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Past tenses Past tenses verb+ d or ed Mind the irregular verbs
The infinitive
Present participle
To + verb
verb + ing
To close ,To walk
Closing, Walking
Closed ,Walked
To drink
Drinking
Drunk
To take
Taking
Taken
The simple past
| Simple past | The rule | Example | |
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He was/he drank/he went/he played Yesterday, last week, last month, last year, a month ago.... |
verb+d or ed
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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 |
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Did you find the answer? |
| Negation |
Did not (didn't)+ verb |
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I didn't find the answer. I did not find the answer. |
| Short answer |
Did Did not (didn't) |
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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
|
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I was reading a novel yesterday evening. (I spent the whole evening reading) |
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I was reading a novel, while he was playing. (At the same time) | ||
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They were living in Moscow. (Now, they live in London) |
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Note |
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We can use the past simple and the past continuous in the same sentence. |
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I was reading a novel, when the phone rang.
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We were playing games, when she arrived. |  |
| Past perfect | The rule | Example | |
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He had played/he had gone
|
Had+past participle |
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I had finished my work by nine o’clock. |
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I had played games before I went to bed. (Two actions: one action before the other one ) |
| Past perfect continuous | The rule | Example | |
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He had been playing
He had been going
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Had+been+ present participle |
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Really, I was very tired! I had been revising all evening. |
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I had been waiting for James for thirty minutes when he finally arrived. (James arrived after thirty minutes ) |
BeginnersEnglish exercise "Past tenses" created by matrix_hamdi (01-12-2008) with The test builder
Click here to see the current stats of this English test
Questions:
1)
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We __________________ TV for two hours when my grandmother joined us. |  |
had been watching
had been watch
had watching
2)
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When I __________________, the telephone rang. |  |
had sleeping
were sleeping
was sleeping
3)
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I __________________ the National Museum one week ago. |
visiting
visitted
visited
4)
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When I got to the bus station, the bus __________________. |  |
had left
had leave
had been leave
5)
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After he __________________ lunch, he went out to join his friends. |   |
had finishing
was finishing
had finished
6)
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Sarah was singing while they __________________. |  |
had danced
was dancing
were dancing
7)
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Anna __________________ as a teacher for ten years. |
was worked
had working
worked
8)
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In 2003, we __________________ in France. |
were living
were lived
was living
9)
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Peter __________________ video games all day. |
was playing
had playing
was playinng
10)
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They __________________ lunch when I arrived. |  |
been cooking
was cooking
were cooking
ANSWERS:
had been watching
was sleeping
visited
had left
had finished
were dancing
worked
were living
was playing
were cooking
