Verb Tenses - Past TIMELINE TIMEFRAME EXPLANATION FORM VERB Past Past action action is over and has no Use for regular verbs – “ed” is finished connection to present Ex: you talked I talked to him X he, she talked yesterday. we talked Past Present Future they talked Past Continuous Past action is over, but there was past of verb be” plus “to movement or progress at form of verb “ing” I was talking to XXX that time Ex: you were talking him yesterday. he, she was talking Past Present Future we were talking they were talking Past Perfect Past two actions that happened Use plus the past “had” in the past, one before the participle of verb I had talked to him XY other Ex: you had talked before I went to he, she had talked Past Present Future work. we had talked they had talked Past Perfect Past two actions happening in Use been” plus “had “ing” Continuous the past, one before the form of verb XXXY other, but there was Ex: you had been talking I had been talking movement or progress he, she had been talking Past Present Future to him when the we had been talking doorbell rang. they had been talking X = One Action Y = Another Action
Verb Tenses - Past TIMELINE TIMEFRAME EXPLANATION FORM VERB Past I talked to him yesterday. X Past Present Future Past – action is finished action is over and has no connection to present Use “ed” for regular verbs Ex: you talked he, she talked we talked they talked Past Continuous I was talking to him yesterday. XXX Past Present Future Past action is over, but there was movement or progress at that time past of verb “to be” plus “ing” form of verb Ex: you were talking he, she was talking we were talking they were talking Past Perfect I had talked to him before I went to work. XY Past Present Future Past two actions that happened in the past, one before the other Use “had” plus the past participle of verb Ex: you had talked he, she had talked we had talked they had talked Past Perfect Continuous I had been talking to him when the doorbell rang. XXXY Past Present Future Past two actions happening in the past, one before the other, but there was movement or progress Use “had been” plus “ing” form of verb Ex: you had been talking he, she had been talking we had been talking they had been talking X = One Action Y = Another Action
Verb-Tenses.docx