Herramienta OSRMT Open Source Requirements Management Tool

We use this tense in English to talk about events or situations that are finished. Normally we use a time reference.

For example:

"Last year I went to Spain."

"In 1997, he changed his job."

"She called an hour ago."

We also use the Past Simple tense in English to talk about long-lasting events or situations in the past.

"When I was a child, I lived in the countryside."

To talk about repeated activites in the past, we also use the Past Simple.

"I often went to the beach as a child."

Past Continuous Tense ("I was doing")

There are three main uses of this tense:

1. To talk about what was happening at a particular time in the past and to give descriptions and background information.

2. To talk about temporary situations in the past.

3. To make polite requests.

1. Talking about what was happening at a particular time in the past.

"This time yesterday, I was reading a book."

We often use the Past Continuous tense with the Past Simple tense. The Past Continuous gives the background to an event in the Past Simple:

"When he got home, the children were playing in the garden." (The children started playing in the garden before he got home.)

"I was eating dinner when there was a knock on the door." (The knock on the door came in the middle of my meal.)

We can use the Past Continuous to give descriptions.

"The girl was wearing a yellow dress. She was eating ice-cream and was watching television."

2. Talking about temporary situations in the past.

"When I was living in London, I often went to the theatre." (Living in London was temporary – perhaps I only lived there for a short while.)

Compare with: "When I was a child I lived in the countryside." Living in the

countryside was a longer event – I was a child for more than a couple of years. For more permanent situations, we use the Past Simple tense.

3. Making polite requests.

If we want to make polite requests, we can use the Past Continuous tense. This is because we put a distance between ourselves and the person we are asking.

"I was wondering if you had time to see me."

"I was hoping we could discuss a pay raise."

Q: I have a doubt about this sentence” I was wondering if you had a time to see me"

so why we have to use HAD instead of HAVE.The meaning of this sentence is like you are hoping to see you by someone means you have not seen yet so why do we have to use HAD? please clear my concept.

A: I think it would also be correct to use "have", but as "was wondering" is in the past continuous, using "had" helps to maintain the sense of distance that we use when we want to be very polite.

Q: i didn't understand the 3rd point of using the past continuous tense to make a polite request.

A: We just use this tense in polite, formal situations. We could also say "Could I..." or

"Would you..." but the past continuous creates a distance between us and the other person, so is considered very polite.

Q: Is this sentence correct... When I was a child, I used to live in the countryside.

A: Yes, it's correct.

Q: I just saw the following two sentences: I’m not sure either. I just wanted to point out that we need to be careful in sth Here, the past tense is used to be polite instead of past continuous tense. Is there any reason?

A: Yes - it's more normal to use "want" in the simple rather than continuous form.

Want is a state verb, and not generally used in continuous tenses.

Q: help me clare! is this sentence correct " i had hoped that you would call me yesterday" or we use word "wish" instead of "had hope".

A: Yes, "I had hoped..." is correct.

Q: i have a question:coud you tell me in what ways these two sentences are

different in their tenses?"1.I lived in Oxford for three years." and "I HAD BEEN LIVING in Oxford for three years" thanks,

A: The first is just a statement about a past event. The second gives you the

background of a story - it explains what had happened / what had been happening before another event in the past.

Q: what is different between " I did sleep" and " I slept" some times i here peple insted of using past tens they use did+ present tense please explain for me thanks.

A: We use "did" when we are emphasising. Normally we'd use the past simple to talk about events in the past. You didn't go to the shops for me. I did go!

Q: please explain me why the words store and collect are not in past tense in this sentence.."..He helped the ants collect food and store them away for the winter.."

A: Because it's part of the construction help + verb without "to": He helped them collect...

Q: when we use did, the verb is not in past tense ..for eg: Did u have your dinner?, in this sentence we do not use "had" as did is already past tense of do. If this is a reason we do not use "had", then why do we say "Could you help me with this?", why dont we use helped here.... please explain thank you :) it would be helpful if u can email it to me as it was easier and faster to work on. thanks Clare

A: We don't need the auxiliary "did" with some types of verbs, which are the verb to be, and auxiliary verbs. With these verbs we do an inversion, rather than use the auxiliary "did". "Could" is an auxiliary verb, so all we need to do is an inversion: You could help me = Could you help me? He was French = Was he French?

