English: octubre 2013

Past progressive

The past progressive puts emphasis on the course of an action in the past.

Form

	Positive	Negative	Question
I / he / she / it	I was speaking.	I was not speaking.	Was I speaking?
you / we / they	You were speaking.	You were not speaking.	Were you speaking?

Exceptions in Spelling

Exceptions in spelling when adding ing	Example
final e is dropped (but: ee is not changed)	come – coming (but: agree – agreeing)
after a short, stressed vowel, the final consonant is doubled	sit – sitting
l as final consonant after a vowel is doubled (in British English)	travel – travelling
final ie becomes y	lie – lying

Use of Past Progressive

puts emphasis on the course of an action in the past
Example: He was playing football.
two actions happening at the same time (in the past)
Example: While she was preparing dinner, he was washing the dishes.
action going on at a certain time in the past
Example: When I was having breakfast, the phone suddenly rang

Past perfect

The past perfect is formed by combining the auxiliary verb "had" with the past participle.

I had studied.
He had written a letter to María.
We had been stranded for six days.

Because the past perfect is a compound tense, two verbs are required: the main verb and the auxiliary verb.

I had studied.
(main verb: studied ; auxiliary verb: had)

He had written a letter to María.
(main verb: written ; auxiliary verb: had)

We had been stranded for six days.
(main verb: been ; auxiliary verb: had)

In Spanish, the past perfect tense is formed by using theimperfect tense of the auxiliary verb "haber" with the past participle. Haber is conjugated as follows:

había
habías
había
habíamos
habíais
habían

FORM

[VERB+ed] or irregular verbs

Examples:

You called Debbie.
Did you call Debbie?
You did not call Debbie.

Use the Simple Past to express the idea that an action started and finished at a specific time in the past. Sometimes, the speaker may not actually mention the specific time, but they do have one specific time in mind.