Past Tense - English Grammar Class 10

Tenses

Tense is defined as the form of verb that gives the relation between Time and Action. Time is the duration of work and action is the work done. Tense gives the time when the action is done.

There are three phases of time:

• time present (now)
• time past (passed)
• time future (yet to come)

Let’s consider the sentences given below:

• Hari eats a mango. (Present)
• Hari ate a mango. (Past)
• Hari will eat a mango. (Future)

We can observe that each sentence given above has a different meaning. The reason is that each sentence has a different form of the verb. These different forms of verbs are called tenses. The tense of a verb shows the time of an action or the state of being.

Past Tense

Past Indefinite Tense

(also called Simple Past Tense)

This tense is used in the following ways:

(i) To indicate an action that happened in the past and to report completed actions. It is used often in recounts and narratives.
Examples:

• We closed the shop at 8 pm.
• She met me last year.
• I visited the Taj Mahal three months earlier.

(ii) To indicate past habits or repeated events that are now over.
Examples:

• In those days, my mother gave me some pocket money every day.
• I always rode a bike to school when I was young.

(iii) The habitual past can also be expressed by using ‘used to’.
Examples:

• She used to drink tea in the morning.
• My grandfather used to read a few chapters of the Gita every day.

(iv) Sometimes this tense is used without an adverb of time. In such cases, the time may be either implied or indicated by the context.
Example:

• I learned Punjabi in Chandigarh.

(v) To indicate another action which happened in the middle of a longer action.
Example:

• The light went out while I was watching my favourite TV serial.

Rule for Affirmative Sentences
Subject + second form of verb +
Examples:

• I played football in the ground.
• She sung a song in the party.

Rule for Negative Sentences
Subject + did not + first form of verb +
Examples:

• I did not attend the function.
• They did not watch television.

Rules for Interrogative Sentences
Did + subject + first form of verb + ?
Question word + did + subject + first form of verb + ?
Examples:

• Did you play a game?
• Why did she abuse her friends?
• When did father go to office?
• Why did Supriya not speak the truth?

Past Continuous Tense

This tense is used in the following ways:

(i) To indicate an action that was happening at some time in the past. The time of action may or may not be indicated.
Example:

• We were watching TV the whole evening.

(ii) Used with always, continually etc for persistent habits in the past.
Example:

• He was always sulking.

(iii) The past continuous is also used for an action that was going on during a given period or at a period of time in the past.
Example:

• While Rohan was filling in the hole, his dog was digging another.

Rules for Affirmative Sentences
Singular subject + was + first form of verb + ing +
Plural subject + were + first form of verb + ing +
Examples:

• They were making a noise.
• She was driving her car.

Rules for Negative Sentences
Singular subject + was + not + first form of verb + ing +
Plural subject + were + not + first form of verb + ing +
Examples:

• She was not singing a song.
• They were not eating mangoes.

Rules for Interrogative Sentences
Was/were + subject + first form of verb + ing + ?
Question word + was/were + subject + first form of verb + ing + ?
Examples:

• Were you eating a mango?
• When were the milkmen milking the cow?
• Why was the blind boy crying?

Past Perfect Tense

This tense is used in the following ways:
(i) To indicate an action that was completed before a definite time or before another action that took place in the past.
Examples:

• Manish reached here after you had gone,
• The patient had died before the doctor reached him.

(ii) It indicates desires in the past that have not been fulfilled.
Example:

• I wish I had not wasted my time.

(iii) It expresses those conditions of the past that were impossible to fulfill.
If you hag.questioned him earlier, things would have improved.

Rules for Affirmative Sentences
Subject + had + third form of verb +
Example:

• He had cooked the food.

Rules for Negative Sentences
Subject + had + not + third form of verb + …
Example:

• They had not attended the function.

Rules for Interrogative Sentences
Had + subject + third form of verb + ?
Examples:

• Had she watched a movie?
• Why had you not gone to Delhi?

Past Perfect Continuous Tense

This tense is used in the following way:

It indicates an action which began in the past and continued up to a certain point of time in the past.
Examples:

• When we met in Lucknow, she had been studying in city college for 3 years.
• At that time, he had been working in the company for two months.

Rules for Affirmative Sentences
Subject + had been + first form of verb +ing + + since/for +
Examples:

• You had been suffering from fever since Tuesday.
• I had been studying for three hours.

Rules for Negative Sentences
Subject + had + not + been + first form of verb + ing + + since/for +
Examples:

• They had not been going to office since 5th July.

Rules for Interrogative Sentences
Had + subject + been + first form of verb + ing + + since/for + ?
Question word + had + subject + been + first form of verb + ing + since/for+ ?
Examples:

• Hatfe!gpu not been reading the book since morning?
• Where had he been playing since morning?