Grammar Unit 2

UNIT 2.
PAST TENSES
UNIT OUTLINE
1. Past simple
2. Past continuous
3. Past perfect
4. Past perfect continuous
I. PAST SIMPLE
1. Formation: V + -ed
2. Spelling rules for –ed verbs (similar to those of –ing)
 One-syllable verbs: 1 vowel + consonant => double final consonant. Ex: stop =>
stopped
o Exceptions: words ending in w, x, y. Ex: bow => bowed; mix => mixed; play =<
played
 2-syllable verbs with the primary stress on the second: double final consonant.
o Ex: prefer => preferred; occur => occurred.
o If the stress is on the first syllable: not double. Ex: offer => offered; visit =>
visited
 Verbs ending in a silent –e : add –d. Ex: like => liked; behave => behaved
 Verbs ending in –y: change y => -ied. Ex: try => tried; deny => denied
3. Pronunciation of –ed
-ed / t / after / k p f θ s ʃ ʧ / Ex: cooked; stopped; washed; watched
/ ıd / after /t d / Ex: visited; divided
/ d / after the others. Ex: enjoyed; phoned
4. Uses (no connection to the present)
a. Action at a definite time (yesterday, ago, last…., in + place)
Ex: I went to the cinema with her yesterday
I met her in Dalat
b. Completed duration: I lived in Dalat for 11 years
c. A series of actions in the past
Ex: The robber forced the front door, entered the living room, took all the money
and disappeared in the dark.
d. In conditional clause type 2. Ex: If I was/were you, I would quit that job.
PAST HABIT: 3 ways

 Used to + infinitive. Ex: I used to walk to school in my childhood
 Past simple + adverb of frequency. Ex: I usually stole mangoes of my neighbor as a
child
 Would + bare infinitive (for activity only). Ex: I would steal mangoes of my neighbor
as a child
Ex: This place used to be a church
This place was once a church
Not: This place would be a church
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II. PAST CONTINUOUS
1. Formation: was/were + V-ing
2. Uses
a. Action in progress at a time in the past.
Ex: At this time yesterday, I was sleeping
b. Action in progress when another action happened.

Ex: When our visitor arrived, my wife was making tea.
c. Two actions in progress at the same time.
Ex: As I was reading, he was playing games
d. Temporary / limited duration in the past
Ex: I was waiting for you all day yesterday
e. Repeated actions in the past causing annoyance (+ adverb of frequency)
Ex: Paul was always putting cigarette ends on the floor when he was with us.
III. PAST PERFECT

1. Formation: Had + past participle
2. Uses
a. Action completed before a point of time in the past
Ex: At 9:00 last night, everybody had gone to bed.
b. Action completed before another action in the past
Ex: Last night when I came home, everybody had gone to bed.
c. In conditional clause type 3
Ex: If I had met him last night, I would have invited him to join us.
IV. PAST PERFECT CONTINUOUS

1. Formation: Had + been + V-ing
2. Uses
a. Action in progress before a point of time in the past
Ex: By 6:00 p.m. he had been typing his research paper.
b. Action in progress before another action happened in the past
Ex: They had been playing for half an hour when the rain poured down.
Note: Past perfect focuses on the result while past perfect continuous on the action in progress
Ex: Yesterday when I arrived, he had typed 5 pages
Yesterday when I arrived, he had been typing for 3 hours
He had tried 5 times to get her on the phone
He had been trying to get her on the phone for 15 minutes
Exercise 3
Put the verbs in brackets into the present perfect or past simple tense.
1. As soon as he ______ (sell) all his newspapers, he’ll go home.
2. The play ______ (just begin). You are a little late.
3. We ______ (miss) the bus. Now we have to walk.
4. Mr. Count ______ (work) as a cashier for 20 years. Then he ______ (retire) and ______
(go) to live in the country.
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5. Do you know the lady who ______(just leave) the shop?
Yes, that’s Miss Thrift. Is she a customer of yours?
Not exactly. She _______ (be) in here several times, but she _______ (never buy)
anything.
6. _________ you ________ (like) your last job?
I ________ (like) it at first, but then I _______ (quarrel) with my employer and he
_______ (dismiss) me.
How long _______ you ______ (be) there?
I _______ (be) there for two weeks.
7. _______you ever _______ (try) to give up smoking?
8. I _______ (not see) your aunt recently.
No, she ______ (not be) out of her house since she ______ (buy) her color TV.
9. He ______ (lose) his job last month, and since then he ______ (be) out of work.
10. I ______ (phone) you twice yesterday but ______ (get) no answer.
Exercise 4
Put the verbs in brackets into the past continuous or past simple tense.
1. As we ______ (come) here, a policeman ________ (stop) us. He ______ (say) that he
_______ (look for) some stolen property and ______ (ask) if he could search the car.
2. I _______ (write) a check when I ______ (remember) that I ______ (have) nothing in the
bank.
3. I ______ (find) this ring as I _______(dig) in the garden. It looks very old. I wonder who it
_______ (belong) to.
4. The children ______ (be) frightened because it _______ (get) dark.
5. I am afraid I must ask you both what you _______ (do yesterday between 10:20 and
11:30.
6. At 3:00 a.m., Mrs. Pitt ______ (wake) her husband and ______ (say that she ______
(think that someone _______ (try) to get into the house.
7. It was a fine day and the roads were crowded because a lot of people _______ (rush) to
the seaside.
8. The director didn’t allow the actors to travel by air while they _______ (work) on the
film.
9. As he ______ (get) into the bus, it _______ (start) suddenly and he ______ (fall)
backwards onto the road.
10. Tommy went to his friends’ house, but the boys (not be) there. They _______ (play)
soccer in the vacant lot down the street.
Exercise 5
Put the verbs in brackets into the correct tense: past continuous, past simple, past perfect or
past perfect continuous.
1. When I _____ (open) the door, I _____ (see) a man on his knees. He clearly _____ (listen)
to our conversation, and I ______ (wonder how much he _______ (hear).
2. We _______ (walk) along the road for about 20 minutes when a car _______ (stop) and
the driver ________ (offer) us a lift.
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3. The manager went down with pneumonia. He _______ (look) unwell for several days
before.
4. At the enquiry into the plane crash, the pilot said in evidence that he _______ (fly) this
plane for 10 years.
5. By the time the doctor ______ (arrive), the man _______(die).
6. We hardly _________ (recognize) each other because we _______ (not meet) since we
_______ (be) quite young.
7. I tried to catch him but I couldn’t. He ________ (run) very fast.
8. When I ________ (arrive), everyone _______ (sit) round the table with their mouths full..
They _______ (eat).
9. It _______ (not rain) when I ______ (look) out of the window; the sun _______ (shine).
10. When I _______ (arrive), Ann _______ (wait) for me. She was rather annoyed with me
because I _______ (be) late, and she ______ (wait) for a very long time.

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UNIT 2.

PAST HABIT: 3 ways

b. Action in progress when another action happened.

III. PAST PERFECT

IV. PAST PERFECT CONTINUOUS

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