Category: Tenses

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Past Perfect Continuous Tense

Definition:
The past perfect continuous tense is used to describe an action that started in the past, continued for some time, and was still in progress up until another specific point in the past. It emphasizes the duration of the action that was ongoing before a past event.

Usage of “For” and “Since”:

• For is used with a period of time (e.g., two hours, five days, a long time).
• Since is used with a specific point in time (e.g., morning, 2010, Monday).

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1. Affirmative Sentence
Structure: Subject + had been + verb(-ing) + object.

• She had been studying English for three years before she moved to London.
• He had been living here since 2010 until he got a new job last month.
• They had been playing soccer for an hour when it started to rain.
• I had been working on the project all morning before you called.

2. Negative Sentence
Structure: Subject + had not been + verb(-ing) + object.

• He had not been working since morning; he had just arrived.
• She had not been sleeping well before the exam.
• We had not been traveling for long when the car broke down.
• They had not been waiting long before the bus finally came.

3. Interrogative Sentence
Structure: Had + subject + been + verb(-ing) + object?

• Had they been playing football for an hour before the referee stopped the game?
• Had she been waiting since noon before her appointment at 4 PM?
• Had he been working on that assignment before he decided to ask for help?
• Had you been feeling unwell before you fainted?

4. Negative Interrogative Sentence
Structure: Had + subject + not been + verb(-ing) + object?

• Had she not been waiting since yesterday for those results?
• Had you not been studying for three hours before you took the break?
• Had he not been attending the meetings
• before he was removed from the project?
• Had they not been cleaning the house for hours before the guests arrived?

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Present Indefinite Tense (Simple Present Tense)

Present continuous tense

Present Perfect Tense

Present Perfect Continuous Tense

The Past Indefinite Tense

Past Continuous Tense

Past Perfect Tense

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Past Perfect Tense

Definition:

The Past Perfect Tense is used to describe an action that was completed before another action or a specific time in the past. It helps to clarify the order of two past events. It is formed using “had” + the past participle (third form of the verb).

Sentence Structures & Examples

1. Affirmative Sentence (Positive Statement)

Structure: Subject + had + past participle (third form of verb) + object.
Examples:

• She had finished her homework before the movie started.
• They had traveled to Japan once before they moved there.
• I had already read that book, so I knew the ending.
• We had cleaned the entire house by the time the guests arrived.
• He had written a letter to his friend long before email existed.

2. Negative Sentence

Structure: Subject + had + not + past participle (third form of verb) + object.
Examples:

• I had not eaten sushi before I visited Japan last year.
• They had not visited the new museum until last weekend.
• She had not finished her project when the deadline passed.
• We had not received the package, so we called the company.

3. Interrogative Sentence (Yes/No Question)

Structure: Had + subject + past participle (third form of verb) + object?
Examples:

• Had you visited Paris before your trip last summer?
• Had she cooked dinner before everyone got home?
• Had they started the meeting by the time you joined?
• Had we met before that conference?
• Had you finished your work when the power went out?

4. Interrogative Negative Sentence

Structure: Had + subject + not + past participle (third form of verb) + object?
(Note: The contracted form “Hadn’t” is more common in spoken English.)
Examples:

• Had she not completed her work by the deadline?
• Had they not arrived at the airport when you called?
• Had the teacher not graded the tests before the holiday break?
• Hadn’t they invited you to the party? (Common Contraction)
• Had you not seen my keys before I found them?

The Past Indefinite Tense

Past Continuous Tense

Past Continuous Tense

Definition:

 The past continuous describes an action that was in progress at a specific time in the past. It is often used for an action that was interrupted by another event or for two simultaneous actions in the past.

Sentence structures

1. Affirmative sentences

Structure: Subject + was/were + verb+ing

Example sentences:

•  She was reading a book at 9 o’clock.

•  They were playing football when it started to rain.• While I was cooking dinner, he was setting the table.

2. Negative sentence

Structure: Subject + was/were + not + verb + ing

Example sentences:

•  They were not watching TV when I arrived.

•  I wasn’t listening

•  He wasn’t feeling well during the party.

3. Interrogative sentence

Structure: Was/Were + subject + verb+ing?

Example sentences:

•  Were you sleeping when I called last night?

•  What were they discussing before the meeting?

•  Was the sun shining when you left for work?

4. Negative Interrogative sentence

Structure: Wasn’t/Weren’t + subject + verb

Example sentences:+ing?

•  Wasn’t she working on the project yesterday?

•  Weren’t you waiting for the bus?

•  Wasn’t it raining just a few minutes ago?

The Past Indefinite Tense

Past simple tense

Definition

The Past Indefinite Tense (also called the Simple Past Tense) is used to describe actions that happened and finished at a specific time in the past. It tells about completed events, a series of past actions, or past habits and states that are no longer true.

For all subjects we use the same past form for regular verbs (verb + ed) or the irregular past form. To make negatives and questions we use the auxiliary did (did not / didn’t) plus the base verb.

I did my homework yesterday.

Did you see that movie last night?

They did not come to the party.

# Sentence Structures

Affirmative: Subject + past verb + object.

Example sentences: I visited my cousin last Sunday. He finished the book. They watched the sunset.

Negative: Subject + did not / didn’t + base verb + object. (Do not use verb+ed after did not.)

Example sentences: I didn’t eat breakfast. She did not like the documentary. The students did not answer the question.

Interrogative: Did + subject + base verb + object?

Example sentences: Did you call your mother? Did he finish the project? Did they arrive on time?

Negative Interrogative: Did + subject + not + base verb + object? or Didn’t + subject + base verb + object?

Example sentences:  Didn’t you see the message? Did she not study for the test? Did they not tell you?

Time expressions commonly used with the Past Indefinite

yesterday, last night, last week, two days ago, in 2010, when I was a child, an hour ago.

Example sentences: I met her two days ago. He left the office an hour ago. We traveled to Lahore last year.

# Forming the Past with Regular and Irregular Verbs

Regular verbs: add ed to the base verb to form the past.

Example sentences: I walked to the market. She cleaned her room. We watched the match.

Irregular verbs: these do not follow a single pattern; each verb has its own past form. You must learn them.

Example sentences: He went to school. They ate lunch at noon. She had a headache.

# Spelling rules for regular verbs

If a verb ends with e, add only d: arrive → arrived.

If a verb ends with a single vowel + single consonant and the final syllable is stressed (or the verb is one-syllable), double the final consonant and add ed: stop → stopped, plan → planned.

If a verb ends with consonant + y, change y to i and add ed: carry → carried. If it ends with vowel + y, just add ed: play → played.

Present Indefinite Tense (Simple Present Tense)

Present continuous tense

Present Perfect Tense

Present Perfect Continuous Tense