UNIT 3: GRAMMAR
Past time
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Past simple
Single completed actions
Repeated or habitual actions in the
past
General truths about the past
Permanent situations and states in
the past
The main events in a story
The
present
(in
conditional
sentences)
(see Unit 11 for more information)
The present (after wish, it’s time,
would rather, etc)
(see Unit 13 for more information)
Sony and Philips invented the CD in the early
1980s.
We moved house a lot when I was a kid.
Early clocks were usually very unreliable.
Did the ancient Egyptians have more advanced
technology than other civilisations?
Frank turned on the TV and sat on the sofa.
If we didn’t have computers, what would the
world be like?
I’d rather Michael didn’t waste so much time
playing video games.
Emphatic past simple
To emphasise contrast in the past
To emphasise strong feeling in the
past
Perhaps our grandparents didn’t have e-mail,
but they did have the telephone and telegrams.
I did enjoy our visit to the Science Museum
last summer.
Past simple vs present perfect simple
In general, the past simple is used to refer to periods of time or moments, which
are finished. The present perfect is used to refer to periods of time which
continue up to the present.
The nineteenth century saw many technological advances, such as the camera
and the electric light bulb.
There have been many technological advances in recent years, the most
important being the spread of the Internet.
The past simple is used to refer to events at a specific time in the past. The
present perfect is used when the specific time something happened isn’t
important or relevant, or when the present result of a past event is important.
I sent my first e-mail six months ago.
Have you ever sent an e-mail before?
Past continuous
Actions in progress at a particular
moment in the past
Actions in progress around a particular
moment in the past
Were you chatting to Matt online at
midnight last night?
At the turn of the twentieth century,
many discoveries were being made in
physics and other sciences.
