October 14, 2015
talking about the past
1 Talking about past events and situations:
We use the past simple:
- when we are talking about an event that happened at a particular time in the past
We arrived home before dark
The film started at seven thirty.
- when we are talking about something that continued for some time in the past
Everybody worked hard through the winter.
We stayed with our friends in London.
When we are talking about something that happened several times in the past we use
- the past simple:
Most evenings we stayed at home and watched DVDs.
Sometimes they went out for a meal.
- … or used to
Most evenings we used to stay at home and watch DVDs.
We used to go for a swim every morning.
- ... or would
Most evenings he would take the dog for a walk.
They would often visit friends in Europe.
WARNING: We do not normally use would with stative verbs.
We use the past continuous:
- when we are talking about something which happened before and after a given time in the past
It was just after ten. I was watching the news on TV.
At half-time we were losing 1-0.
- when we are talking about something happening before and after another action in the past:
He broke his leg when he was playing rugby.
She saw Jim as he was driving away.
2 The past in the past
When we are looking back from a point in the past to something earlier in the past we use the past perfect:
Helen suddenly remembered she had left her keys in the car.
When we had done all our shopping we caught the bus home.
They wanted to buy a new computer, but they hadn’t saved enough money.
They would have bought a new computer if they had saved enough money.
3 The past and the present:
We use the present perfect:
- when we are talking about the effects in the present of something that happened in the past:
I can’t open the door. I’ve left my keys in the car.
Jenny has found a new job. She works in a supermarket now.
- When we are talking about something that started in the past and still goes on:
We have lived here since 2007. (and we still live here)
I have been working at the university for over ten years.
4 The future in the past
When we talk about the future from a time in the past we use:
- would as the past tense of will
He thought he would buy one the next day.
Everyone was excited. The party would be fun.
- was/were going to
John was going to drive and Mary was going to follow on her bicycle.
It was Friday. We were going to set off the next day.
- the past continuous:
It was September. Mary was starting school the next week.
We were very busy. The shop was opening in two weeks time.
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Comments
1)there is no place for you in this compartment.
2)she is very beautiful but not so intelligent as her sister is.
3)mother teresa asked for a place where she and her group could take care of poor people always.
4)what to speak of english he cannot even speak his native language correctly.
Are these sentences correct?
we have been knowing each other since we were children.
Is it correct?
Hello innocentashish420,
No, that's not correct. 'know' is one of a handful of verbs called stative verbs that are not normally used in continuous forms. You can see an explanation of this on the page I linked to.
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
HELLO I have learned that we use a and an before countable nouns, so if we use a this way is it used as an article or it has another meaning which might be hidden to me. "Most evenings he would take the dog for a walk" What is the usage of 'a' in this sentence
Hi Lamastry,
f you look up 'walk' in the dictionary, you'll see that it can be used as a count noun, and that is how it is used in this sentence. 'go for a walk' is a very common expression.
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello! may I know if this sentence is correct. "I will be lying if I said I have read the whole book" is it possible or it should be like this "I would be lying if I said I have read the whole book"
Hello Lamastry,
You can say 'I will be lying if I say that..' or 'I would be lying if I said that...'
Best wishes,
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Thank you sir
Can modal verb would be used for present time reference and future time reference(not asking for future in past).Please elaborate with examples context-wise.
please analyse these sentences grammatically and 'making sense' point of view.
1)when a child is marked absent, his parents would immediately be sent an SMS.(can 'will' be used instead of would, what would be difference in meaning?)
2)if your parents do not report to me by 11am you would be debarred from attending further classes.
3)the PM would visit this place tommorrow.
Hello innocentashish420,
Modal verbs usually have a present or future time reference, unless they are perfect modals. For example:
You should see a doctor. [the advice is about now and the future]
You should have seen a doctor. [a perfect modal with a past time reference]
As far as the second part of the question goes, I'm afraid we can't provide detailed explanations of lists of sentences. There are many users on LearnEnglish and it is simply not possible for us to provide what amounts to an individual lesson like this.
Please take a look at the pages on conditional and hypothetical forms and I think they will help you to analyse these sentences yourself:
verbs in time clauses and if clauses
wishes and hypotheses
will and would
conditionals 1
conditionals 2
Best wishes,
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
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