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CHAPTER

8 8 The P ast T
The Past Tenseense

Simple Past Tense

In the simple past tense, the action is simply mentioned and understood to have taken
place in the past. The action started and ended sometime in the past but the time may

or may not be mentioned.

Simple Past Tense and its Uses

Construction: simple past form

Passive: was/were + past participle

You use the simple past tense to talk about the things that happened in the past,
¤
whether a long time ago, or very recently.
For example:

1. Thousands of years ago, mammoths lived on the Earth.

2. Mr. John’s famous book was published in 1755.

3. I bought a new car last week.

4. The plane from London landed a few minutes ago.

NOTE

time
A
e
ªxpression referring to the past, such as yesterday, last week, or two years ago, is accompanied by the
simple past tense. By contrast, the present perfect is used where there is no time expression.
For example: I’ve told you about it already. I told you last week .
The
ªsimple past implies that a situation has changed, while the present perfect implies that it is ongoing up to
the present moment.
For example:
1. Helen attended this school for six years. [She no longer attends it]
2. Helen has attended this school for six years. [She still attends it]

The simple past is the normal tense for the narrative in stories.
¤
For example:

1. The Lilliputians fastened Gulliver to the ground with ropes.

2. Harry Potter ran and ran but stayed on the same spot.
38 Grammar - 8
Grammar-8