Past Tense

1. The Simple past tense. 

Simple Past Tense is a kind of tense which is used to describe an event or action that happened already in a certain time in  the past.

The pattern   : 

(+) Subject + verb II + complement

 (-)  Subject + did not + verb II + complement

 (?)  Did + subject + verb I

The examples :

(+)  I went to Tangkiling yesterday

(-)  I did not go anywhere last night

 (?) Did you go last week?

Adverbs used :

yesterday,

last night,

last week,

two days ago,

a few  minutes ago,

last weekend,

last month,

last year,

in 1998, etc.

2. The Past continuous Tense

Past Continuous Tense is a kind of tense that is used to describe an event or an action which was happening in a certain time in the past.

The pattern : 

(+) Subject + was/were +verb-ing+ complement

 (-)  Subject + was not/were not+verb-ing+ complement

 (?)  was/were+ subject + verb-ing+complement

The examples :

(+) He was writing a letter at eight  o’clock last night

(-) He was not writing a letter at seven o’clock last night

 (?)  Were you writing a letter at eight last night?

The Functions of past continuous tense

-    to say that an action was in progress at a particular time in the past. The action had already started at this time, but had not finished.

Example:

She was copying the materials at 10 o’clock this morning.

-      to express activities that are happening or are in progress in the past, which interrupted by other events. In this case, the formula is as follows:

When + subject₁ + simple past tense, subject₂ + past continuous

Subject₁ + past continuous + when + subject₂ + simple past tense

Note: events / activities that interrupt expressed in past tense, and serves as a description of the time. If placed at the beginning of a sentence, insert a comma before main clause.

Example:

When I called him last night, he was playing card with his friends.

I was reading when he met me.

-    to express the two events that occurred at the same time in the past. In this case, the following formula is usually used.

While + subject₁ + past continuous, subject₂ + past continuous

Subject₁ + past continuous + while + subject₂ + past continuous

While the president was giving his speech, the audience was listening to him carefully.

Male students were playing around while female ones were chitchatting.

Adverbs used:

- at the time like this yesterday,

- at seven o’clock, 

- last night, etc.

Note:

- subject I ---- was/were

- subject You, We, and They ---- were

- subject He, She, and It ----  was