Past Tense Aspects - JSS2 English language Lesson Note

Simple Past Tense: The simple past tense is used when we talk about things that happened or were completed in the past

1. • Usage: The simple past tense is used to describe actions that were completed at a specific time in the past.
   • How to Use: For regular verbs, we usually add “-ed” to the end of the verb. For example, “play” becomes “played”. But some verbs are irregular, and they change in different ways. For example, “go” becomes “went”.
   • Form: The simple past tense is typically formed by adding “-ed” to the base form of regular verbs. For irregular verbs, the simple past tense can vary.
   • Examples: “I walked to the park.” (regular verb), “She saw a movie.” (irregular verb)  “Yesterday, I played football with my friends.”

Past Continuous Tense: The past continuous tense is used when we talk about things that were happening (continuing) at a certain time in the past.

• Usage: The past continuous tense is used to describe actions that were ongoing at a specific time in the past.
• How to Use: We use “was” or “were” and add “ing” to the end of the verb. For example, “I was playing” or “They were playing”.
• Form: The past continuous tense is formed by using “was/were” + present participle (base verb + “ing”).
• Examples: “I was reading a book.”, “They were playing football.”  “I was doing my homework when my friend called me.”

Past Perfect Tense: The past perfect tense is used when we talk about something that happened before another action in the past.

• Usage: The past perfect tense is used to describe actions that were completed before another action or time in the past.
• How to Use: We use “had” and the past participle of the verb. For regular verbs, the past participle is the same as the past simple (we add “ed”). For example, “I had played”. But for irregular verbs, it can be different. For example, “I had gone”.
• Form: The past perfect tense is formed by using “had” + past participle (usually base verb + “ed” for regular verbs).
• Examples: “I had finished my homework before dinner.”, “She had left by the time we arrived.”  “I had already eaten dinner when my mom came home.”

Past Perfect Continuous Tense:  The past perfect continuous tense is used when we talk about something that started in the past and continued up until another time in the past.

• Usage: The past perfect continuous tense is used to describe actions that were ongoing for a period of time and were completed before another action or time in the past.
• Form: The past perfect continuous tense is formed by using “had been” + present participle (base verb + “ing”).
• How to Use: We use “had been” and add “ing” to the end of the verb. For example, “I had been playing”.
• Examples: “I had been studying for two hours before my friends came over.”, “They had been working all day before they finally took a break.”  “I had been studying for two hours before my friends came over.”