The past tenses in English: English uses three forms of the past, the Simple Past (or preterite), the Present Perfect, and the past perfect, sometimes called the pluperfect.
All of these forms can also be used in a progressive form .
The simple past.
This is used to relate past events in a historic context. Often, you will know that it must be used, because the sentence also contains an adverb (or adverb phrase) of time, such as yesterday, or a date or time.
Examples:
1) Queen Victoria died in 1901.
2) The Titanic sank when it hit an iceberg.
3) I told you not to drink too much
4) Next, they went and cooked dinner.
Here is some examples with a progressive form too: both of the events in the sentence are "historic", but one took place while another longer-lasting situation was true:
5) John Lennon died while he was living in New York.
6) The students shouted as the President was speaking.
The Present Perfect
In British English, this is used to situate past events, or the consequences of past events, in relation to the present situation. (that's why we call it the "present" perfect). Americans do not always use the present perfect in this situation.
Examples:
1) I have ordered a new refrigerator, darling!
(i.e., the speaker means "A new refrigerator is at this moment coming and will be here soon").
2) I've eaten too much!
(i.e. the speaker implies: "At this moment now, I do not feel very well; I have a funny feeling in my stomach!)
3) Liverpool have won the Cup (i.e. Liverpool are now, at this moment , football champions).
You do not usually find adverbs of time used with verbs in the present perfect, but there are some exceptions:
already:
Come on, we've already started eating!
adverbs of frequency:
I've often seen people driving too fast down that road.
adverbs or adverb phrases of duration related to the present:
I've lived in London for ten years.
(Contrast with: I lived in London for ten years (but I don't live there now) - a historic statement)
I've lived in London since 1985.
I've been living in London since 1985. (Both of these forms are acceptable)
Up to now, I've always refused to eat fish.
The past perfect or pluperfect.
The past perfect or pluperfect, as in He had seen, is normally only used in English when one past event (either a specific action, or a contuous condition) has to be situated in a more distant past than another past event.
Example:
I had just put the phone down, when the doorbell rang.
The man had been drinking before the accident happened.
He had worked in the company for five years before he got promotion. There are some other uses too, but they are less common. Note, for example, the use of the past perfect (and inversion) after hardly:
Hardly had I put the phone down, than the phone rang.
All of these forms can also be used in a progressive form .
The simple past.
This is used to relate past events in a historic context. Often, you will know that it must be used, because the sentence also contains an adverb (or adverb phrase) of time, such as yesterday, or a date or time.
Examples:
1) Queen Victoria died in 1901.
2) The Titanic sank when it hit an iceberg.
3) I told you not to drink too much
4) Next, they went and cooked dinner.
Here is some examples with a progressive form too: both of the events in the sentence are "historic", but one took place while another longer-lasting situation was true:
5) John Lennon died while he was living in New York.
6) The students shouted as the President was speaking.
The Present Perfect
In British English, this is used to situate past events, or the consequences of past events, in relation to the present situation. (that's why we call it the "present" perfect). Americans do not always use the present perfect in this situation.
Examples:
1) I have ordered a new refrigerator, darling!
(i.e., the speaker means "A new refrigerator is at this moment coming and will be here soon").
2) I've eaten too much!
(i.e. the speaker implies: "At this moment now, I do not feel very well; I have a funny feeling in my stomach!)
3) Liverpool have won the Cup (i.e. Liverpool are now, at this moment , football champions).
You do not usually find adverbs of time used with verbs in the present perfect, but there are some exceptions:
already:
Come on, we've already started eating!
adverbs of frequency:
I've often seen people driving too fast down that road.
adverbs or adverb phrases of duration related to the present:
I've lived in London for ten years.
(Contrast with: I lived in London for ten years (but I don't live there now) - a historic statement)
I've lived in London since 1985.
I've been living in London since 1985. (Both of these forms are acceptable)
Up to now, I've always refused to eat fish.
The past perfect or pluperfect.
The past perfect or pluperfect, as in He had seen, is normally only used in English when one past event (either a specific action, or a contuous condition) has to be situated in a more distant past than another past event.
Example:
I had just put the phone down, when the doorbell rang.
The man had been drinking before the accident happened.
He had worked in the company for five years before he got promotion. There are some other uses too, but they are less common. Note, for example, the use of the past perfect (and inversion) after hardly:
Hardly had I put the phone down, than the phone rang.
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