past-tenses

1.

Past Tenses

2.

TENSE
MEANING
1) Regular
actions in
the past
Past
Simple
2) Onemoment
actions
(facts) in
the past
MARKERS
FORMATION
1) With TO BE
Positive
Subject + was / were
Question
(Question word) + was / were +
Subject?
Negative
Subject + wasn’t / weren’t
Yesterday
Last
Ago
On / in (+
period of time) 2) With OTHER VERBS
Positive
When (?)
Subject + V2
Question
(Question word) + did + Subject +
V1?
Negative
Subject + didn’t + V1
EXAMPLES
My parents were right.
Where were you?
Was she at school
yesterday?
I wasn’t busy last week.
He went to the theatre
yesterday.
What did you do last
Friday?
Did they swim yesterday?
Lucy didn’t visit her
grandparents last weekend.

3.

TENSE
MEANING
MARKERS
At (+ time)*
*mind the actions
FORMATION
Positive
Subject + was / were + Ving
that can’t last
Past
Continuous
A process in
the past
From … to /
till
For … (hours)
The whole
(evening)
All (day)
Question
(Question word) + was / were +
Subject + Ving?
Negative
Subject + wasn’t / weren’t + Ving
EXAMPLES
Jack was reading the whole
evening yesterday.
What were you doing from 3
to 5 yesterday?
Was your mother cooking at
7 o’clock yesterday?
Nick wasn’t playing the
piano at 11 in the morning.

4.

WHEN / WHILE / AS SENTENCES
Past Simple
Past Continuous
In Russian
Что сделал?
Что делал?
Example
I met my friend
when I was going to the cinema.

5. Remember!

REMEMBER!
We don’t use the
Continuous forms with
state verbs!

6.

TENSE
Past
Perfect
MEANING
An action
that was
completed
before a
certain
moment /
another
action in
the past
MARKERS
FORMATION
Positive
Subject + had + V3
By
Before
After
Question
(Question word) + had + Subject
+ V3
Negative
Subject + hadn’t + V3
EXAMPLES
Mary had completed the
task by 6 o’clock.
How had you done all this
by lunch?
Had she cooked dinner
before her mum came
home?
Bob hadn’t written the
essay by the end of the
lesson.