Past Continous Tense
Definition
General understanding past continuous tense sentence is a
sentence that states the events taking place in the past. On the use
of Past Continuous Tense verb used must end with-ing / (Verb 1 +
ing). Past Continuous Tense form of time using this type of "TO
BE" (was / were).
Was to subject : I, She, He, It, The Nurse
Were on the subject : You, They, We, The Nurses
The past continuous tense is not used alone, but it is always
used together with a certain act in the past, whether expressed or
not declared because it is understood.
Example :
Expressed
- When you called me, I was eating
Not expressed
- I was reading a book
Other acts that accompany it are sometimes replaced with a
certain time statement.
Example :
- She was watching TV at 7 pm last night
Formula and Example
The verb form of this formula for positive sentences, negative,
and interrogative following examples are as follows :
Sentence The Formula Example Past Perfect
Type Tense
( + ) Positive S + Be (Was/Were) + V1- The team was running
ing The workers were
queuing
1
(-) S + Be (Was/Were) + Not + The team was not
Negative V1-ing running
The workers were not
queuing
Interogative Be (Was/Were) + S + V1- Was the team running ?
(?) ing ? Were the workers
gueuing ?
Use of Past Continuous Tense
Past Continuous is used to express the following :
Stating activities being carried out at a specific time in the
past
For example :
- We were gardening at 7 a.m yesterday
- He was eating at 8 p.m last night
Stating activities being carried out when other events
occurred in the past
For example :
- I was cooking when the phone rang
- When the phone rang, I was cooking
- They were chattering when I came
Declare two activities / more is going on simultaneously in
the past
Sample sentences include :
- While I was sweeping the floor, my father was
watering plants
- At 9 a.m yesterday. I was baking a cake while my
brother was reading a book
2
Past Perfect Tense
Definition
The past perfect, also called the pluperfect, is a verb tense used
to talk about actions were completed before some point in the past.
The past perfect tense is for talking about something that
happened before something else. The past perfect refers to a time
earlier than before now. It is used to make it clear that one event
happened before another in the past. It does not matter which event
is mentioned first the tense makes it clear which one happened
first.
Formula and Example
The verb form of this formula for positive sentences, negative,
and interrogative following examples are as follows :
Sentence The Formula Example Past Perfect
Type Tense
( + ) Positive S + Had + V3 You had decided
She had given
(-) S + Had + Not + V3 You had not decided
Negative She had not given
Interogative Had + S + V3 ? Had you decided ?
(?) Had she given ?
Use of Past Perfect Tense
Past Perfect is used to express the following :
To show past actions that were completed before other
past actions occured
For example :
- When she arrived at home, all of her family had
slept
3
- They had left by the time we came
To show the frequency of events that have occurred in
the past
For example :
- I had been married twice
- They had applied many times
To show an unmistakable supposition as it has
happened in the past (conditional type 3 )
For example :
- If Alex had called you a bit earlier, you would
not have missed your flight
- If they had cancelled the plan, she would not
have suffered from embarassment
Past Perfect Continous Tense
Definition
Past Perfect Continous Tense, which is a verb form used when
declaring a completed action at a certain point in the past. Action
declared to have a certain time duration. Easily, this tense is used
to express an event that has been started and is in progress in the
past, but now it does not happen again.
Formula and Example
The verb form of this formula for positive sentences, negative,
and interrogative following examples are as follows :
Sentence The Formula Example Past Perfect
Type Continous Tense
( + ) Positive S + Had + Been + V1-ing Jeti had been walking
The labors had been
4
demonstrating
(-) S + Had + Not + Been + V1- Jeti had not been walking
Negative ing The labors not been
demonstrating
Interogative Had + S + Been + V1-ing ? Had Jeti been walking ?
(?) Had the labors been
demonstrating ?
Use of Past Perfect Continous Tense
Past Perfect Continous is used to express the following :
To tell the events that have happened and are going on
in the past to a certain point in the past
For example :
- When the kids came, their mom had been
waiting for three hours
Conditional sentence type 3
For example :
- If it had been raining, I would have stayed in the
office until midnight
Indirect speech
For example :
- He was playing piano ( He said that he had been
playing piano)
