CHAPTER 6 CHAPTER 6 THE PAST CONTINUOUS, THE PAST PERFECT AND THE PAST PERFECT CONTINUOUS 1 Summary of the uses of the English tenses There are four types of verb tense in English the Simple, the Cont[.]
Trang 1CHAPTER 6. THE PAST CONTINUOUS, THE PAST PERFECT AND THE
PAST PERFECT CONTINUOUS
1 Summary of the uses of the English tenses
There are four types of verb tense in English: the Simple, the Continuous, the Perfect, and the Perfect Continuous Each type of tense has a Present, a Past, and a Future form, as well as other modal forms
Thus, just as there are four present tenses in English, there are also four past tenses: the Simple Past, the Past Continuous, the Past Perfect, and the Past Perfect Continuous
As will be shown below, the three forms of each type of tense are closely related in terms
of their use and formation For instance, the Present Continuous, Past Continuous, and Future Continuous tenses are all used to express continuous, ongoing actions; and are all
formed from the verb to be followed by the present participle The differences are that the Present Continuous is formed with the Simple Present of the verb to be, and is used
mainly to express present actions; the Past Continuous is formed with the Simple Past of
the verb to be, and is used to express past actions; and the Future Continuous is formed with the Simple Future of the verb to be, and is used to express future actions.
The uses of the Simple, Continuous, Perfect, and Perfect Continuous tenses are
summarized in the following table
The Uses of the English Tenses Type of Tense Type of Action Expressed
Simple - actions occurring at regular intervals
- general truths, or situations existing for a period of time
- non-continuous actions
Continuous - continuous, ongoing actions
Perfect - non-continuous actions completed before a certain time
Perfect Continuous - continuous, ongoing actions completed before a certain time
2 The past continuous
a Use
The Past Continuous tense is used to express continuous, ongoing actions which took place in the past In the following examples, the verbs in the Past Continuous tense are underlined
e.g He was traveling in Europe last summer
They were playing tennis yesterday afternoon
The Past Continuous tense is frequently used to refer to an ongoing action which was taking place when something else occurred in the past
e.g I was washing the dishes when the telephone rang
We were entertaining friends when the parcel arrived
Trang 2In the first example, the use of the Past Continuous tense indicates that the action of washing the dishes was taking place at the time when the telephone rang In the second example, the use of the Past Continuous tense indicates that the action of entertaining friends was taking place at the time when the parcel arrived
b Formation
The Past Continuous tense is formed from the Simple Past of the auxiliary to be,
followed by the present participle of the verb For example, the Past Continuous of the
verb to work is conjugated as follows:
I was working you were working
he was working she was working
it was working
we were working they were working
c Questions and negative statements
As is the case with other English tenses, questions and negative
statements in the Past Continuous are formed using the auxiliary
Questions are formed by placing the auxiliary before the subject For example:
I was working Was I working?
They were working Were they working?
Negative statements are formed by placing the word not after the
auxiliary For example:
Affirmative Statement Negative Statement
I was working I was not working
They were working They were not working
In spoken English, the contractions wasn't and weren't are often used.
Negative questions are formed by placing the auxiliary before the subject, and the word
not after the subject However, when contractions are used, the contracted form of not
immediately follows the auxiliary The following are examples of
negative questions with and without contractions:
Without Contractions With Contractions
Was I not working? Wasn't I working?
Were they not working? Weren't they working?
Tag questions are formed using the auxiliary In the following
examples, the negative tag questions are underlined Contractions are usually used in negative tag questions For example:
Trang 3Affirmative Statement Affirmative Statement with Tag Question
I was working I was working, wasn't I?
They were working They were working, weren't they?
3 The past perfect
a Use
The Past Perfect tense is used to refer to a non-continuous action in the past, which was already completed by the time another action in the past took place In the following examples, the verbs in the Past Perfect tense are underlined
e.g She had heard the news before I saw her
I had finished my work by the time the clock struck twelve
In the preceding examples, the verbs had heard and had finished are in the Past Perfect tense, and the verbs saw and struck are in the Simple Past The use of the Past Perfect
tense indicates that the actions of hearing the news and finishing the work were already completed by the time the actions expressed by the verbs in the Simple Past took place
b Formation
The Past Perfect tense is formed from the Simple Past of the auxiliary to have, followed
by the past participle of the verb
The Simple Past of to have is had In spoken English, the auxiliary had is often
contracted to 'd For example, the Past Perfect of the verb to work is conjugated as
follows:
Without Contractions With Contractions
I had worked I'd worked
you had worked you'd worked
he had worked he'd worked
she had worked she'd worked
it had worked it'd worked
we had worked we'd worked
they had worked they'd worked
The contraction it'd is less frequently used than the other contractions, since it is more
difficult to pronounce
c Questions and negative statements
As is the case with other English tenses, questions and negative
statements in the Past Perfect tense are formed using the auxiliary Questions are formed by placing the auxiliary before the subject For example:
I had worked Had I worked?
They had worked Had they worked?
Trang 4Negative statements are formed by placing the word not after the auxiliary For
example:
Affirmative Statement Negative Statement
I had worked I had not worked
They had worked They had not worked
In spoken English, the following contraction is often used:
Negative questions are formed by placing the auxiliary before the subject, and the word
not after the subject However, when contractions are used, the contracted form of not
follows immediately after the auxiliary For example:
Without Contraction With Contraction
Had I not worked? Hadn't I worked?
Had they not worked? Hadn't they worked?
Tag questions are formed using the auxiliary In the following
examples, the negative tag questions are underlined Contractions are usually used in negative tag questions
Affirmative Statement Affirmative Statement with Tag Question
I had worked I had worked, hadn't I?
