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The
Past Tenses
The Noun Basteri Anne-Michelle Henry Guillaume I. THE SIMPLE PAST TENSE
A. Formation General rule: Verb + ed
Orthogaphic modications : Verbs ending with "e" -> just add a "d" Verbs ending with a "c" -> simple past in "ck" Verbs ending with "y" (after a consonant) -> "y" becomes "i" The final consonant is dobled when : The verb contains a syllable and ends with a brief vowel+consonant
The verb, which contains several syllables, has its last one accentuated with only one vowel and a final consonant
Irregular verbs : refer to the list.
B. Use In all the cases, the simple past expresses a break with the present. It is the tense of narration.
1. A break with the present situation The simple past is usually used to express dated facts or actions which belong to a finished period. It refers to a situation that has no sequels or links with the present. The simple past can be employed with temporal expressions such as: yesterday, last week, in 1997, 3 months ago, during, formerly... The simple past can also be used to respect the sequence of tenses in the indirect speech.
If the reported speech is quite recent we don't need the preterit because there is not yet any break with the present.
In the same way general truths such as scientific rules exempt the use of the past.
Furthermore, in subordinate clauses beginning with IF or WHEN, the conditional is expressed by the simple past ( and not by "would" ).
2. A break with the present reality The simple past can refer to the unreal in order to express hypothetical facts.It is usually employed after conjunctions, verbs or expressions translating a wish or a supposition: if , as if, as though, even though, would rather, it's time, to imagine, to suppose...
II. SIMPLE PAST TENSE OR PAST PROGRESSIVE ?
A. Formation Be (preterit)+ V-ing B. Use Progressive forms are used mostly for temporary actions and situations. For longer, more permanent ones, we prefer the simple past. The past progressive is used to say that something was going on around a particular time.
When the simple past and the past progressive are used together, the past progressive will express a longer background situation or action in comparision with the shorter action that interrupted it or happened in the middle, expressed by the simple past.
III. THE PRESENT PERFECT
A.When to use the present perfect Present perfect expresses a link between past and present This link between past and present may express:
The present result of a past event Present perfect permits to evaluate the result of a past action. What matters is the present assessment.
The continuity between past and present When action is not separated from present time yet When action has just occurred at the moment When an action, begun in past, goes on in present Different prepositions are often used to precise the meaning of the sentence : for, since, all…,how long… "For" is used to insist on the last of an unfinished event
"Since" is used to insist on the origin of that unfinished event
A past event occurred within a period which is not over
B.The progressive present perfect It expresses an idea of graduation of the action
IV. THE PAST PERFECT The past perfect may relate an event occurred in an anterior past The past perfect may relate he continuation in past of an event/action begun previously
V. PAST TENSE OR PRESENT PERFECT : SUMMARY Do not compare with the french rules (imparfait or passé composé) but think of the type of action you want to describe, and establish its relation with the present. The simple past refers to a situation that has no present meaning. The present perfect is used to express just finished actions, or facts having an incidence on the present. The present perfect connects the past and the present. IF YOU WANT TO DO SOME EXERCISES ABOUT THIS GRAMMAR POINT, CLOSE THIS APPLICATION, GO TO "DEMARRER", "PROGRAMMES", "GRAMSTER"
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