PAST TENSE
When talking about past activities, one has to consider and master Past
Tense verb forms and all the Forms of Past tense.
Tense may be defined as a form of verb change that introduces the past. For example, the past tense verb forms
of the verbs such as; eat, go, and ask can be changed to the
past verb forms like ate, went, and asked respectively.
The Past tense is the tense that is always used to talk about events which
have happened already. For example:
Mabula's family moved to Tanga in 1999.
Last night, grandmother told us nice stories.
Students prepared school garden yesterday.
The common form of the past tense is formed by adding "-ed" to the end of the verb.
However, some irregular verbs have their vowels changed when introducing the
past activities.
For example:
We ate ugali with beans
We told the police what has happened
She came early in the morning.
TYPES OR FORMS OF PAST TENSE
Past tense has four (4) forms. They are:
1. SIMPLE
PAST
A sentence in the Simple Past form describes an event that occurred in
the past.
The Sentence
structure: Subject + verb in past form.
a. Positive
Sentences. Sentence
structure: Subject + verb in past form.
I washed my clothes
She cooked ugali yesterday
They played football
b. Negative
sentences. Sentence
structure: Subject + did + not + base form of the verb.
I did not wash my clothes
She did not cook ugali yesterday
They did not play football
c. Interrogative
sentences. Sentence
structure: Did + subject + base form of verb.
Did I wash my clothes?
Did she cook ugali yesterday?
Did they play football?
Note: In interrogative
and negative sentences, the verb retains the same base form and the past is
introduced by the past form of the auxiliary verb 'did'.
1. PAST
CONTINUOUS TENSE
The past continuous statements and questions describe something that
began in the past and continued to occur for a time before stopping. Sentence structure:
Subject
+ verb to be in past form + verb in -ing form.
a. Positive
sentences. Sentence
structure: Subject + verb to be in past form + verb in -ing
form.
I was washing my clothes
She was cooking ugali
They were playing football
b. Negative
sentences. Sentence
structure: Subject + verb to be in past form + not +
-ing form.
I was not washing my clothes
She was not cooking ugali
They were not playing football
c. Interrogative
sentences. Sentence
structure: Verb to be + subject + present participle
form.
Was I washing my clothes?
Was she cooking ugali?
Were they playing football?
Note: The sentences can
also be expressed by using concessions like 'when, while, since, and for'.
Examples:
I was washing clothes while Juma was watering
flowers.
When we knocked the door,
Asha
was cooking food.
3. PAST
PERFECT TENSE
This kind of past tense applies to events and activities that began at a
time preceding a period in the past. Sentence structure: Subject + had + past participle.
Examples;
a. Positive
sentences. Sentence
structure: Subject + had + past participle.
I had washed my clothes
She had cooked ugali
They had played football
b. Negative
sentences. Sentence
structure: Subject + had + not + past participle.
I had not washed my clothes
She had not cooked ugali
They had not played football
c. Interrogative
sentences. Sentence
structure: Had + Subject + past participle
Had I washed my clothes?
Had she cooked ugali?
Had they played football?
Note: These sentence
structures can also be expressed by using concession etc to form various
sentences.
Had I
known, had I finished.
Had they
known, they could be late.
PAST PERFECT SUBJUNCTIVE
These are the sentences that have a past - tense sense. They are the
sentences that describe counter factual events. Sentence structure: First clause - Had + subject + past participle
verb form: Second clause - Subject
+ would + have/has + past participle verb form.
a. Positive
sentences. Sentence
structure: First clause - Had + subject + past participle verb form:
Second clause - Subject + would + have/has + past
participle verb form. Examples:
Had I washed my clothes, I would have gone
to watch football match.
Had she cooked ugali, she would have watched
the movie.
Had they played football well, they would
have won the match.
Had they agreed with us, they would have told
us by now.
b. Negative
sentences: Sentence
structure: First clause: Had +
Subject + not + past participle verb form. Examples:
Had I not washed my clothes, I would have gone
to watch football match.
Had she not cooked ugali, she would have watched
the movie.
Had they not played football well, they would have
won the match.
Had they not agreed with us, they would have told
us by now.
c. Interrogative
sentences: Sentence
structure: First clause: Had +
Subject + past participle verb form. Second clause: Would + Subject + have/has + past participle
verb form. Examples:
Had I washed my clothes, would I have gone
to watch football match?
Had she cooked ugali, would she have watched
the movie?
Had they played football well, would they have
won the match?
Had they agreed with us, would they have told
us by now?
The sentences can also be used with 'When, while, since, and for'.
4. PAST
PERFECT CONTINUOUS TENSE
The sentences in this type of
past tense form describe something that occurred in the past and continued to
occur after the fact but in the present is no longer occurring. Sentence structure:
Subject
+ had + been + present participle form (-ing). Examples:
a. Positive sentences. Sentence structure: Subject+
had+ been + -ing.
I had
been washing my clothes
She had
been cooking ugali
They had
been playing football
b. Negative sentences. Sentence structure: Subject
+ had + not + been + -ing.
I had
not been washing my clothes
She had
not been cooking ugali
They had
not been playing football
c. Interrogative sentences. Sentence structure: Had +
subject + not+ been + -ing.
Had I not been
washing my clothes?
Had she not been
cooking ugali?
Had they not been
playing football?
PAST
HABITUAL
This is the kind of past tense
sentence that describes an occurrence that once occurred continuously or repeatedly,
but now they are no longer happening. Examples:
a. Positive sentences:
I used
to wash my clothes
She used
to cook delicious ugali
They used
to play fantastic football
They used
to agree with us.
b. Negative sentences. Examples:
She didn’t use to
cook delicious food.
They didn’t use to
play fantastic football.
c. Interrogative sentences. Examples:
Did she use to cook
delicious food?
Did they use to
play fantastic football?
Note:
Don’t say: They used to disagree
with us. Formal ×
Say: They didn't use
to agree with us. Informal √
Don’t say: Used they to
agree with us?. Formal ×
Say: Did they use to agree
with us?. Informal √
WHAT IS YOUR OPINION?
This article is about how to study and teach 'Past Tense'.
As a student or teacher, what is your opinion on how to study and teach this
sub topic/lesson?
Your opinion is worth and I believe that it can make these materials
better for our own consumption.
For more materials, you can always access 'O' Level English - OLE any
time!
You are Welcome!