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THE READING / WRITING
CONNECTION:
AN ONLINE READING AND WRITING LAB
Past Tense
The Simple Past
The simple past refers to an action that was done
and completed in the past.
example: He bought
some books last week.
Here, the subject bought shoes a few days ago.
The action of buying happened in the past, but today (=moment of speaking)
he is done with buying the shoes.
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PAST
|
PRESENT
|
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last week
|
moment of speaking
|
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he bought shoes
|
the action of buying is finished
|
other examples:
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Yesterday, one of the tutors closed
the Writing Center at 6:00p.m.
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In 1996, Bill Clinton won
the presidential election.
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My grandfather died
in March 2000.
The Past Perfect
The past perfect refers to a past action that was
completed before another past action.
example: They finally
arrived at my house after I had called
them each.
Here, the speaker refers to two actions that happened
in the past. The action that occurred further in the past has to be in
the past perfect. Let's imagine that the speaker called everybody yesterday
at 6:00p.m. and that everybody arrived the same day but at 9:00p.m.
|
PAST
|
PAST
|
PRESENT
|
|
yesterday: 6:00p.m.
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yesterday: 9:00p.m.
|
moment of speaking
|
|
the subject called everybody
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everybody arrived
|
moment of speaking
|
other examples:
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She had come back from work when I
saw her.
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George had already won
the competition when his sister entered the room.
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