3.3 Expressing the past
In everyday speech, past events can be easily discussed, but combining different verbs to express the past in writing can be challenging. It is therefore helpful to look at some of the key principles.
Activity _unit9.3.7 Activity 7
Look at Extracts 2 and 3 (below) again and highlight examples of the following tenses:
simple past
past in the past (time before then)
past progressive (something which is currently happening in the past).
To highlight your chosen text, first click on one of the coloured highlighter symbols to choose the appropriate tense. Then click on the appropriate part of the text. Click on the eraser symbol and click on the text again if you need to remove the highlight and try again.
Reading _unit9.3.1
Answer
Discussion
In Extract 2, there are examples of the simple past (used, placed, arranged, pointed) and there is an example of the past in the past: had used indicates something which happened before something in the past.
Reading _unit9.3.2
Answer
Discussion
In Extract 3, there are examples of the simple past and the past progressive. The past progressive is used for something which is currently happening in the past (that job they were interviewing for, Rita was responding to his questions, he was looking through a pile of papers). The focus here is on a period of time and not on a point of time.
Expressing the past is done in the following different ways.
Simple past
For example, in Extract 2:
Example _unit9.3.1
I used a lamp.
This event started and finished in the past.
Past in the past
However, in Extract 4, for example:
Example _unit9.3.2
Last year however a position arose at a youth centre in Nottingham where I had previously volunteered.
This action started and finished in the past, but it is the past in the past because the volunteering occurred before the position arose. The focus here is on the position.
Progressive past
This way of expressing the past is identified, for example, in Extract 3:
Example _unit9.3.3
Rita was responding to his questions
You need to be able to distinguish between events that occurred at a particular point in the past and those which continued in the past.
