast perfect tense, or pluperfect, as in Hehad seen,is normally only usedin English when one past event (either a specific action, or a contuouscondition) has to be situated ina more distantpastthan another past event. In some situations, the progressiveor continuous form is necessary.

Examples:
I hadjust put the phone down, when the doorbell rang.
The man hadbeen drinkingbefore the accident happened.
He hadworkedin the company for five years before he got promotion.

There aresome other uses too, but they are lesscommon. Note, for example, the use of the past perfect (and inversion)after hardly:

Hardly hadI put the phone down, than the phone rang.

4. The futureperfect

The future perfect, as inThey will havefinished,is used to situate a moment or situation thatwill be in the pastby the time (a) another event occurs, or (b) a point in time isreached, or (c) another situation is true.

Examples:
a) I will havefinishedreading the book before I go to bed.
b1) I think that the boss willhave interviewedall the new candidates by 6 p.m.
b2) By next Monday, I will have beenliving here for a month.
c) If you get all the answers right, you will have donebetter than anyone else.

Comparative grammar: Usingpast tenses in French:

Footnote.
For an overview of this linguistic argument, see The Present perfect: present tense or past tense ?