Unit 3: Past time
Ngữ pháp Past time: past simple, past continuous, past perfect, would, used to
📘 Giải thích tiếng Việt
Past simple
Hành động hoàn tất tại thời điểm xác định trong quá khứ, thói quen cũ, các sự kiện chính trong truyện. Còn dùng chỉ hiện tại trong câu điều kiện loại 2 và sau wish, it's time, would rather (I'd rather he didn't waste time). Nhấn mạnh: did + V (they did have the telephone).
Past simple vs present perfect
Past simple gắn với khoảng/thời điểm đã kết thúc và thời gian cụ thể; present perfect gắn với khoảng nối tới hiện tại hoặc khi kết quả hiện tại mới quan trọng.
Past continuous
Hành động đang diễn ra tại một thời điểm quá khứ, bối cảnh nền cho sự kiện chính (past simple), hai hành động song song, và thói quen gây bực mình với always. Không dùng cho hành động lặp lại đều đặn (dùng past simple).
Past perfect simple & continuous
Diễn tả việc xảy ra trước một mốc quá khứ (the cinema had already become popular). Bản continuous nhấn độ dài hành động kéo dài tới mốc đó (She'd been writing games for ten years before...).
would & used to
Cả hai chỉ thói quen quá khứ xa. Khác biệt: would không dùng cho trạng thái (chỉ hành động lặp lại), còn used to dùng được cho cả thói quen lẫn trạng thái. Phân biệt used to (từng, nay không còn) với be used to (đã quen) và get used to (đang làm quen) — hai cái sau theo sau là V-ing/danh từ.
Past Simple
| Use | Example |
|---|---|
| Single completed actions | Sony and Philips invented the CD in the early 1980s. |
| Repeated or habitual actions in the past | We moved house a lot when I was a kid. |
| General truths about the past | Early clocks were usually very unreliable. |
| Permanent situations and states in the past | Did the ancient Egyptians have more advanced technology than other civilisations? |
| The main events in a story | Frank turned on the TV and sat on the sofa. |
| The present (in conditional sentences) | If we didn't have computers, what would the world be like? |
| The present (after wish, it's time, would rather, etc) | I'd rather Michael didn't waste so much time playing video games. |
Emphatic past simple
| Use | Example |
|---|---|
| To emphasise contrast in the past | Perhaps our grandparents didn't have e-mail, but they did have the telephone and telegrams. |
| To emphasise strong feeling in the past | I did enjoy our visit to the Science Museum last summer. |
Past Simple vs Present Perfect Simple
- In general, the past simple is used to refer to periods of time or moments which are finished. The present perfect is used to refer to periods of time which continue up to the present.
- The past simple is used to refer to events at a specific time in the past. The present perfect is used when the specific time something happened isn't important or relevant, or when the present result of a past event is important.
Past Continuous
| Use | Example |
|---|---|
| Actions in progress at a particular moment in the past | Were you chatting to Matt online at midnight last night? |
| Actions in progress around a particular moment in the past | At the turn of the twentieth century, many discoveries were being made in physics and other sciences. |
| Temporary situations and series of actions in the past | At the time, I was working for a large software company in California. |
| Changing and developing situations in the past | I was getting frustrated with my internet provider so I decided to change. |
| Annoying or amusing past habits (usually with always) | When she was young, Tina was always taking things apart to see how they worked. |
| Background information in a story | It was raining outside and people were making their way home after work. |
| Actions in progress over a period of time | Were you writing e-mails all yesterday morning? |
| Two actions in progress at the same time | While I was playing a computer game, my brother was doing his homework. |
| The present and the future (in conditional sentences) | Would you be happier if you were studying computer science? |
| The present and the future (after wish, it's time, would rather, etc) | I wish we were going to the computer fair next weekend. |
Past Continuous vs Past Simple
- We often use the past continuous to describe background events in progress and the past simple for the main events.
- We normally use the past simple to describe regular or repeated actions in the past, not the past continuous.
Past Continuous vs Present Perfect Continuous
Past Perfect Simple
| Use | Example |
|---|---|
| Situations and states before the past | Had you had your computer long before it broke down? |
| Completed actions before a moment in the past | When talking films appeared, the cinema had already become a popular form of entertainment. |
| A series of actions continuing up to a moment in the past | By the time of his death, Thomas Edison had invented a number of things that changed everyday life. |
| Completed actions where the important thing is the result at a moment in the past | I beat Jason at International Captain because I'd played it a lot with my brother. |
Past Perfect Continuous
| Use | Example |
|---|---|
| Actions and situations continuing up to a moment in the past (or just before a moment in the past) | She'd been writing computer games for over ten years before she finally had a hit. |
would
| Use | Example |
|---|---|
| Past habits, particularly for the distant past | The ancient Greeks would rely on the power of slaves, rather than machines. |
- Would can also be used with a continuous infinitive when we are referring to a habit involving actions in progress.
