IELTS Grammar | Unit 2: Past Tenses 1 | Past Simple Past Continuous Used to and Would
In this unit, we are going to learn about Past Tenses which include Past simple, Past continous, Used to and Would.
If you does not learn about the Present Tenses yet, you can read the airtcle: Present Tenses
A. Context listening
1. You will hear a man giving a talk on the radio about protecting your home from burglaries. Before you listen look at the pictures below. Make a list of all of the items.
2 Listen and answer the following questions.
1 Which three items from your list were stolen?
2 Why did the man tell this story? (a) to show that crime has increased (b) to show that crime can happen at any time (c) to show that burglars can open any lock
3. Listen again and complete these sentences.
A few weeks ago a woman ………………… to report a burglary
It …………. in the afternoon when she ………… the news on TV.
This woman …………… the front door locked.
When her son got older she …………….. the door unlocked whenever she was at home
The burglar simply…………………. in through the front door.
The son ……………. anything because he ………… to music.
Then the burglar ………….. into the front room, …………….. all the cupboards and …………… a valuable collection of CDs.
4. Look at sentences 1-7 above and answer the following questions.
Which two sentences provide a background scene and an action? ……………….
Which two sentences talk about a single completed action in the past? ………
Which sentence describes a series of completed actions in the past? ………….
Which two sentences talk about a repeated action in the past? …………………….
Which four tenses or structures are used in sentences 1-7? …………………………..
B. Grammar
1. Past Simple
Affirmative
verb + -ed (or -d)
He worked for the police.
Negative
did not + verb
She didn’t work for the police.
Question
did … + verb?
Did they work for the police?”
Irregular verbs
Many verbs are irregular: went (go), came (come), wrote (write) (see Appendix 1)
Note the verb be is irregular: I/he/she/it was; you/we/they were
We use the past simple
+ to talk about single past completed actions. Often the time is mentioned:
A few weeks ago a woman called to report a robbery at her house.
But no time reference is necessary if it is already known:
How did the burglar break in without anybody hearing him? (in the story I just told you about)
+ to give a series of actions in the order that they happened:
The burglar came in through the front door, picked up the woman’s handbag, emptied it out and stole her purse.
We often use words like next or then to indicate the sequence of events:
Then, the burglar went into the front room, opened all the cupboards and took a valuable collection of CDs.
+ to talk about past repeated actions:
When her son got older he often went out to visit his friends after school.
Notice that used to and would can also be used (see B3).
+ to talk about long-term situations in the past which are no longer true:
Bill Murphy worked for the police force for over 17 years.
Explorers at that time believed that the world was flat. Notice that used to can also be used (see B3).
2. Past Continous
Affirmative
was/were + verb + -ing
She was watching the news.
Negative
was/were not + verb + -ing
They weren’t watching the news.
Question
was/were … + verb + -ing?
Were you watching the news?
We use the past continuous
+ to provide the background scene to an action or event (usually in the past simple). We often use words like when, while and as:
It happened at five in the afternoon while she was watching the news on TV.
He was doing his homework in his bedroom when the burglar came into the house.
It is possible to have more than one background scene happening at the same time:
He was listening to music and working on his computer.
+ when we want to emphasize the activity without focusing on its completion. Compare:
For a while last year I was working at the cinema, studying for my degree and writing a column for the local newspaper. (we don’t know if the actions were completed or not, or whether they happened at the same time)
Last year I worked at the cinema, studied for my degree and wrote a column for the local newspaper. (suggests all of the jobs are now complete, and probably happened in that order)
State verbs (see Unit 1) do not generally have a continuous form.
3. Used to and Would
Affirmative
used to/ would + infinitive
She used to / would lock the door.
Negative
did not + use to + infinitive
I didn’t use to lock the door.
Question
did … use to + infinitive?
Did they use to lock the door?
+ We use used to + infinitive or would + infinitive (contracted to ‘d in spoken English) to talk about past repeated actions:
She used to keep the front door locked. (but she stopped doing this)
She would leave the door unlocked whenever she was at home.
+ Would is unusual in the negative form and in Yes/No questions.
+ We use used to + infinitive to talk about permanent situations that are usually no longer true:
Bill Murphy used to work for the police force. (but he doesn’t now: not Bill Murphy would work for the police force.)
+ We do not use used to if we want to talk about how long the situation lasted:
Bill Murphy worked for the police force for over 17 years. (not Bill Murphy used to work for the police force for over 17 years.)
+ We do not use would with state verbs.
After studying this lesson, to check your knowledge, you can do some grammar exercises.