Q: HELLOW IN INVERSION: DID YOU HAVE A DINNER? = HAVE YOU DID A DINNER. IS IT CORRECT SENTENCE

A: "Did you have dinner?" is correct.

Q: can you tell me when we can use the past perfect continuousand what difference is between a following sentances I have been in pain all day I had had in pain all day thinks

A: I have been in pain all day = the day hasn't finished yet. It's probably now the evening. I had been in pain all day = describing an evening in the past, just before something else happened. We use the past perfect continuous to talk about an ongoing event before something else happened in the past: "It had been raining all day when I finally left the office. The roads were wet and slippery, and there were large puddles at the side of the road."

Q: Can we use "would" or " was going to" for the things we plan for the future but we are not going to be able to do it.. or do we just say " i am planning to.... but i am not going to be able to do it ...." ?

A: To talk about things we are planning for the future now, we can use "I'm planning to / I'm going to". In the past, we can say "I was going to" or "I was planning to", but not "would". (Unless you use a 3rd conditional type - "I would have gone there

yesterday, but then my cousin called me and I changed plan".

Q: "He had been employed with us from January 2008 to January 2009."Is it right, is my tense correct, "had been"? The person is no loger connected with us. He ceased to work last January 2009.

A: "He was employed from X to X". You don't need to use the past perfect to talk about an event in the past, unless you want to show it happened before another event in the past.

Q: If I want to translate my friend´s sentence into English (in a conversation) to a native English speaker, should I say: "He just said..." or "he has said" or "he is

saying" or "He says"... I really don´t know... :-( Plus: Is it necessary to use sequence of tenses or is it also possible use direct speech that is easier???

A: If you're translating a conversation, you could just do it in direct speech.

Otherwise, "he says" is fine.

Q: "I was studying grammar school for four years" or I studied grammar school for four years". Which is correct, please?

A: " I studied at grammar school for four years" is correct.

Q: i have a doubt about this sentence"I was wondering if you had a time to see me"

so why we have to use HAD instead of HAVE.The meaning of this sentence is like you are hoping to see you by someone means you have not seen yet so why do we have to use HAD? please clear my concept

A: Using the past tense "had" means you keep the tenses consistent, as you've also got the past form "I was wondering".

Q: "I have cleaned the dishes and dried them." or "I have cleaned the dishes and HAVE dried them." ??

A: The first is better.

Q: Can I use past continuous tense to make requests in the present time? From this sentence, "I was wondering if you had time to see me." If I say it in the present but why I need to put "had"[past tense] after "if". I'm really confused..

A: It's a way of creating distance between you and the person you're asking, so your question becomes very polite.

Q: In the following excerpt: A) put the verbs in brackets into past continuous or past simple. Last night I 1) had ( have ) a wonderful dream. This is what I 2) dreamt ( dream ). We 3)_____( take ) a trip to Hawaii. I 4) was ( be ) with my family and two of my friends. We 5) were ( be ) on a ship and we 6) were travelling to honolulu.

What past tense should I put in gap nº 3? past continuous or past simple? to me is

past simple as he says that he had a dream last night and he reports a short event then in gap 5 he states the scene of the dream( past continuous ) : we were

travelling to honolulu. or maybe any of the two past tenses could be included in gap 3. does it depend on the point of view? many thanks! jose luis

A: I'd use the past continuous in 3, because he's recounting the background to the event (taking a trip to Hawaii is the background to the dream). If you used the past simple, then you'd be giving the chronology of the event: We took a trip to Hawaii.

Then we returned to the US...

Q: Which of the following 2 sentences is correct ? He was carrying a gun and was very angry. He carried a gun and was very angry. many thanks JOSE LUIS

A: I'd say that the first sentence is correct. "He was carrying..." is the background. It describes a continuous event (i.e. he carried the gun for more than a second or so.) Q: Yesterday a very strange thing happened or had happened. which is correct? it is used in a passage, and not a single sentence. thanks for your help.

A: "Yesterday a very strange thing happened" is correct. When you talk about the past, use the simple past. Only use the past perfect if there are two events in the past and you want to show which one happened before the other.