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Sam82 Posted 17 years ago
Grammar
SIMPLE PAST
What's the best definition for the Simple past tense?
If it's "something that occoured in the past" then isn't that applicable with all the past tenses?
Please help.
Thanks,
Sam
UK
If it's "something that occoured in the past" then isn't that applicable with all the past tenses?
Please help.
Thanks,
Sam
UK
Top answer
Past tenses are ( simple past - past perfect - past continuous and past perfect continuous ) All of them describe something that happened in the past, but the concept of each one of them is quite different. -Simple past is used to describe something happened at a specific point in the past ( completely finished ) > ( simple past is used to express a short action in the past ) I saw him yesterday. ( yesterday - is a specific point ) -Past perfect is used to describe something happened in the past, before something else She had left the party before I came.
- Past tenses are ( simple past - past perfect - past continuous and past perfect continuous ) All of them describe something that happened in the past, but the concept of each one of them is quite different.
- -Simple past is used to describe something happened at a specific point in the past ( completely finished ) > ( simple past is used to express a short action in the past ) I saw him yesterday.
- ( yesterday - is a specific point ) -Past perfect is used to describe something happened in the past, before something else She had left the party before I came.
- ( so I couldn't meet her, because she left before I arrived ) -Past continuous is used to describe a long action in the past.
- ( we could use simple past with it to express a short action that happened in the middle of the long action ) I was reading when the phone rang.
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8 Answers
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Past tenses are ( simple past - past perfect - past continuous and past perfect continuous )
All of them describe something that happened in the past, but the concept of each one of them is quite different.
-Simple past is used to describe something happened at a specific point in the past ( completely finished ) > ( simple past is used to express a short action in the past )
I
All of them describe something that happened in the past, but the concept of each one of them is quite different.
-Simple past is used to describe something happened at a specific point in the past ( completely finished ) > ( simple past is used to express a short action in the past )
I
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sam82If it's "something that occoured in the past" then isn't that applicable with all the past tenses?That's quite an original way to spell "occurred", Sam.
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Thanks.
So is "I used to drive" and "I cooked dinner when John arrived" Simple past?
Where's the specific time?
So is "I used to drive" and "I cooked dinner when John arrived" Simple past?
Where's the specific time?
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No, "I drove" is simple past for "I drive."
"I cooked" is simple past. The specific time is whenever John arrived. We don't know what time that was, but the person speaking/writing the sentence does.
"I cooked" is simple past. The specific time is whenever John arrived. We don't know what time that was, but the person speaking/writing the sentence does.
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sam82So what tense is "I used to drive"?? simple pastWhich means that you used to drive regularly or all the time in the past, but you don't drive now.
Another example
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from my poin of view it's a tense that we use to retell the past event in
general adverb of time
general adverb of time
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