- Would is not usually used to refer to past states.
used to
| Use | Example |
|---|---|
| Past habits and states, particularly for the distant past | It used to seem strange to be able to communicate over long distances. |
- Remember that used to is not the same as be used to. Be used to refers to a situation that is now familiar or no longer strange.
- We use get used to to refer to the process of becoming familiar with a situation.
Exercise A
Select the correct word or phrase.
Exercise B
Write the verb in brackets in the correct form, past simple or past continuous, in each gap. You may have to use the passive form.
Exercise C
Write a verb from the box in the correct form in each gap.
High-tech trouble
It all (1) ______ as I made my way home from work. We (2) ______ on a top secret computer program, and everyone (3) ______ pretty nervous about finishing on time, so it was good to get away from the office. It (4) ______ and it seemed like everyone (5) ______ home at the same time, anxious to avoid getting wet. I (6) ______ down into the underground station and (7) ______ for the train when I (8) ______ her at the end of the platform. She (9) ______ a red leather jacket that (10) ______ me of something I'd seen in a film, although I couldn't remember when. As I watched, she (11) ______ her handbag and (12) ______ out what looked like a hand-held computer. She (13) ______ something on the screen, then (14) ______ in my direction. Suddenly, my mobile phone (15) ______ a sound that (16) ______ a text message. Frowning, I (17) ______ a key and the message (18) ______. 'We (19) ______ your daughter. We know you (20) ______ the program. Follow the woman in red.' I looked up just as she (21) ______ around the corner. I (22) ______ after her.
Exercise D
One verb in each sentence is in the wrong tense. Underline the incorrect word or phrase and write it in the correct tense.
Exercise E
Write the verb in brackets in the correct form, past continuous or present perfect continuous, in each gap.
Exercise F
Write one verb in each sentence in the past simple and the other verb in the past perfect. Enter both answers separated by a comma.
Exercise G
If a word or phrase in bold is in the correct form, put a tick (write "correct"). If it is incorrect, write the correct form on the line.
The mobile phone
People (1) have been dreaming of having a personal means of communication for a long time. In the late 1960s, the idea (2) had seemed so far in the future that it (3) was included in the science fiction series, Star Trek. Since the 1980s, however, mobiles (4) became a part of everyday life. Although they (5) were initially seen as a status symbol for successful business people, mobile use (6) had spread to include practically everyone in the developed world, old and young alike. The impact on social life (7) had been enormous. We have got used to the idea of having constantly changing social plans, where a quick phone call is all it takes to rearrange things. Before this was possible, there were many occasions when friends who (8) had arranged to meet completely (9) had missed each other because of a slight misunderstanding. People would often have to make very careful arrangements to be sure of meeting up. As mobiles (10) have been becoming more popular, so they (11) have become more powerful. The large, unreliable mobile phone of the 1990s (12) has evolved into the small, stylish camera phone of today.
Exercise H
Complete the second sentence so that it has a similar meaning to the first sentence, using the word given. You must use between three and eight words, including the word given.
When you called, ______ ten hours.
Our grandparents ______ to the seaside as children.
Laura ______ seven years.
Secondary school was frightening, but I ______ with the older children.
I ______ for a week now.
I ______ karate lessons, but now I'm starting to.
Exercise I
Write one word in each gap.
The pencil
Because the pencil (1) ______ become such a fundamental part of our lives, it's difficult to remember that people (2) ______ not been using them forever. Like other products of human ingenuity, pencils had to be invented. Before the first half of the sixteenth century, people (3) ______ to use pens to write with and brushes to paint with. It (4) ______ also possible to use a metal stick to make faint marks on paper. However, up to that point no one (5) ______ found an easy way to make marks that could be erased. Then, some time before 1565, a large deposit of the chemical, graphite, (6) ______ found near Borrowdale in Cumbria, England. The locals (7) ______ use this graphite (a kind of soft black rock) to mark sheep. Soon, tales of this unusual soft substance (8) ______ spread to artists around the world, who were eager to use it to produce works of art. Graphite is soft and dirty, and in order to write or draw with it, it (9) ______ to have to be covered in something, such as sheepskin or string. People had (10) ______ trying to improve the pencil for some time before manufacturers in Italy came up with the idea of enclosing the graphite in a wooden case. The modern pencil was born.
Exercise J
Choose the correct answer.
