Past Complete: reporting past activities or events

Past Complete

Reporting past activities or events

Past vs. Past Progressive

PAST			PAST PROGRESSIVE
Past Tense is used for a completed activity or event before the current moment.			Past Progressive emphasizes the duration or the repetition of a past activity or event. (When used with the past (nonprogressive) it indicates a background activity.)
SUBJECT Jack	VERB (past) received	COMPLEMENT a speeding ticket on June 16th. (exact time)	SUBJECT Jack	VERB was receiving	COMPLEMENT a speeding ticket when a friend drove by.(relative time)
Jack	didn't think	responsibly. (more permanent – his character)	Jack	wasn't thinking	responsibly. (at the moment while speeding)
Jack	attended	traffic school online at night. (indefinite time)	Jack	was attending	traffic school online every evening for a week. (repetition)
Jack	daydreamed	a lot. (more permanent – his character)	Jack	was daydreaming	while he was driving.(relative time)
Jack	was	more careful after that. (permanent)	Jack	was being	more careful after that. ("was becoming")

traffic school – a course that one has to take to reduce a traffic fine (penalty)
complement – a word, phrase or clause which is necessary in a sentence to complete its meaning

Past

Adverbs

Adverbs for Both Past & Past Progressive Tenses

PAST & PAST PROGRESSIVE ADVERBS
Past tense adverbs tell us when or how frequently a past activity occurred. Emphasis is on the action rather than the time. Past is used with all the adverbs in this table (except while...)			Past progressive adverbs tell us how frequently or how long a past activity occurred. Emphasis is on the time: duration or repetition. Past progressive is used with all the adverbs in this table (except when...)
AT, IN, ON	AGO, LAST, THAT/THOSE	THIS / THESE	ADVERBS & CONJUNCTIONS	ADVERBS OF FREQUENCY	FOR, FROM, OVER, DURING
A specific time in the past	A past time based on quantity or calendar units	A past time before the current time	A time relative to another event or action in the past	A time that reoccurred in the past	A time with duration in the past
yesterday (at noon yesterday, at midnight last night)	a minute ago (second, hour, day, week, month, year)	today / tonight (time passed; before now)	then (adv.)	always (routinely, customarily, normally, as a rule, in general)	for three weeks (quantity of time)
at 6:00 a.m. (hour) at noon	six weeks ago (seconds, minutes, hours, days, months, years)	this morning (morning, evening, afternoon, week, month, year)	*when I saw it	usually (most of the time)	from Monday to Friday
on January 10. (day) on Thursday. (day)	last night (week, month, year)	these mornings(evenings, afternoons, weeks, months, years)	*while I was there as I was studying	often (frequently, half of the time)	during the 1960s
in January (month) in 2006 (year)	last Thursday (June, winter, leap-year)		whenever I tried anytime I tried	sometimes (occasionally, on occasion)	continuously continually
in the 1960s	that morning (morning, evening, afternoon, week, month, year)		if I saw them whether I saw them	rarely (seldom, hardly ever)
See Prepositions for Time	those mornings(evenings, afternoons, weeks, months, years)			never (not ever)	*several times and since are not used with either tense including the progressive

* when, while & whenever are prepositions followed by time-related (adjunct) clauses. (CaGEL 700)
Related page: Adverbs for Time

Common Mistakes

ERRORS	FIXES
I worked there since a year ago.	I worked there a year ago. (indefinite time) I was working there for a year. (defined period)
I was attending classes several times.	I attended classes several times. (repeated activity) I was attending classes often. (routine activity)

Past

Word Order

AUXILIARY VERB	SUBJECT	AUXILIARY VERB	MAIN VERB	REST OF SENTENCE	CLAUSE
STATEMENT	Jack		drove	home carefully.
STATEMENT	Jack and his friend		drove	home carefully.
QUESTION Did	Jack		drive	home carefully?
Did	Jack and his friend		drive	home carefully?
*TAG QUESTION	Jack		drove	home carefully,	didn't he?
*TAG QUESTION	Jack and his friend		drove	home carefully,	didn't they?
NEGATIVE	Jack	didn't	drive	home carefully.
NEGATIVE	Jack and his friend	didn't	drive	home carefully.
†EMPHASIS	Jack	did	drive	home carefully.
†EMPHASIS	Jack and his friend	did	drive	home carefully.

A tag question can also occur with a negative main clause and a positive add-on clause: Jack didn't drive home carefully, did he? Related page: And so / too
†Use emphasis word order when contradicting or stating that the opposite is true: "I think that Jack didn't drive home carefully." "No, he did drive there carefully."

Past Tense

Spelling – Suffixes

Regular & Irregular Suffixes (endings)

Suffix –ED		FINAL E		FINAL -Y		CONSONANT DOUBLING
For most verbs, add the suffix -ed		For verbs ending in e, add -d.		For verbs ending in -y, remove the y and add -ied.		For words ending with a stressed [consonant + short vowel + consonant] pattern, double the final consonant and add -ed.
wink	winked	delete	deleted	cry	cried	bag	bagged
ask	asked	bike	biked	fry	fried	wed	wedded
want	wanted	date	dated	dry	dried	pop	popped
need	needed	save	saved	try	tried	excel ɪkˈsɛl/	excelled ɪkˈsɛld/

What is a "short" vowel?

