Past Tense

What Is The Past Tense?

The past tense is a verb tense used for a past activity or a past state of being. For example:

• I jumped in the lake.
(This is a past activity.)
• I was happy.
(This is a past state of being.)

Video Lesson

Here is a 14-minute video summarizing this lesson on the past tense. It covers all four past tenses. video lesson

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The Four Past Tenses Explained

The term "past tense" is used for all past activities or past states of being. However, the past tense is categorized further depending on whether the action was in progress or has been completed. There are, in fact, four past tenses.

The 4 Past Tenses	Examples	Uses
simple past tense	I went to work. The Martians landed near the aqueduct.	The simple past tense is used to describe a completed activity that started in the past and ended in the past.
past progressive tense	I was going to work. We were painting the door when a bird struck the window.	The past progressive tense is used to describe an ongoing activity in the past. Often, it is used to set the scene for another action.
past perfect tense	I had gone to work. Rover had eaten the pie before we got home.	The past perfect tense is used to emphasize that an action was completed before another took place.
past perfect progressive	I had been going to work. She had been painting the door before the dog scratched it.	The past perfect progressive tense is used to show that an ongoing action in the past has ended.

More about the Four Past Tenses

Below are more examples of the four past tenses. There is also an infographic for each one showing how it is formed and used.

Simple Past Tense

Here is an infographic summarizing the simple past tense.

Examples of the Simple Past Tense

• I played when I was younger.
• I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set him free. (Italian sculptor Michelangelo)
• Drawing on my fine command of the English language, I said nothing. (Actor and comedian Robert Benchley)
• Every man is guilty of all the good he did not do. (French writer Voltaire)
• I wanted to buy a candle holder, but the store didn't have one. So I got a cake. (Comedian Mitch Hedberg)
• I have never played a hero before so I jumped at the chance. (Actor Adrian Edmondson)
• My fake plants died because I did not pretend to water them.

Read more about the simple past tense (including how to form the negative version with did not).

Past Progressive Tense

Here is an infographic summarizing the past progressive tense.

Examples of the Past Progressive Tense

• I was playing for an hour.
• I was falling asleep when the phone rang.
• We were preparing a picnic, and then it started to rain.
• I feel like I sort of missed the eighties. At the time, we didn't know we were having fun, which is probably the way it always is. (Novelist Tama Janowitz)
• She was seeing a psychiatrist, two plumbers, and a bartender. (Comedian Rodney Dangerfield)
• I told my therapist I was having nightmares about nuclear explosions. He said don't worry it's not the end of the world. (Comedian Jay London)
• I have an idea that the phrase 'weaker sex' was coined by some woman to disarm the man she was preparing to overwhelm. (Poet Ogden Nash)
• I was having trouble making ends meet, and my beginnings weren't meeting either. (Author Allan Sherman)

Read more about the past progressive tense.

Past Perfect Tense

Here is an infographic summarizing the past perfect tense.

Examples of the Past Perfect Tense

• I had played already.
• I had crossed the line. I was free, but there was no one to welcome me to the land of freedom. I was a stranger in a strange land. (Political activist Harriet Tubman)
• I had seen birth and death but had thought they were different. (Poet T S Eliot)
• There are so many things that we wish we had done yesterday, so few that we feel like doing today. (Journalist Mignon McLaughlin)
• I phoned my dad to tell him I had stopped smoking. He called me a quitter.
• When I was younger, I could remember anything, whether it had happened or not.
• If we had had more time for discussion we should probably have made a great many more mistakes. (Russian revolutionary Leon Trotsky)
• What a wonderful life I've had! I only wish I'd realized it sooner. (Author Sidonie Gabrielle Colette)
• I had always seen myself as a star; I wanted to be a galaxy. (Dancer Twyla Tharp)
(Note that adverbs (here, always can appear in the middle of the verb chain.)

Read more about the past perfect tense.

Past Perfect Progressive Tense

Here is an infographic summarizing the past perfect tense.

Examples of the Past Perfect Progressive Tense

• I had been playing since I was ten.
• I had been weeding my garden for weeks, but I just surrendered to the weeds in the end.
• The jury had been considering its verdict for several hours when the judge effectively ordered them to find Jones guilty.
• I was coming home from kindergarten. Well, they told me it was kindergarten. I found out later I had been working in a factory for ten years. (Comedian Ellen DeGeneres)
• I had been writing fiction since I was in eighth grade, because I loved it. (Author Thomas Perry)
• I thought that I was learning how to live, but I had been learning how to die. (Polymath Leonardo da Vinci)
• Even though I had been boxing for three years, I had no idea that I could beat somebody in the ring.
• Many people had been asking me to write an autobiography. I thought I'd better tell my story before other people told it for me. (Comedian Michael Palin)
• It was funny to read a script that was so similar to what had been going on in my life. (Actress Piper Perabo)
• I'd been shouting and shouting and no one wanted to hear me. (Singer Brenda Fassie)

Read more about the past perfect progressive tense.

Interactive Verb Conjugation Tables

The tables below show all 12 tenses so you can see the past tenses among the other tenses. (You can change the verb by clicking one of the green buttons.)

Top 10 Regular Verbs

want look use work start try ask need talk help

Top 10 Irregular Verbs

see say go come know get give become find think

All 4 Past Tenses

Person	Simple Past	Past Progressive Tense	Past Perfect Tense	Past Perfect Progressive Tense
I you he/she/it we you they	past tense past tense past tense past tense past tense past tense The simple past tense is for a completed activity that happened in the past.	was present participle were present participle was present participle were present participle were present participle were present participle The past progressive tense is for an ongoing activity in the past. Often, it is used to set the scene for another action.	had past participle had past participle had past participle had past participle had past participle had past participle The past perfect tense is for emphasizing that an action was completed before another took place.	had been present participle had been present participle had been present participle had been present participle had been present participle had been present participle The past perfect progressive tense is for showing that an ongoing action in the past has ended.

All 4 Present Tenses

Person	Simple Present	Present Progressive Tense	Present Perfect Tense	Present Perfect Progressive Tense
I you he/she/it we you they	base form base form 3rd pers sing present base form base form base form The simple present tense is mostly for a fact or a habit.	am present participle are present participle is present participle are present participle are present participle are present participle The present progressive tense is for an ongoing action in the present.	have past participle have past participle has past participle have past participle have past participle have past participle The present perfect tense is for an action that began in the past. (Often, the action continues into the present.)	have been present participle have been present participle has been present participle have been present participle have been present participle have been present participle The present perfect progressive tense is for a continuous activity that began in the past and continues into the present (or finished very recently).

All 4 Future Tenses

Person	Simple Future	Future Progressive Tense	Future Perfect Tense	Future Perfect Progressive Tense
I you he/she/it we you they	will base form will base form will base form will base form will base form will base form The simple future tense is for an action that will occur in the future.	will be present participle will be present participle will be present participle will be present participle will be present participle will be present participle The future progressive tense is for an ongoing action that will occur in the future.	will have past participle will have past participle will have past participle will have past participle will have past participle will have past participle The future perfect tense is for an action that will have been completed at some point in the future.	will have been present participle will have been present participle will have been present participle will have been present participle will have been present participle will have been present participle The future perfect progressive tense is for an ongoing action that will be completed at some specified time in the future.

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