Formation of words in the past tense. When is the best time to start studying? When we use Past Simple

In everyday life, we talk about past events much more often than about present or future actions. To tell a foreign interlocutor about your achievements or interesting incidents from life, you need to know the past tense well. English language. And it contains many interesting and sometimes difficult to understand discoveries for a Russian-speaking person. Let's analyze them, try to grasp the logic English grammar and master the rules for creating the past tense.

In conversation in Russian, verbs in the past tense are used to talk about actions performed in the past. It's the same in English. But, if for us there is only one form, then the British were able to distinguish four categories in the past. Let’s also learn to carefully analyze the actions performed by analyzing types of past tense possible in English.

Past Simple

The most general category of the past. It includes facts, actions, events that took place a long time ago, a year/month/week ago, as well as yesterday and the day before yesterday. But, all this is provided that we are talking about isolated or periodic cases that are not related to other events and a moment in time. Also, the use of the simple past is typical for describing simultaneous actions and conveying actual events.

The affirmative construction in the past simple is created by the second form of the verb. Note that for sentences with to be and have in the past tense there are two forms: were/have – plural, was/has – singular.

• I watched the 34 episode of the Untouchables yesterday –Iwatched 34series"The Untouchables" yesterday.
• She spent allhermoneyonpurchasesandpaymentslastweekLast week she spent all her money on purchases and payments.
• We were at home and our son was at school –WewereHouses,AoursonwasVschool.

Interrogative and negative phrases require the addition of the auxiliary verb did. In questions it is placed at the beginning of the sentence, and in negatives it takes place immediately after the subject, forming the form did not = didn’t. Please note that in these cases the main predicate is in the first form verb, i.e. has the form of an infinitive.

• Did they sell the flat? –Theysoldapartment?
• Myfriends didn't 't go totheconcert– My friends didn’t go to the concert.

This is the easiest category of time for Russian perception, since an analogy can be drawn with our language. Next we will study more specific cases.

Past Continuous

As the name suggests, this group of times describes the processes of events occurring at a certain moment. It is important for the speaker to express not only the commission of an action, but also the period of time during which it was performed. Words do not necessarily have to be indicators of time: whole sentences can also be used in this capacity. In this case, we focus on the fact that one event happened, while another was still in progress.

Continuous tenses in English are formed using the verb to be and the first form of the participle (in –ing). To create questions like this compound predicates are divided: tobe moves to the beginning of the sentence, is followed by the subject, and the participle remains in its third place. In negation, the affirmative word order is preserved, only the particle not is added to to be.

• Mysister was playing tenniswhenIcalledher– My sister was playing tennis at the moment when I called her.
• Were they writing do they work all the day? –Theywrotemyworkwholeday?
• I wasn't 't skating intheparkat5 o'clockyesterday– I wasn’t riding in the park at 5 o’clock yesterday.

The continuous past tense in English is also used to add emotional coloring when talking about something. bad habits, negative, annoying actions that occur constantly.

• They are constantly chewing something! –TheyconstantlyWhat-Thatchew!

It should be noted that some English verbs are never used in the continuous tense. These include:

• afford,
• agree,
• arrange,
• decide
• deserve
• fail,
• forget,
• hope,
• learn
• manage
• offer,
• plan
• mean
• promise
• refuse,
• tend
• threaten

These are exclusion verbs; the verb following them cannot be used in the form. The list of such verbs must be known by heart.

The British use past simple and past continuus in conversations much more often than the remaining categories. However, perfect combinations are not uncommon in writing, so you also need to know their designs.

Past Perfect

This grammatical form is responsible for describing the completion of actions. Traditionally considered the most difficult to understand as it can be confused with more simple forms past. Let's try to learn how to separate it from others by considering the theory and example sentences.

The perfect tense is used to indicate completed actions. We can, of course, express the past in the simple past in English. , however, there is a key difference between these methods. Simple tense expresses either the simultaneity of several actions, or regular actions, or a single event. That is, in these cases, the very fact of what happened is important. If it is necessary to establish its connection with other events or a specific moment in time, it is necessary to use the perfect. We remember that with specific time continuum is also used, but it shows a process, not a completed action!

So, the perfect construction allows you to reproduce the sequence of events and establish a connection between actions, since the perfect designates what ended first. The second action, if it was completed, is put in the Past Simple, and if it was in progress, it receives Past Continuous. Therefore, the perfect past tense in English tends to be more common in indirect speech and complex expressions, but sometimes its use is justified in simple sentences indicating the time period.

To compose the predicate in the past perfect, you must use the auxiliary had and the participle II. The participle always remains unchanged, but had comes forward in questions and receives the particle not in negatives.

