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Past Simple
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Past Continuous
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Past Perfect
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Past Perfect Continuous
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When
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yesterday,
two days ago, last week
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at 5 p.m., at noon,
from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.,
when he entered
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by 5 o’clock
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for two hours, for three months, for a long time
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Affirmatie sentence
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I/she/he/it/we/you/they played/wrote
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I was playing
She/he/it was playing
You/we/they were playing
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I/she/he/it/you/we
/they had played/written
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I/she/he/it/you/we/they had been playing/writing
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Negative sentence
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I/she/he/it/we/you/they did not play/write
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I was not playing
She/he/it was not playing
They/you/we were not playing
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I/she/he/it/you/we /they had not played/written
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I/she/he/it/you/we /they had not been playing / writing
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General
question
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Did I/she/he/it/we/you/they play /write?
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Was I playing?
Was she/he/it playing?
Were you/we/they playing?
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Had I/she/he/it/you/we /they played/written?
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Had I/she/he/it/you/we/they been playing/writing?
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Wh-question
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What did I/she/he/it/we/you/they play/write?
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What was I playing?
What was he/she/it playing?
What were they/you we playing?
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What had I/she/he/it/you/we /they played/written?
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What had I/she/he/it/you/we/they been playing/writing?
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Adverbs of frequency (Signal Words)
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Use
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Example
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Past Simple
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yesterday,
2 minutes ago,
in 1990,
the other day,
last Friday
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1. We use it for completed activities, events or situations that happened in the past at a definite time. These actions and situations were started and finished in the past.
a) The time can be given in the sentence
b) The time is asked about
c) The time is not given in the sentence, but it is clear from a context that the action or situation finished in the past.
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a) I came home at 6 o'clock. When he was a child, he didn't live in a house.
b) When did they get married?
c) He is 20 years old. He was born in Canada.
- Alan: I've been to Iceland. (present perfect)
- Greg: Did you enjoy it? (past simple)
This morning I went to the supermarket.
My brother lived in London for six years. (he doesn't live there anymore)
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2. to describe habits or actions that happened often in the past
Note: This use is also often expressed with used to
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We walked to school every day. He always drank a glass of milk in the morning.
Bob used to smoke 20 cigarettes a day.
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3. to describe actions that happened one after another in the past. (when we tell a story)
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Charles entered the hall and looked around. He took off his coat and put it on a chair. He was at home. It happened one night in the winter.
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4. to refer to the historical past or to events that have happened in the distant past relative to the speaker
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World War II ended in 1945.
Romans built strong bridges.
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5. for reporting what someone said (converting from direct to reported speech)
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David said that he was tired.
The doctor told me that I would have to stay in the hospital for a week.
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6. to talk about action in the past that take place in the middle of another action
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When Peter arrived, I was reading a book.
I was having a bath when the phone rang.
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7. for making second conditional sentences when we talk about an imaginary or unlikely situation and to describe its result. (If + past simple, would + infinitive)
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If I won the lottery, I would travel the world.
If I were you, I wouldn't marry him.
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Past Continuous
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when,
while,
all day long
all night long
the whole evening yesterday
all the morning yesterday
yesterday at 4
at that time the day before yesterday
from 5 till 6 last Monday
when mother came home…
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1. to describe an action that was taking place at a specific point in time in the past.
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What were you doing аt 7 p.m. yesterday?
Last summer at this time he was visiting Mexico. They were dancing at a friend's birthday party last night at 10.30 p.m.
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2. to describe an action that was interrupted by another action in the past. The action with the longest duration is in the past continuous.
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While I was walking down the street I met an old friend. They were playing cards when Jim came. He phoned as we were leaving the house.
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3. to indicate that two actions in the past were in the progress simultaneously (with while)
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While I was taking a shower, mother was соoking breakfast. While I was studying in one room my elder sister was having a party in the other room.
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4. to express action that were in progress at the time of another particular time
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It was snowing all morning.
They were driving all night long.
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5. to talk about irritating repeated actions in the past (with always, constantly)
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My girlfriend was always coming late.
He was always forgetting to close the door.
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6. to make polite inquiries
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I was wondering if you could lend me your new car for a few hours.
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7. to describe the scene at the beginning of a story
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It was early in the morning. People were going to work and children were hurrying to school.
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