Read and learn about past simple, past continuous, and past perfect!
First, revise present simple, past simple, and present continuous from 4th - 6th grade!
Past simple is used to talk about actions or events that happened and were finished at a specific time in the past.
For example:
I played tennis yesterday.
She graduated last year.
She graduated last year.
Past continuous describes actions that were in progress at a specific time in the past.
For example:
I was playing tennis when it started to rain.
She was studying all afternoon.
She was studying all afternoon.
Past perfect tense is used to talk about an action that happened before another event or action in the past.
For example:
I had played tennis before it started raining.
She had studied all afternoon before she went out.
She had studied all afternoon before she went out.
Svarīgi!
The past simple describes a finished action or event in the past.
The past continuous describes something happening over a period of time in the past.
The past perfect shows something that happened before another event in the past.
For example:
She arrived at the party. (completed action)
She was arriving at the party when I called her. (an action happening over a period of time)
She had arrived at the party before I called her. (an action happened before another action)
She was arriving at the party when I called her. (an action happening over a period of time)
She had arrived at the party before I called her. (an action happened before another action)
Past simple structure:
Subject + verb (past)
For example:
I saw the movie.
He called me yesterday.
He called me yesterday.
Past continuous structure:
Past perfect structure:
Subject + was/were + verb (ing)
For example:
He was sleeping when I visited.
They were talking about the trip.
They were talking about the trip.
Subject + had + past participle
For example:
She had read the book before the exam.
They had finished their dinner by the time I arrived.
They had finished their dinner by the time I arrived.
Svarīgi!
Past simple is used for the main event, past continuous describes an action in progress, and past perfect shows an earlier action that happened before both.
For example:
I had cooked dinner (past perfect) before the doorbell rang (past simple), but while I was setting the table (past continuous), my phone rang (past simple).