We invite you to explore the intricacies of various past English forms, including the Past Simple, Past Continuous, Past Perfect, and Past Perfect Continuous, as well as other ways of expressing the past, such as “would” and “used to.” Read on to brush up on your grammar and possibly even learn a few new things.

Past Simple vs. Past Continuous

The Past Simple generally refers to:

1. Completed actions (e.g. I came to the office, turned on my computer, and checked my email.)
2. Habits (e.g. I went to the gym every Friday.)
3. States (e.g. When I was young, I had long hair.)

The Past Continuous generally refers to:

1. Actions in progress, often interrupted by other events (e.g. I was doing my homework when Called called.)
2. Background description in narrative (e.g. I entered the office and looked around. Most people were working at their desks, but Jane was staring out of the window and pretending to write something at the same time.)
3. Changing states (e.g. The car was getting worse all the time. One of the headlights was gradually falling off, and the engine was making more and more funny noises.)
4. Repeated actions + criticism* (e.g. When Mike was a kid, he was always losing things.)

*With a frequency adverb, this use is similar to the use of the Present Continuous to express annoyance. More examples: 1) I was constantly hearing loud music from the next office, which made it hard for me to concentrate. 2) She was frequently borrowing my supplies without asking. 3) They were repeatedly interrupting me during meetings.

❕Note that the Past Continuous is not used to describe general habitual actions, without the sense of criticism mentioned above. The Past Simple is used for this meaning. Compare: 1) She was frequently borrowing my supplies without asking (This sounds critical of her; her actions annoyed me.). 2) She frequently borrowed my supplies (This doesn’t sound critical at all; it simply states the fact that she did that.).

Past Perfect vs. Past Perfect Continuous

We use the Past Perfect when we are already talking about the past, and we want to go back to an earlier past time (‘double past’): By the time I got to the station, the train had left. 

Compare the sentence above with:

The train left five minutes before I got to the station.

❕When we talk about a sequence of past events in the order that they happened, we more commonly use the Past Simple, especially with quick, short actions. More examples of this: 1) We watched a movie, discussed it afterward, and went to bed. 2) I came to the office, turned on my computer, and checked my email. 3) The train left five minutes before I got to the station. (First it left, and then I got there.)

Compare the sentences above with the slightly revised versions. The meaning is the same, but the sequence of the past events is not in the order they happened: 1) We discussed the movie after we had watched it, and then we went to bed. 2) Before I turned on my computer and checked my email, I had obviously come to the office. 3) When I got to the station, the train had left. OR By the time I got to the station, the train had left. 

The Past Perfect Continuous. The same contrasts between the Past Simple and the Past Continuous (see the section above) can be made in the Past Perfect verb forms for events further back in the past. So, the Past Perfect Continuous is used in the sentences below to emphasize the duration of an action that was ongoing up until a certain point in the past.

• I had been living in a small apartment up to then. (This indicates that the speaker lived in the apartment for a period leading up to a specific time in the past. It emphasizes the continuity of that living situation.)
• While had been cleaning the mess, the dog had made more. (This shows that the cleaning was an ongoing action that occurred over a period of time before the dog created more mess.)
• The whole place was deserted, but it was obvious that someone had been living there. They’d been cooking in the kitchen for a start, and they hadn’t bothered to clear up the mess. (In this case, “had been living” and “had been cooking” suggest that these activities were ongoing and happened over time before the speaker’s observation. It underscores the idea that the place had been inhabited and used for cooking, even though no one was there at the moment.)

The Past Perfect and the Past Perfect Continuous are also common in reported speech. For example: 1) She said she had finished her homework. 2) He mentioned that they had gone to the concert the night before. 3) He said that he had been feeling unwell. 4) She explained that they had been planning the event for weeks.

❕When converting from direct speech to reported speech, the present tense verbs in the direct speech typically shift back to past tense: Present Perfect → Past Perfect & Present Perfect Continuous → Past Perfect Continuous. Subscribe to our blog so you don’t miss future posts on reported speech. They are definitely coming up.

❕Note that the Past Perfect is not used simply to describe an event in the distant past. For that, you should use the Past Simple: I graduated in 2007, NOT I had graduated in 2007. To use the Past Perfect, you need more context. For example: I graduated from university in 2013, and I had graduated from school in 2007.

Used To & Would

We generally use ‘used to‘ to show contrast with the present. The contrast may be stated or implied:

• I used to swimming a lot. (But I don’t now.)
• I didn’t use* to smoke 10 years ago, but sadly, I’ve picked up this nasty habit that I am desperately trying to beat now.

‘Would‘ is used to describe repeated actions, not states. It describes a habitual activity which was typical of a person:

• Every week he’d buy his mother a bunch of flowers.
• When I was a child, I would visit my grandparents every summer.

❕Sometimes ‘would’ and ‘used to’ are interchangeable. Remember that both forms can describe repeated actions, but only ‘used to’ can describe states:

• I used to like cowboy films. (I used to like cowboy films.)
• They would often have dinner together as a family. / They often used to have dinner together as a family. (‘have’ is an action verb, not a state one, in phrases like ‘have dinner,’ ‘have a shower,’ ‘have a meeting,’ etc. Therefore, both past forms are possible in this case.)

‘Would‘ is more common in written language and often occurs in reminiscences: 1) (from a memoir) As a child, I would spend hours exploring the woods behind my house. 2) (from a story) Every summer, we would travel to the coast and build sandcastles.

Unfulfilled Past Events

These describe events intended to take place, but which did not happen:

• I was going to call you, but I forgot.
• I was thinking of going to Italy this year, but I haven’t decided.
• I was about to do it, but I started doing something else.
• Jack was to have taken part, but he fell ill. (‘was to’ is for a plan or expectation & ‘have taken part’ – the perfect infinitive form; it implies that the action of participating was expected to happen before another point in time (the time when he fell ill)). Other examples like this: 1) She was to have started her new job last week, but the company postponed her start date. 2) They were to have gone on vacation, but their plans changed due to unforeseen circumstances. 3) We were to have met for dinner, but he got caught up in a meeting. 4) The team was to have played in the championship game, but the event was canceled.

❕The contrasting past event is often understood, but not stated:

• I was going to call you…
• I was thinking of going to Italy this year…
• I was about to do it…
• The team was to have played in the championship game…

Polite Forms

These are common with ‘wonder‘:

• I wondered if you could help me with this project.
• I was wondering if you wanted to come to the movies.
• He wondered whether you might join us for dinner.
• We were wondering if it was OK to ask for an extension on the deadline.

📚 Materials used for writing this article: “Advanced Language Practice” by M. Vince and P. Sunderland (Macmillan, 2003)

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