Grammar reference. We use the Past Simple:

We use the Past Simple:

1 to talk about an action that happened at a specific time in the past:

I met John last night.

The time of the action may be implied in the situation through the mention of the place of the action:

I ate turnips in Germany.

Did you belong to any society at the University?

2 to talk about something that happened over a period of time in the past and was completed in the past:

I lived in Spain from 1992 to 1995.

3 to talk about repeated actions or habits in the past:

He always caught the 8.30 train to go to work.

They went to Spain every year for their holidays.

4 in narration to express a succession of actions:

I found some matches, climbed on the table, lit the gas lamp,
then settled down to read.

5 to make polite enquiries or requests, usually in formal situations:

Did you want to see me? Could you turn the TV off?

We use the Past Continuous:

1 to describe actions which are interrupted by another action (the interrupting action is in the Past Simple):

I was writing an essay when the phone rang.

2 to talk about an action that continued over some time in the past (the action may or may not have been completed):

I was doing my homework all evening.

3 with while to talk about two actions continuing at the same time in the past:

While I was writing, my brother was watching TV.

4 to talk about annoying habits in the past + always / constantly:

He was always losing his keys.

We use USED TO and WOULD:

We use the Past Perfect:

1 to describe actions and events which happened at an earlier time than the events described in the Past Simple or Continuous. There must always be a past tense to refer to:

I had never played tennis until I went to Spain.

2 with when, before and after to express the same time relations as above. (Note that the Past Simple can be used instead of the Past Perfect but the Past Perfect emphasizes the completion of the action in the subordinate clause):

When I had finished, I went home.

After I had finished, I went home.

I went home before I had finished my work.

3 in the continuous form when describing an action which continued for some time before another past action:

The train arrived late and he had been waiting for an hour.

4 in the sentence pattern with a subordinate clause of time introduced by the correlatives scarcely… when, hardly … when, nearly… when, no sooner … than to show the time relation between the two actions of a specific character: the action of the subordinate clause takes place when the action of the principal clause is hardly accomplished yet.

He had scarcely entered the room when in a chair by the door he perceived Ann Chester.

Such sentences are emphatic in meaning and so the correlatives scarcely, hardly, nearly, no sooner may be placed at the head of the sentence with an inverted word order following.

No sooner had they established themselves in the house than he perceived to his dismay a return of her gloomy mood.

5 in the sentence pattern which is a complex sentences with a before-clause or when-clause to express an action that is not fully accomplished before the action in the subordinate clause.

He had not been there for two days before he admitted that he should not have taken the invitation.

I hadn’t been in the pub five minutes when somebody brought in Tom for a drink.

Date: 2016-02-19; view: 854; Нарушение авторских прав