This document provides information on English past tense grammar including the simple past, past continuous, and past perfect tenses. It includes examples of regular and irregular verbs in the positive and negative form for each tense. There are also examples that demonstrate the differences between the simple past and past continuous as well as the perfect and perfect continuous tenses. Spotting exercises are included to practice identifying errors and correct use of the past tenses.

3. PAST
Simple
Continuous
Perfect

4. SIMPLE - Positive
Regular Irregular
stopped verb to be
laughed Verb to have
happened did
arrived went
reached made
tried thought
called left
lived taught

5. SIMPLE - Negative
Regular Irregular
Did not stopped Did not ate
Did not laughed Did not fell
Did not happened Did not spoke
Did not arrived Did not went
Did not reached Did not made
Did not tried Did not thought
Did not called Did not left
Did not lived Did not taught

6. SIMPLE - Negative
Regular Irregular
Did not stop Did not eat
Did not laugh Did not fall
Did not happen Did not speak
Did not arrive Did not go
Did not reach Did not make
Did not try Did not think
Did not call Did not leave
Did not live Did not teach

7. SPOT AN ERROR
The joke was NOT funny. So, I did NOT laugh.
They were NOT scared of ghosts. So, they did
entered the ghost house at the fun fair.

8. Underline and correct the error/s
Yesterday, I felt very sleepy in class. I could
not concentrated on what the teacher was
teaching. I regretted that I did not had my
breakfast. I was extremely regretfulled. I did
not have enough energy to stay awake.

9. Spot the ‘NOT’
When I was 17, I did not mind having extra
classes at school. The teachers were very
committed that they held the extra classes for us
during the afternoon and evening preparation
classes. I could not imagine if I had the heart to
sleep during the class while knowing that the
teachers themselves had sacrificed their time to
help us out. I also never forgot that my aim was
to do well in the examination. That was why I
stayed strong throughout my final year of school.
When I got my result, I did not regret a single
second of my time being at that school.

10. PAST - continuous
Used for an action we were in the middle of
Verb to be + (verb + ing)
I was walking
She was joking
You were searching
They were drinking

11. PAST CONTINUOUS
vs
PAST SIMPLE
SIMPLE CONTINUOUS
For a complete action in the
past
For an action we were in
the middle of
I wrote a letter I was writing a letter
I drove I was driving
They walked They were walking
We did our homework We were doing our
homework

12. Continuous vs Complete
We were driving home when we saw the crash =
We were in the middle of our journey
I was eating banana fritters at the back when
the teacher called my name = In the middle of
eating
Ida and Hani were sleeping when the teacher
came in = In the middle of sleeping

14. PAST CONTINUOUS - negative
• I was not helping him at that time.
• She was not sleeping.
• They were not coming.
• We were not singing.
• It was not jumping.
Verb to be + NOT + (verb+ing)

16. PAST - Perfect
• The movie had started.
• Had + past participle
Had ate -
Had left
Had done
Had lived
Had came -

17. During the football training,
Henry is telling Amin
about an incident.
I was 16 when the incident
happened. I had been to Mount Kinabalu
with my parents. I had reached the peak of
the mountain but I could not see the view
from up there. Then, I realised that I had
forgotten my spectacles.

18. PAST – perfect - negative
• Had not been
• Had not seen
• Had not touched
• Had not eaten
• Had not played
• Had not come

19. PAST – perfect-continuous
• It had been raining all day
• I had been thinking
• She had been writing
• We had been waiting
• They had been playing
• You had been sleeping
HAD BEEN + (VERB+ING)

20. Perfect vs perfect continuous
• I had watched the movie several times before.
I had been watching the movie since I was a
kid.
• I had not watched the movie yet but the girls
had been watching it for quite a number of
times.
• I had asked her for an outing but she had been
creating excuses.

21. AT A GLANCE…
TENSE FORMULA SAMPLE OF SENTENCE
SIMPLE irregular/
regular
I helped my mother.
I ate what she cooked.
I did not help.
CONTINUOUS was/were + (verb+ing) I was helping her.
They were cooking.
I was not helping her.
PERFECT – SIMPLE
PERFECT -
CONTINUOUS
had + past participle
had + been +
(verb+ing)
I had helped her.
i had not helped her.
I had been helping her.
I had not been helping
her.

22. tense?
1. He snatched the money and ran away.
2. During the fire, not many people were
shopping in the store.
3. The cashier found that the thief had taken
only RM4.37.
4. After she had baked the cake, she ate it
herself.
5. I had been waiting for three hours that I
decided to buy something to eat.

28. Umar told me that three years ago, Hakim had an
accident. The moment Umar visited Hakim, he had been in
hospital for three weeks. He had been undergoing
treatment for another three weeks. So, he was in hospital
for six weeks.

29. GRAMMAR
PAST TENSE