The past tense is one of the three main verb forms in the English language, alongside the present tense and the future tense. This explanation will introduce the past tense, explain the different uses of the past tense, and provide plenty of examples.
What is the past tense?
In English grammar, the past tense is a verb tense used to describe an action or event that occurred in the past.
The main functions of the past tense are:
- to express that an action/state of being happened in the past (e.g. Ava went to the farm)
- to talk about repeated and habitual actions/events in the past (e.g. we used to go to Wales all the time)
- to refer to the present (e.g. It's time I went to work)
- to refer to the future (e.g. Imagine if we moved to Italy)
We can also use the past tense for wishes and hypotheses ( e.g. I wish I had a car, What if you fell?) or to be polite (e.g. I was wondering if you could send me the file).
Now we have a basic understanding of why we use the past tense, let's explore it in more detail. We will learn about the different types of past tense and look at plenty of examples along the way!
Examples of past tense
Here are some examples of the past tense in context:
- I climbed up the huge mountain.
- They went to the shop.
- I watched TV all day.
- She was working all day on Saturday.
- They hadn't been to school for a while.
- He was laughing loudly.
Fig 1. I watched TV all day is an example of the past tenseTypes of past tense
Let's explore the different types of past tense a little further.
Each of the three main tenses (past, present, and future) is divided into four aspects. An aspect is a verb form concerned with time and indicates an action's completion, duration, or repetition. Aspects work alongside tenses to show the duration of an action within a particular tense.
The four aspects are: simple, continuous (sometimes called 'progressive'), perfect, and perfect continuous (progressive). Therefore, the types of past tense are also simple, continuous, perfect, and perfect continuous.
The simple aspect is used to express facts.
The continuous aspect shows that an action is ongoing and yet to be completed.
The perfect aspect is used for actions that started in the past but have some connection to the present.
The perfect continuous aspect is a combination of the continuous aspect and the perfect aspect. It is used to show that an action has/had/or will have been in progress since a specific point in time.
Now that we have a good idea of how tenses and aspects work together, let's look at the four different types of past tense.
Using the past simple tense
The past (simple) tense is the most common past form in the English language. It is used to talk about a completed action or event that started and ended in the past. In other words, the past simple tense describes a completed action in the past (e.g. He went to school yesterday).
The past simple tense can also be used to refer to a habitual or repeated action/event that occurred regularly (e.g. I used to go to London every Christmas).
You can form the past simple tense by using this formula:
Subject + past tense verb
For regular verbs, we form the past simple (Verb form 2) by adding the inflection -d or -ed to the verb's root. E.g. I dance → I danced
Take a look at these examples:
- She often travelled to Spain.
- We danced all night long.
- I never wanted to see him again.
Notice how each of these examples contains a finished action/event that took place in the past (e.g. travelled, danced). We may also reference the specific point of time/frequency of the verb (e.g. often, all night long).
Things are a bit more tricky with irregular verbs such as 'run → ran' and 'be → was/were/been' which don't follow the same inflection rule. Unfortunately, we just have to memorise the spellings for these irregular verbs. Here are some more examples of irregular past tense verbs.
- We saw the monkeys at the zoo.
- They were angry.
- I swam 6 miles in the race.
- The rooster rose early every morning
Other ways to form the past simple tense include the following:
| Negatives |
| Subject + did not (didn't) + verb root (the infinitive without 'to') E.g. I didn't wear my new jacket. |
| Interrogative |
| Did + subject + verb root (the infinitive without 'to') E.g. Did she see the monkeys? |
Past continuous (progressive) tense
The past continuous tense (also known as the past progressive) is used to describe an ongoing action or event in the past.
The past continuous (progressive) tense is formed like this:
subject + was/were + verb root + -ing
- I was talking to him the other day
- The sun was shining
- They were practising the guitar
The past continuous can be used to 'set the scene' for another event and is often used to describe an action that was interrupted by another action. Like this:
Both examples show an ongoing past action (walking/having lunch) interrupted by another past action (dog jumped out/started to rain).
Notice how the sentences contain the past form of 'to be' (was/were) as well as the verb ending with '-ing'. This helps us recognise that the past progressive (continuous) is being used.
Other ways to form the past progressive (continuous) include the following:
| Negatives |
| Subject + was/were not + verb root + -ing E.g. Ella was not sleeping |
| Interrogative |
| Were/was + subject + verb root + -ing E.g. Was Chloe singing last night? |
Fig 2. The sun was shining is another example of the past tense.
Past perfect tense
The past perfect tense is used to talk about an action/event that was completed in the past, often before another action/event took place.
You can use this formula to make the past perfect tense:
Subject + had + past participle- I had slept all day.
- Amy hadn't taken a day off for months.
- He had just gone home.
Notice how each sentence uses the past participle verb form (or verb type 3). In the example sentences, the part participle verbs are slept, taken, and gone. We always use past participles when forming perfect tenses.
We often use the past perfect to talk about an action/event that was completed before a second action/event occurred. Take a look at these examples:
Notice how each example includes two actions/events which are both in the past, one after the other.
Other ways of forming the past perfect include the following:
| Negatives |
| Subject + had not + past participle E.g. Emma hadn't slept |
| Interrogative |
| Had + subject + past participle E.g. Had you studied? |
Past perfect continuous (progressive) tense
The past perfect continuous (progressive) tense describes an action that started in the past and continued into another time in the past.
A past perfect progressive sentence is formed by using the auxiliary verbs had and been together with the main verb + -ing (e.g.walking). For example, 'I had been walking'.
We can form the past perfect progressive (continuous) tense by using this formula:
subject + had been + verb root + -ing
Check out these examples:
- Daniel had been cooking dinner all afternoon.
- I had been reading a really interesting book.
Like the past perfect, the past perfect progressive can also be used to 'set the scene' for another past action.
- We had been driving for an hour before the car broke down.
- Faye had been cleaning the house when I came back.
- I had been showing them a video before you arrived.
Other ways to form the past perfect continuous (progressive) tense include:
| Negatives |
| Had not (hadn't) + been + verb root + -ing E.g. John had not been eating |
| Interrogative |
| Had + subject + been + verb root + -ing E.g. Had she been running? |
Past tense revision sheet
| Tense | Explanation | Examples of use |
| Past simple | The past simple tense is used to talk about a completed action or event that started in the past and ended in the past. | - We cycled to the beach.
- Did you go outside?
- I danced all night.
|
| Past continuous | Past continuous tense (also known as past progressive tense) is used to express that an action or event was ongoing in the past. | - I was cooking all evening.
- He wasn't smiling.
- Was it raining last night?
|
| Past Perfect | The past perfect tense expresses a completed action in the past, often before another action/event took place. | - She had been ill all week
- We had adopted a new puppy for Christmas
- I had won the game
|
| Past Perfect Continuous | The past perfect continuous expresses that an action started in the past and continued into another time in the past. | - I had been laughing all day.
- She had been trying to fix her bike.
- You hadn't been working hard.
|
Using the past tense to refer to the present or future
It may sound unlikely, but the past tense can be used to refer to the present or future in particular situations. Some examples of these situations include:
Past Tense - Key takeaways
The past tense is one of the three main tenses in the English language.
There are four aspects of the past tense: past (simple), past progressive (continuous), past perfect, and past perfect progressive (continuous).
The main functions of the past tense are: to express that an action/state of being has happened in the past, to talk about repeated habitual actions/events in the past, to refer to the present tense, or to refer to the future tense.
To turn a regular verb into a past tense verb, we add the inflection '-d/-ed'
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