What Is Past Tense?
Past tense refers to any event that has already taken place. Past tense is further divided into four types as given below:
- Simple past/ Past Indefinite
- Past Continous
- Past Perfect
- Past Perfect Continous
Past Indefinite Tense
The past indefinite tense which is also known as simple past tense, denotes a finished or completed action or a task that had occurred or happened at a specific point in time in the past.
Structure:
| Subject + verb in the past form + . . . . . + adverb of time + . . . . . |
Example:
- Ram went to London last year.
- I ate a apple a few minutes ago.
- She had an exam yesterday.
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Past Progressive/Continuous Tense
Structures:
Subject + was/were + verb + ing + a specific time |
| Ram was sleeping yesterday at 6.30 AM He was cleaning the dishes at around 5.30-6.30 yesterday. |
When the condition is given then the structure of the sentence:
| When + subject + simple past tense + subject + was/were + verb+ing |
| When she went out, you were shouting from behind. When Ram came, I was sleeping. |
| Subject + was/were + verb+ing + when + subject + simple past tense |
| He was shouting from behind when she went outside. I was sleeping when Alex came home. |
| While + subject + was/were + verb+ing + subject + was/were + verb+ing . . . . |
| While He was sleeping, you were making noises. While Ram was playing, I was sleeping. |
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Past Perfect
The past perfect usually denotes the two successive actions taking place one after another. In such sentence we usually have two completed actions in the sentence; one happens before the other.
Structures:
Subject + had + past participle form of the main verb + before + subject + simple past tense . . . Ram had completed the task before his mother asked. He had bought a gift before you came here. |
When before is use then the structure of the sentence is as given below:
Before + subject + simple past tense + subject + had + past participle form of the verb +. . . . Before he went to the school, she finished some her work. Before he went home, she had taken a test. |
When after is used in a sentence then the structure is:
| Subject + simple past tense + after + subject + had + past participle . . . . Anthony ate after I had bought him a ball. He went to the office after I had finished my work. |
| After + subject + had + past participle + subject + simple past tense . . . . After I had bought a racket, he came to the shop. After he had gone, I called up. |
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Past Perfect Progressive or Continous Tense
The past perfect progressive or continous tense refers to an action which continued for a specific period of time but stopped before another action.
Structure:
| Subject + had + been + verb+ing + . . . . . + for/since + . . . . .+ before + subject + past simple tense Alex had been playing badminton for 18 years before he retired.
John had been living in london since 2010 before he moved to Melbourne.
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