They had worked They had worked, hadn't they?
4 The past perfect continuous
a Use
The Past Perfect Continuous tense is used to refer to a continuous, ongoing action in the past which was already completed by the time another action in the past took place In the following examples, the verbs in the Past Perfect Continuous tense are underlined
e.g I had been waiting for two months by the time I received the reply
He had been thinking about his friends shortly before they called
In the preceding examples, the verbs had been waiting and had been thinking are in the Past Perfect Continuous tense, and the verbs received and called are in the Simple Past
The use of the Past Perfect Continuous tense indicates that the actions of waiting and thinking were continuous, and were completed by the time the actions expressed by the verbs in the Simple Past took place
b Formation
The Past Perfect Continuous tense is formed from the Past Perfect of the auxiliary to be,
followed by the present participle of the verb For example, the Past Perfect Continuous
tense of the verb to work is conjugated as follows:
I had been working you had been working
he had been working she had been working
Trang 5it had been working
we had been working they had been working
The auxiliary had is often contracted to 'd in spoken English.
c Questions and negative statements
As is the case with other English tenses, questions and negative
statements in the Past Perfect Continuous tense are formed using the first auxiliary
Questions are formed by placing the first auxiliary before the subject For example:
Affirmative Statement Question
I had been working Had I been working?
They had been working Had they been working?
Negative statements are formed by placing the word not after the first auxiliary
For example:
Affirmative Statement Negative Statement
I had been working I had not been working
They had been working They had not been working
Negative questions are formed by placing the first auxiliary before the subject, and the
word not after the subject However, when contractions are used, the contracted form of not follows immediately after the first auxiliary For example:
Without Contractions With Contractions
Had I not been working? Hadn't I been working?
Had they not been working? Hadn't they been working?
Tag questions are formed using the first auxiliary In the following examples, the negative tag questions are underlined Contractions are usually used in negative tag questions
Affirmative Statement Affirmative Statement with Tag Question
I had been working I had been working, hadn't I?
They had been working They had been working, hadn't they?
5 Summary of the formation of the English present and past tenses
The following table summarizes the formation of the English present and past tenses
Simple Present do/does * bare infinitive **
Present Continuous am/is/are present participle
Present Perfect have/has past participle
Present Perfect Continuous have/has been present participle
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Simple Past did * bare infinitive ***
Past Continuous was/were present participle
Past Perfect had past participle
Past Perfect Continuous had been present participle
* In the Simple Present and Simple Past tenses, the auxiliaries are used only for
emphasis, and for the formation of questions and negative statements Auxiliaries are
never used with the Simple Present or Simple Past of the verb to be.
** When used without the auxiliary, the third person singular of the Simple Present has
the ending s.
*** When the verb is used without the auxiliary, the Simple Past form of the verb is used For regular verbs, and for many irregular verbs, the Simple Past has the same form as the past participle
6 Emphatic statements
In spoken English, words can be emphasized by being pronounced with a heavier stress than usual This type of emphasis is usually indicated in written English by means of italics or underlining In the following examples, emphasized words are indicated by means of underlining
Emphatic statements are often used in conversation; for instance, when one speaker is contradicting another
e.g "I don't believe he works very hard."
"Yes, he does work hard."
When it is desired to emphasize a verb, it is generally the first auxiliary which is stressed
For instance, in the sentence I am working hard, the verb can be emphasized by
stressing the auxiliary am.
e.g I am working hard
Usually, no auxiliary is required for affirmative statements in the Simple Present and Simple Past However, in order to make such statements emphatic, for verbs other than
the verb to be, the auxiliary to do is used, followed by the bare infinitive For example, in the Simple Present, the emphatic form of the verb to work is formed with the Simple Present of the auxiliary to do, as shown below:
Affirmative Statement Emphatic Affirmative Statement
I work I do work
You work You do work
He works He does work
She works She does work
It works It does work
We work We do work
They work They do work
In the Simple Past, the emphatic form of the verb to work is formed with the Simple Past
of the auxiliary to do, as shown below:
Affirmative Statement Emphatic Affirmative Statement
Trang 7I worked I did work.
You worked You did work
He worked He did work
She worked She did work
It worked It did work
We worked We did work
They worked They did work
For the emphatic form of the Simple Present of the verb to be, no auxiliary is used
Instead, the verb itself is stressed For example:
Affirmative Statement Emphatic Affirmative Statement
I am ready I am ready
It is ready It is ready
They are ready They are ready
Similarly, for the emphatic form of the Simple Past of the verb to be, no auxiliary is
used Instead, the verb itself is stressed For example:
Affirmative Statement Emphatic Affirmative Statement
I was ready I was ready
It was ready It was ready
They were ready They were ready
Examples of emphatic statements in all of the present and past tenses are given in the following table:
Simple Present I work I do work
Present Continuous I am working I am working
Present Perfect I have worked I have worked
Present Perfect Continuous I have been working I have been working
Simple Past I worked I did work
Past Continuous I was working I was working
Past Perfect I had worked I had worked
Past Perfect Continuous I had been working I had been working
Simple Present of to be I am ready I am ready
Simple Past of to be I was ready I was ready
It should be noted that questions may be emphasized in the same way as statements e.g Did it work?
Are they ready?
Sometimes it is desired to emphasize a negative statement containing the word not In spoken English, often both the auxiliary and the word not are stressed, but in written English, usually only the word not is underlined or written in italics For
example:
Negative Statement Emphatic Negative Statement
He does not know the answer He does not know the answer
Trang 8When a contracted form of the word not is used, it is generally the auxiliary
which is stressed in an emphatic statement For example:
Negative Statement Emphatic Negative Statement
He doesn't know the answer He doesn't know the answer