Simple Past Tense

Simple Past Tense

Simple Past Tense is a kind of tense which is used to describe an event or action that happened already in a certain time in the past.


Simple Past Tense is used to talk about situations or activities that began and ended in the past.


Example :
-      We went to the mart yesterday.
-      I often sent him letter last year.


Adverb of time :
-      Yesterday
-      The day before yesterday
-      Just now
-      Last night
-      Last month
-      Last year
-      Six weeks ago
-      A few minutes ago
-      This morning
-      Last week
-      .....ago
-      Two days ago
-      Three years ago

The Pattern of Simple Past Tense

  1)   Untuk kalimat verbal (kalimat yang predikatnya adalah kata kerja/verb)

(+) S + V₂ + .....
(-) S + did not + V₁ + .....
(?) Did + S + V₁ + .....?

Example :
(+) He went to New York yesterday.
(-) He did not go to New York yesterday.
(?) Did he go to New York yesterday?

  2)  Untuk kalimat nominal (kalimat yang predikatnya selain kata kerja)

(+) S + to be (was, were) + non-verb + .....
(-) S + to be (was, were) + not + non-verb + .....
(?) To be (was, were) + S + non-verb + .....?

Example :
(+) He was a lawyer.
(-) He was not a lawyer.
(?) Was he a lawyer?

Keterangan :    

Subjek (S)                  To be
-       He, She, It               Was
-      I                              Was
-      You, We, They           Were

Past Continuous Tense

Past Continuous Tense is a kind of tense that is used to describe an event or an action which was happening in a certain time in the past.


The Pattern of Past Continuous Tense


(+) S + to b (was, were) + V₁-ing + .....
(-) S + to be (was, were) + not + V₁-ing + .....
(?) To be (was, were) + S + V₁-ing + .....?


Example :
(+) I was studying all day yesterday.
(-) I was not studying all day yesterday.
(?) Was I studying all day?


Keterangan :


Subjek (S)              To be

-      He, She, It           Was

-      I                          Was

-      You, We, They       Were

The functions of Past Continuous Tense are :

  1)   To indicate that one action was in progress when another action  occurred.

  2)  To indicate that two actions were progress simultaneously.

  3)  To indicate an action that happened at a certain time in the past.

Example :
-      I was studying when the telephone rang.
-      When mother came back from the market, we were watching TV.
-      She was sleeping all afternoon yesterday.
-      I was working when she came here.
-      He was studying while I was coming to my house.
-      Rianty was growing up.

Adverb of time :
-      All day yesterday.
-      The whole day yesterday.
-      When
-      While
-      As

 Past Perfect Continuous Tense

Past Perfect Continuous Tense is use to indicate that an action was in progress and happened in the past.

Example :
-      We had been working in Malang.
-      She had been living here for four years.
-      I had been going to the market.
-      She had been cooking the rice when her mother went to the market.

The Pattern of Past Perfect Continuous Tense


(+) S + had + been + V₁-ing + Comp.
(-) S + had + not + been + V₁-ing + Comp.
(?) Had + S + been + V₁-ing + Comp. + ?

Example :
(+) He had been watching TV when I called him yesterday.
(-) He had not been watching TV when I called him yesterday.
(?) Had he been watching TV when I called him yesterday?