• Shethoughthowlongwe had worked atthefactory“She was interested in how long we had been working at this factory.
• Jack hadn't 't repaired mycomputerby3 o'clockJack hadn’t repaired my computer by three o’clock.
• Had you written thissongbeforeyoubecameafamousperson? – Did you record this song before you became a famous person?
• She had read all magazines and was speaking on the phone –SheI read itAllmagazines,AndThenchattedByphone.

We have discussed the purpose of the perfect; it remains to consider the last combined tense, which is used in English speech.

Past Perfect Continuous

These constructions are used to describe the processes of actions that took place. How then do they differ from the Past Continuous? The fact that, paradoxical as it may sound, indicates events that are close to completion. Let's try to sort out this confusion.

Combinations with the perfect continuum express that some action, begun before a specified moment or the occurrence of subsequent events, was still ongoing when a certain moment in time arrived or the next event occurred. But, unlike Pasta Continus, in these situations the action does not just happen, but is nearing completion. In Russian we would translate continuous perfect sentences into the past tense as, for example, “ I was finishing the letter when...", and a simple continuum like " I was writing a letter when..." Usage Perfect Continuous also typical for describing recently completed actions, if their result is clearly visible.

The formation of the construction depends on several elements: the verb had, the third form to be and the participle I. For interrogative sentences had is brought forward and not is added for negative ones.

• Had Nick Crowd been writing this novel for a 2 year when he decided to publish the first chapter of the book? –NickCrowdwrotethisnovelalreadytwoof the year,WhenHedecidedpublishfirstchapterbooks?
• She hadn't 't been cooking dinnerfor3 hoursbeforeIcame She hadn’t cooked dinner for three hours before I arrived.
• By the evening I was very tired. I had been playing tennisallday – By evening I was very tired. I played tennis all day.

Note that the Perfect Continuous is rarely used, and mostly in writing.

Past tense in English - summary table with adverbial clues

We have completed the material and learned that the English language expresses the past tense in several ways. For quick memorization And correct execution practical exercises, let’s make a cheat sheet for ourselves. Note that English past tenses often appear adjacent to specific circumstances. Let's use this tip too.

Hello ladies and gentlemen! Our next audio lesson is again devoted to the study of the past tense of English verbs. And today we will clearly see how the past tense form of regular and irregular verbs in English. You will also learn new phrases with verbs in the past tense to communicate with native English speakers. Formation of the past form of verbs in English

Regular verbs are words that form the simple past tense by adding the ending " -ed (-d) » to the verb stem or to the infinitive:

• explain - explained (explain - explained)
• answer - answered (answer - answered)
• expect - expected (expect - expected)
• like - liked (like - liked)
• stop - stopped (stop - stopped)
• study - studied (to study - learned)
• pretend - pretended (pretend - pretended)

The rules for forming the past tense of regular verbs in English are very simple and not difficult to remember.

But the formation of the past tense form irregular verbs don't obey any rules. They form the Past Simple according to historically established traditions, so you just need to remember them:

• Read - read (read - read)
• Understand - understood (understand - understood)
• Know - knew (know - knew)
• Write - wrote (write - wrote)
• Get - got (bring - brought)
• Hear - heard (hear - heard)
• Bring - brought (carry - brought)
• Buy - bought (buy - bought)
• Fly - flew (fly - arrived)

Listen and repeat another useful audio lesson Studying sentences with English adjectives

See the examples in the table and listen to the audio lesson with voiced examples. Repeat the audio recording of the lesson with a professional speaker, reproducing each word as accurately as possible, to train your pronunciation and learn to understand your interlocutors who speak English on ordinary everyday topics. /wp-content/uploads/2015/09/RUEN084.mp3

To check the correctness of your pronunciation, record your voice on a voice recorder while pronouncing expressions, then compare with the original and correct errors, if any.

English verbs in the past tense

The table provides examples of past tense forms of both regular and irregular verbs. Then observe how the Past tense is formed in each of the presented cases.

Moreover, remember not only examples of phrases with irregular verbs, but also with regular forms, since they will also be useful to you in communicating with native speakers. Try to remember the pattern of formation of regular verbs in the past tense and their place in the sentence.

Remember also the completed audio lessons of spoken English on the topic “Past tense verbs”:

How to determine the past tense of a verb? Answer to asked question you will get from the presented article. In addition, we will tell you how the past tense of a verb is formed in English.

General information about verbs

Before we talk about what the past tense of a verb is, we should find out what it even is.

A verb is a part of speech that denotes the state or action of an object, and also answers the questions “what to do?” or “what should I do?” It should be especially noted that they vary in mood, are transitive and intransitive, and can refer to the perfective or imperfective form.

Verb tenses in Russian

This part of speech can be used in the following tenses:

• the present;
• future;
• past.

