Uses of Past Tense (Correct Form Of The Verbs)

Uses of Past Indefinite Tense:-

• With works or incidents of the past-

1. He wrote a novel last year.

2. India became free in 1947.

• ‘Used to’ is used to denote past habits. But it denotes habits that are not being continued in the present-

1. When he was young, he used to play cricket.

• To give information about someone or to ask or tell his/her condition, the past form of the verb be (was/were)is used-

1. She was an expert pilot.

2. Was she an expert pilot?

3. No, she wasn’t an expert pilot.

• With conditional sentence type-2nd

         If +Past Indefinite+….would/should+1st form of the verb

1. If I had money, I would buy a car.

• With the following adverbs used in a sentence-

1. Last night, last year, last month, last week, long

   ago, sometime back, yesterday, once, in 2009, etc.

Uses of past Continuous Tense:-

• For work that had been continuing in the Past for some time and in the middle of that time another work starts and ends. For the ended work we use Past Indefinite and for the continuing work, we use Past Continuous.

1. When the bell rang, I was watching TV.

• For works that continued in the Past simultaneously-

1. I was reading a story while Hari was writing letters.

2. She was singing a song while her brother was playing the flute.

• If time is given in a sentence of this tense, it indicates that a task was running continuously at that time.

1. At 3:00 p.m. they were playing tennis.

• To describe the incident happening-

1. When he came, my father was reading the newspaper.

2. My mother was preparing breakfast when I was studying.

• Past Continuous tense is also used with ‘As’.

1. As he was crossing the road, he saw a banana skin on the road.

• adverbs of Past Continuous Tense:- at that time, at that moment, those days, then, etc.

Uses of Past Perfect Tense:-

• This tense is used for work that ends before another work in the Past. Past Perfect Tense is used for work that ends before and Simple Past Tense is used for work that ends after. Before, when, after, till, until, etc conjunctions are used to connect these sentences.

1. They had practiced before they did it.

2. He had seen the ball before he hit it.

3. He had worked very hard before he finally won.

4. He went out after the rain had stopped.

5. He had liked it before this happened.

6. The report had been ready before you spilled the coffee.

7. He had been healthy until he started overeating.

• With such a Conditional clause in which the condition doesn’t fulfill in the future.

       Pattern: If+Past perfect+……..would have/should have+V3

1. If you had reached the station in time, you would have met your friend.

• To express any unfulfilled desire of the Past this tense is used with ‘wish, would, sooner/rather, if only, as if, as though’.

1. I wish I hadn’t telephoned her.

2. If only I had seen the thief.

Uses of Past Perfect Continuous Tense:-

•     It is used for such work which has been started from some time in the past and continued till some time in the past. In the sentences of this tense since/for/all+time is given and with this, another past clause is also given.

1. When he came, I had been watching TV for two hours.

2. When he came, I was very tired, I had been working all day.

 

English Grammar

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