Past tenses

Past simple and past continuous:

We use the past simple to talk about:

• Events or actions in the past that have completely finished (I spent a fortnight in Cornwall with my family)
• Things which happened repeatedly in the past (We went to London every weekend last year)
• Past states (I was very shy when I was young)

We use past continuous:

• To talk about an action in progress at specific moment in the past (I saw you yesterday. You were sitting on the bus)
• When an action takes place over a period of time in the past (While I was working, my sister was watching TV)

We often use the past simple and the past continuous in the same sentence with when and while:

• To refer to a past action interrupted by another action. The past continuous describes the longer action and the past simple describes a shorter action which interrupts it (I was shopping in town one day when I noticed a job advert/ I saw her while I was cycling to work)

Past simple and past perfect:

• We use the past simple to talk about a completed action in the past (I got to the station at 7.30)
• We use the past perfect to talk about actions or situations which happened before other actions or situations in the past. We use the past simple to talk about the most recent of the actions or situations (I got to the station at 7.30 but the train had already left)
• We use for and since with the past perfect to indicate the duration of a past action or situation. We never use for and since with simple tenses (I'd known her for years/ He'd worked there since March)

Past simple and present perfect simple:

• We use the past simple to talk about a state or an action that finished in the past (I worked in London last summer)
• We use the present perfect simple to talk about a state or an action that started in the past, and that continues in the present (I've worked in London since 2004 (I still work in London))
• We use the past simple when we are specifying the exact time or period of time when something happened. We specify the time by using a time expression: ago, then, when, for two days, in 2006, etc (I finished my project last weekend)
• We use the present perfect simple if we are not specifying the time when something happened. We use adverbs of time to show the connection between past and present: never, ever, already, just, yet, for, since (Have you already finished your project?)

Used to:

Affirmative:

I/he/she/it/you/we/they + used to + infinitive (She used to love eating sweets)

Negative:

I/he/she/it/you/we/they + didn't use to + infinitive (I didn't use to like coffee)

Interrogative:

Did + I/he/she/it/you/we/they + use to + infinitive (Did you use to live here?)

We use used to to contrast a past habit or situation with the present. We use used to to explain that the habit or situation no longer exists in the present (I didn't use t o have an MP3 player (but now I do))

Remember!

• We can also use would + infinitive to talk about a past habit.
• But we cannot use would + infinitive to talk about a past state.

Be / get used to:

• We form be used to with be + used to + -ing (I'm used to getting up early)
• We form get used to with get + used to + -ing (He got used to walking everywhere)
• We can use be and get in different tenses, but used to never changes.

Use:

• be used to means "be accustomed to"
• get used to means "become acusstomed to"

Remember!

Be careful not to confuse be used to and get used to with used to. They have different meanings and structures.