Past tense of verb

The part of speech that stands in shows that this or that action has taken place up to the present moment. However, when describing past situations or events in life, the present tense is often used instead of the past tense.

How to form a verb in the past tense? Let's find out together

The past tense of a verb in Russian is formed from the initial form (that is, the infinitive) by adding the suffix -l- (ran, wanted, talked, helped, etc.). However, this rule has exceptions. Thus, verbs that are in an indefinite form, imperfect form and ending in -thread, -ti or -ch, are converted into the past tense (singular male) without using the above-mentioned suffix (cut - cut, etc.).

Do verbs in the past tense change?

The past tense of the verb allows the verb to change in number. In turn, the singular number can easily be declined according to gender. It should also be noted that verbs in the past tense plural, do not change by person.

Forms of verbs in the past tense by meaning

Verbs in the past tense can have a perfect and aorist meaning (only the perfect form). Let's look at them in more detail:

Verbs in the past tense can have the following grammatical meanings(only imperfect form):

• An infinite single concrete action that was performed before the moment of speech. For example: Once on New Year's Eve the girls were telling fortunes.
• An action that is repeated all the time until the moment of speech. For example: Annushka clasped her hands every time, and her eyes lit up with delight.
• An action that is constantly happening. For example: Impenetrable forests stretched almost all the way to the river.
• Generalized fact. For example: Someone asked you.

Past tense: English verbs

As mentioned above, the past tense is a form of a verb that indicates an action that has already been performed. In English, this change in words is called "Past Tenses". It should also be noted that such time differs in duration and quality. In other words, in English there is a simple past tense called "Past Simple", a continuous past tense called "Past Continuous", and a past perfect tense called "Past Perfect". Let's look at each of the forms in more detail.

Past Simple

This tense expresses absolutely any action that took place in the past. The Past Simple is formed quite simply: if the word refers to an irregular verb, then for this you need to take its second form from the table. If the verb is correct, then it is added to it. If it is necessary to pose a question, then the auxiliary word did should be used.

By the way, the past tense of the verb to be has 2 conjugations, namely were and was. As a rule, were is used with nouns only in the plural, and was - in the singular. In this case, with the pronoun you (translated as you or you) it is necessary to use only were.

Past Continuous

This form differs from the previous one in that in in this case the action of the past is shown in process. As a cheat sheet, it is recommended to remember that the presented verb will have an imperfect form. It should also be noted that to form the Past Continuous, only knowledge of the following forms of the verb to be is required: were and was.

Past Perfect or perfect continuous past tense

To form such a time, perfect knowledge of all forms and correct ones will be required). It should also be noted that for the Past Perfect it is necessary to have. By the way, the past tense has the following form: had.

It should also be noted that the Past Perfect also includes such a time as the Past Perfect Continuous, which has the following Russian meaning: perfect continuous past tense. To form it, you must use to be, which should be put in the Past Perfect form, that is, had been.

Let's sum it up

Knowing the basics of the formation of past tense verbs in Russian and English, you will be able not only to correctly deliver speech during personal communication with foreigners or your compatriots, but also to write them a competent letter.

General summary of this article

Four types of past tense in English

Usually, when talking about the past tense in English, they mean four types of tense forms: Past Simple, Past Continuous, Past Perfect, Past Perfect Continuous. I propose to remember their main meanings. Detailed articles about each of the forms can be read using the links below.

• - simple past tense. THE MOST common way of expressing action in the past, especially in colloquial speech. Used MUCH more often than others. Basic meaning: an action that happened at a certain point in the past. Including a list of sequential actions.

Christopher Columbus discovered America in 1492. – Christopher Columbus opened America in 1492.

My sister and I found this puppet in the street and took him in. - Me and my sister found this puppy on the street and took him home.

Daniel woke up, made his bed, took a shower and made breakfast. – Daniel awoke, ran it bed, accepted shower and prepared breakfast.

There are two difficulties associated with this time:

1. If regular verbs form the past tense using -ed at the end of the word, then with irregular ones it is a little more difficult. But only a little, because there are only about 90 actually used irregular verbs (see), and they are learned quickly.
2. Beginners often get confused when to use time Past Simple, and when Present Perfect , because both forms can be translated into Russian in the same way. In colloquial informal speech, the form Past Simple often used instead Present Perfect(which makes life easier). More details about this are written in the article about.

• - past continuous tense. Basic meaning: an action that occurred at a certain moment or period of time in the past. Since we often have to talk about something that happened (and did not happen) at a certain time, this form is also used quite often.

What were you doing yesterday evening between 6.30 and 7.30 pm? - What do you did last night between 6.30 and 7.30?

You said you were running. But why is your t-shirt dry? - You said that ran. But why is your T-shirt dry?

Unlike Past Simple, this form does not require knowledge of irregular verbs, except for the verb involved in its formation.

