Past Continuous vs Past perfect

Question

Hi Everyone,I'd like to know why you'd use the past continuous instead of past perfect.I know that the focus on continuous is - time - and the focus on the perfect is - results - but I'm not 100% sure why you'd chose one over the other fully.Miss slightly confused. Thanks

4444mv · Accepted Answer

We use the past continuous to say that someone was in the middle of doing something at a certain time. It does not tell us whether the action was finished or not: Your brother was cooking the dinner at 10 o'clock last night.

We use the past perfect to say that something had already happened before a past action: When I arrived at the party, Meg had already gone home.

Cup cake · Answer

Thank you 4444mv.

I asked because I'm putting a worksheet together for my students where they have to compare the two.

I've written the following:

I was walking the dog.
I had walked the dog earlier.

I know the two rules, but I guess I was thinking about having to explain when you only give 'part' of the sentence, like the two examples above.

There is always more to it than I think.

CalifJim · Answer

Cup cakeI'm putting a worksheet together for my students where they have to compare the two

Interesting. I wouldn't have thought they were particularly comparable. One is continuous; the other isn't. One is perfect; the other isn't. They seem to be such different 'animals' that their usage doesn't really overlap.

Red shows where the action happens. X shows the moment you say the sentence.

. . . . . . . . . . - - - - - - - - - - - . . . . . . . . . . . . X "I was walking the dog"
. . . . . ^ . . . . . . . . . R . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X "I had walked the dog" (by the time R happened)

CJ

Cup cake · Answer

Thanks CJ.

You're right; the two aren't comparable, which is why I have chosen a worksheet with the two different exercises. I want the students to 'see' the difference between the two tense aspects.

Speaking of 'comparables', which tenses would you use to show similarity, rather than difference?

I feel like I've exhausted my ideas.

I've gone for simple vs continuous | present perfect vs simple past | Pres.Perf.Cont vs simple past etc.

Am I on the money with these, or are there better comparisons?

CalifJim · Answer

Cup cakewhich tenses would you use to show similarity, rather than difference?

There's a group of tenses and modals which belong to the tenses in the Present Point of View (Present POV) and another group that belong to the Past POV.

Present POV: present, present perfect, any tense with will, can, may, or must. (This includes the future and the future perfect.)
Past POV: past, past perfect, any tense with would, could, or might.

Most sentences contain tenses with only one POV, though some of the past modals also occur in Present POV sentences.
_____________

On top of those similarities, all continuous tenses show similarity of course because all have the -ing form.

Cup cake present perfect vs simple past

This is more of a problem in contrast than a similarity, but it's a good exercise to do because students have a lot of problems with the difference.

Where verb tenses are concerned, Problem 1 is anything with "would". Problem 2 is the difference between present perfect and simple past.

CJ

Cup cake · Answer

Thanks CJ. This is very useful.

Modals can be quite tricky for students, but then so can most things.

Yes, I fully agree that present perfect vs simple past is one of the trickiest.

Thanks again for your input.

Fivejedjon · Answer

Cup cake I fully agree that present perfect vs simple past is one of the trickie

It's made trickier by the fact that some teachers and course books appear to suggest that it's always an either/or situation - only one of the two is possible in any given situation. In fact, quite apart from BrE and AmE differences, there are situations in which there is little practical difference between the two.

In setting up exercises in which learners have to select the most appropriate form, make sure you give enough context. The appropriate form in the question below depends on (a) whether the speaker is British or American and (b) whether, from the speaker's point of view, 'this morning' is a past time-period.

1. (you, see) John this morning?

CalifJim · Answer

fivejedjonmake sure you give enough context

Amen.

Very important, Cup cake.

CJ

Cup cake · Answer

That's a very good point Fivejedjon.
Thanks for mentioning it.

Location, location, location.

Context, context, context!

is everything.

lol.

4444mv · Answer

Cup cakeThank you 4444mv. I asked because I'm putting a worksheet together for my students where they have to compare the two.I've written the following:I was walking the dog.I had walked the dog earlier.I know the two rules, but I guess I was thinking about having to explain when you only give 'part' of the sentence, like the two examples above.There is always more to it than I think.

You are welcome!

Past Continuous vs Past perfect

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