Level: intermediate
Past tense
There are two tenses in English – past and present.
The past tense in English is used:
- to talk about the past
- to talk about hypotheses (when we imagine something)
- for politeness.
There are four past tense forms in English:
| Past simple: | I worked |
| Past continuous: | I was working |
| Past perfect: | I had worked |
| Past perfect continuous: | I had been working |
We use these forms:
- to talk about the past:
He worked at McDonald's. He had worked there since July.
He was working at McDonald's. He had been working there since July.
- to refer to the present or future in hypotheses:
It might be dangerous. Suppose they got lost.
This use is very common in wishes:
I wish it wasn't so cold.
and in conditions with if:
He could get a new job if he really tried.
If Jack was playing, they would probably win.
For hypotheses, wishes and conditions in the past, we use the past perfect:
It was very dangerous. What if you had got lost?
I wish I hadn't spent so much money last month.
I would have helped him if he had asked.
and also to talk about the present in a few polite expressions:
Excuse me, I was wondering if this was the train for York.
I just hoped you would be able to help me.
- Past tense 1
- Past tense 2
Hello Yash,
The speaker here has a choice. They could say either of these:
Both are grammatically correct, and so we cannot say that the action is in the past.
The past form is less direct and this makes it a little more polite. Obviously, saying 'I'm sorry' adds further politeness.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Fiona,
There are times when we do use the present simple to talk about the past, but in a text from an encyclopedia, the general style is to use the past to speak about a person who is no longer alive.
I'm not sure if I've answered your question, so please ask again if you have any other doubts about this.
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello again Fiona,
I can see what you mean, but I'm afraid that using the present tense to talk about Einstein, Mozart or Hemingway would be non-standard in most situations in English. I say 'most situations' because maybe there is some very specific one where it would work, but I can't think of one.
In some other Indo-European languages (for example, Spanish or Catalan), a present tense can be used in the way you suggest, but in English it isn't. I might suggest you think of the present simple as a tense for things that are always true (e.g. the sun is a star, winter begins in June in Argentina, etc.) rather than as for general facts, which is a category that's a bit too wide I think.
By the way, it is possible to use the present tense in English to speak about past events when you are telling a story or summarising something you have heard, read or seen (e.g. a film). Note that in both cases, the speaker is showing a kind of personal perspective, and so this wouldn't be appropriate for speaking about historical figures in most contexts.
Hope this clarifies it for you, but don't hesitate to ask again if you have any other questions.
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Peter,
I think you're being a little harsh on the English language here! It is quite logical, but it's important to approach the meaning in the right way. This means not focusing on the action of the verb but rather the time frame in which it occurs. For example:
The past tense is used here not because the action is no longer true - Cormack McCarthy is still writing novels, after all. However, we have a closed (finished) time reference and so the action is complete in that sense.
When the time reference is not closed, we use a present tense:
On the other hand, when no time reference is given, the past tense indicates that the action itself is complete and no longer current, while the present tense indicates that the action is still true:
Thus, as you say, 'Mozart was my favourite composer' would mean that something has changed and Mozart is no longer your favourite. On the other hand, if you include a finished past time reference then it could still be true:
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Ahmed Imam,
The correct form is 'had' because the verb here is 'have'. We say 'have health problems' not 'do'.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hi Ahmed Imam,
This is a bit complicated but I'll try to explain! Let's start with the most likely options.
In these sentences, the second verb is done by Tom. Notice that the second verb is in the same tense as the first verb (e.g. slept and watched - past simple). This is because if a speaker offers two options for an activity, as in these examples, they are almost certainly in the same timeframe.
The third example above uses just watched, but it's still the past perfect tense. That's because it follows had slept (past perfect). There's no need to repeat the auxiliary verb had.
Below are some meanings that are less likely, but are still grammatically possible.
These two sentences have a different meaning. Watch can follow I'd rather (= I'd rather watch). So in these sentences, watch TV means the speaker (not Tom) watching TV. For example, in the first sentence, the speaker prefers that Tom slept instead of the speaker him/herself watching TV.
So, overall, all the options are grammatically correct - but the first group of examples are the most likely meanings. Does that make sense?
We try to answer questions as quickly as we can. At busy times it may take a little longer :)
Best wishes,
Jonathan
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Peterlam,
Yes, there is a difference in meaning between the past simple ('I ate') and the present perfect ('I have eaten'). The past simple form speaks about an event that we considered finished and entirely in the past ('Yesterday I ate all the cookies' -- yesterday is clearly a time that has already passed), whereas the present perfect form shows that we think there is still a connection to the present ('I have eaten all the cookies' -- here perhaps we are both looking at the plate where the cookies were before I ate them, and which now only has crumbs on it. We can still see the results of my recent past action.).
You can read more about this and see other examples on our Talking about the past page.
Hope this helps you make sense of it.
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello lima9795,
Get when used as a main verb means something similar to receive. For possession, we don't use get as a main verb but rather in the form have got (had got etc). In your example, you could replace didn't have with hadn't got.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Ahmed Imam,
That's not quite right. We would use the verb 'moved (to)' rather than 'lived (in)':
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Ahmed Imam,
Both sentences are grammatically possible.
The first sentence (she left) implies the following sequence: first she left school, then she learnt many things.
The first sentence (she had left) implies the following sequence: first she learn many things, then she left school.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Badagoni.Naresh,
'went on to win' is the correct form. In this case, the phrasal verb 'to go on' is followed by an infinitive.
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Kapil Kabir,
I'm afraid ...ordered me that I... is not a correct construction, irrespective of the form of the verb which follows.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Kapil Kabir
There are explanations of this on our Reported speech 1, 2 and 3 pages. Please have a look at those pages and try the exercises on them. If you have any further question, don't hesitate to ask us on one of those pages.
All the best
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Santinder,
As presented and without any other context, neither sentence is correct. The present perfect (have seen) is not used in a finished time context (yesterday). The past perfect (had seen) is only used when there is a second past reference, not a present time reference (want).
The most natural way to form this sentence is with a past simple verb:
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Marmar234
You can choose whether to speak about it in the present or in the past. In general, if you want to focus on your visit and your experience there, the past is probably a better choice. If you want to focus on the place, then the present might make more sense. The same is true for speaking about people.
You might find the Talking about the past page useful.
All the best
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello mehransam05
'to' is not used before the object of the verb 'fight' -- we just say 'fight the enemy' here.
All the best
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Baruwanku
I can't say for sure without knowing the context, but, for example, if this is the introduction to a book, since it is explaining the contents of the book, which still exists, the present tense makes sense. If you were explaining an event that happened in the past, then the past tense would be better.
All the best
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Anubhav
That is grammatically correct. It indicates that she had the boyfriend in the past (when you were in college), but it doesn't say anything about the moment of speaking.
All the best
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hi jitu_jaga,
When we express a point of view or an opinion we use the simple form, whether in the present or past:
When we want to use 'think' to mean 'consider' then we can use the continuous form:
Occasionally, you can find examples of the continous form used to emphasise an opinion which changed, but this is quite unusual:
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello sumanasc
Yes, it is a past simple form. You can find this kind of information in a good dictionary (follow the link).
All the best
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team