These words contain "short" vowel sounds.

short a — /næp/	short e — /wɛd/	short i — /zɪp/	short o — /tʃɒp/	short u — /hʌg/
nap	wed	zip	chop	hug

Double the final consonant before adding -ed

nap – napped	wed – wedded	zip – zipped	chop – chopped	hug – hugged
bag – bagged	step – stepped	clip – clipped	pop – popped	rub – rubbed
bat – batted	beg – begged	pit – pitted	jog – jogged	hum – hummed
wrap – wrapped	wet – wetted	kid – kidded (joke)	spot – spotted	sun – sunned

Irregular Past Tense Verb Forms

PRESENT	PAST	PRESENT	PAST	PRESENT	PAST	PRESENT	PAST
awake	awoke	fall	fell	let	let	shut	shut
beat	beat	feel	felt	lie	lay	sit	sat
begin	began	find	found	lose	lost	slide	slid
bite	bit	forgive	forgave	loosen	loosened	spend	spent
blow	blew	get	got	meet	met	stand	stood
bring	brought	go	went	put	put	stick	stuck
buy	bought	hang	hanged / hung	read	read	swim	swam
choose	chose	hear	heard	ring	rang	teach	taught
cost	cost	hit	hit	run	ran	tell	told
dig	dug	hurt	hurt	see	saw	throw	threw
draw	drew	know	knew	send	sent	wake	woke
drive	drove	lay	laid	shake	shook	wear	wore

Related page: Past Verb Form-practice

Practice

George's Study Abroad

Past Progressive versus Nonprogressive

Select the word order that best completes the sentence.
Then click the button on the right to check your answer.

#	SELECT RESPONSE	CHECK YOUR RESPONSE
1.	George to this country in 2007.
2.	He college classes everyday.
3.	He a writing class a writing class last semester.
4.	He attended regularly, studied hard, and very well.
5.	At home, in Athens, he with his parents.
6.	Here in the U.S., he with his uncle and his family.
7.	He home for visits twice a year.
8.	He home for good last month. for good (expression) – forever
9.	George an engineering degree last June.
10.	He working for an engineering firm a week after he returned home. firm – a small company

Practice 2

Correct or Incorrect?

Read each sentence and decide if it is correct or incorrect. Select your response.
Read the feedback about your response.

#	YOUR RESPONSE	CHECK YOUR ANSWER
11.	After school finished in June, two friends, my brother, and I went on a weekend trip.	Correct Incorrect Feedback 11
12.	We put everything in the back of my car and drived to the mountains to camp for a week.	Correct Incorrect Feedback 12
13.	When we arrived there, we setted up our camp site and prepared for lunch.	Correct Incorrect Feedback 13
14.	Suddenly, my brother said, "Dude, where you put the tent?" dude (n.) – very informal American English personal address	Correct Incorrect Feedback 14
15.	I replied, "Uh…I thot you pack the tent."	Correct Incorrect Feedback 15

Practice 3

Correct errors in the sentences below.
Compare your response to the answer by clicking the "check" button to the right.

#	YOUR RESPONSE	CHECK ANSWER
16.	REWRITE: We have no idea how to get by without a tent at night. get by (phrasal verb) – survive with the minimum; live without something We have no idea how to get by without a tent at night.
17.	REWRITE: The first night, we were hanging a string between two trees and throwed a blanket over it. The first night, we were hanging a string between two trees and throwed a blanket over it.
18.	REWRITE: However, the blanket falled in our faces, so we sleeping in the car. However, the blanket kept falled on our faces, so we sleeping in the car.
19.	REWRITE: The next night, we tide the corners of the blanket down. The next night, we tide the corners of the blanket down.
20.	REWRITE: The blanket was stayed in place, but the mosquitoes eating us alive. ate us alive (expression) – bit or stung us several times The blanket was stayed in place, but the mosquitoes eating us alive.
21.	REWRITE: As the campers next to us leaving, we ask to buy their old tent. As the campers next to us leaving, we ask to buy their old tent.
22.	REWRITE: They agree to sold it to us for very little money. Our problem was solved. solve (v.) – to find a way to fix or end a problem They agree to sold it to us for very little money. Our problem was solved.
23.	REWRITE: The same day, we catched fish and fryed them. The same day, we catched fish and fryed them.
24.	REWRITE: We staying up late and have a good time until the camp fire went out. We staying up late and have a good time until the camp fire went out.
25.	REWRITE: So we called it a night, crawl into our tent and were falling peacefully asleep. call it a night (expression) – end the late-evening or late-night activity crawl (v.) – move on hands and knees So we called it a night, crawl into our tent and were falling peacefully asleep.

Grammar-Quizzes.com

PRACTICE ON POINTS OF ENGLISH GRAMMAR

Past Complete

Reporting past activities or events

Past vs. Past Progressive

Past

Adverbs

Adverbs for Both Past & Past Progressive Tenses

Common Mistakes

Past

Word Order

Past Tense

Spelling – Suffixes

Regular & Irregular Suffixes (endings)

What is a "short" vowel?

Double the final consonant before adding -ed

Irregular Past Tense Verb Forms

Practice

George's Study Abroad

Past Progressive versus Nonprogressive

Practice 2

Correct or Incorrect?

Practice 3