Important Note: in colloquial speech you can easily just these two ways past tense expressions.

• - past perfect (long past). An action that ended before another action in the past. Past Perfect- this is an action one step earlier than Past Simple, the “before last” action. It is used much less frequently than the previous two, but is often found in fiction.

Someone had painted (Past Perfect) the bench before I sat (Past Simple) on it. - Somebody painted the bench before I get on it sat down.

One day I was (Past Simple) outside and this weird feeling came over (Past Simple) me. Like something had popped (Past Perfect) me in the chest. - Once I was on the street and it's a strange feeling visited me. As if someone poked me in the chest.

• - an action lasted in the past until a certain moment and ended at that moment or immediately before it. Just like other times Perfect Continuous, is used very rarely.

I had been doing my homework for 3 hours and then my dog ​​eat it. - I wrote homework three hours, and then my dog ​​ate it.

Repeated actions in the past: used to, would

A special case of action in the past is a habitual, repeated action. In Russian, in this case, sometimes they add “byvalo” and verb forms like “wondered”, “read”, indicating the repetition of the action:

As a child, I used to read books about pirates.

In English, this is done using the phrase used to or verb would.

I used to

I would read books about pirates in my childhood.

Turnover used to also used to express an action that used to occur regularly but no longer occurs.

My dog used to howl like a wolf but now he is very quiet. – My dog ​​before howled like a wolf, but now he is very quiet.

I used to be an adventurer like you then I took an arrow in the knee. - Me too was an adventurer like you, but then I was shot in the knee with an arrow.

Past tense in English and modal verbs

They can only be conditionally attributed to ways of expressing actions in the past, because they can express not the action itself, but the attitude towards the action. Here are the main examples.

Verbs could and might combined with an infinitive can mean probability, the possibility of some action in the past. In this case, there is almost no difference between could and might, they are almost synonymous, except that could can express physical possibility, and might- just a probability. But this difference only appears in a certain context.

Someone stole my wallet. It could be John. - Someone stole my wallet. It could have been John (since John has the key to the room).

Someone stole my wallet. It might be John. - Someone stole my wallet. It was probably John (or maybe not John, since I don't lock the room).

In English, the past tense or Past Tense denotes an action performed in the past. This type of time is divided into the following temporary forms:
Past Simple - simple past tense.
Past Continuous - continuous past tense.
Past Perfect - past completed tense.
Past Perfect Continuous

Considering the first form, that is, Past Simple Tense, we can say that in its use it is similar to Present Simple, however, all actions take place in the past. From this we conclude that the Past Simple is used when we are talking about an action committed at a certain point in time in the past. In addition, when any facts, years of life and actions that regularly occurred in the past are mentioned, the Past Simple is also used. Recognize given time In a sentence, as a rule, signal words help: ago, last, once upon a time, yesterday, the day before yesterday and others.

Subject +Verb (ed/2/was/were)+object.

When using verbs, it is worth remembering their modification. If the verb is regular, you should add ending -ed. If an irregular verb is used, then you should use the table of irregular verbs, second form. For example:
I left home at 4:45 pm yesterday.
In my childhood he was so cute boy, unfortunately time changes people.
He was 18 years old, when he decided to make a world trip.
We watched TV three hours ago.
Past Continuous Tense we use when we are talking about an action that began in the past and continues. Basically, time frames are indicated. For example:
I was reading this magazine all day long the day before yesterday.
At this time yesterday we were playing tennis.
This tense is also used in combination with the Past Simple to highlight one action against the background of another in the past.
I was looking for my glasses, when someone called me.
My mother came back home, while I was laying in my bad and dreaming about my future.
It is necessary to remember that after the words WHEN, IF, AS SOON AS, TILL, UNTIL verbs are not used in the Past Continuous, this is a serious mistake.
Signal words that help determine a given time: while, during, at that moment in the past, all day long and others.
Sentence structure:
Subject +was/were +Verb +ing +Object.

The Past Perfect Tense is similar in use to the Present Perfect, however, the actions take place in the past. This temporary form is used quite rarely, but is still used. It is mainly used to show that one action was performed before another in the past.
When he called to St. Petersburg his friend had already booked a hotel there.
He refused to buy this bag, because he had already reserved one.
There are cases when actions are listed sequentially, in which case the Past Simple is used.
She came home, cooked dinner and saw all missed calls on the phone.
Sentence structure:
Subject +had +Verb (ed/3)+Object.


And finally, Past Perfect Continuous is used when talking about an action that began in the past, continued and finally ended. earlier than the start another action in the past.
I was so exhausted that evening, because I had been walking in the forest during the day.
She didn't like this vocation. She had been working as a nurse for two years.
Sentence structure:
Subject +had +been +V +ing +Object.