Past Tenses
Past Tenses
1. Simple Past
Subject + V2
Used for a completed action at a definite past time, past habits, and a series of finished events.
- The committee met last Friday.
- Gandhi arrived in Champaran in 1917.
Used to expresses a discontinued past habit: He used to walk to school. (he no longer does)
2. Past Continuous
Subject + was / were + V4
Used for an action in progress at a past moment, and for a longer action interrupted by a shorter one.
- At six o'clock she was checking the register.
- While we were talking, the bell rang.
संरचना: लंबी क्रिया में past continuous, और उसे तोड़ने वाली छोटी क्रिया में simple past।
3. Past Perfect
Subject + had + V3
Used when two actions happened in the past and you need to show which one came first. The earlier action takes past perfect; the later one takes simple past.
- The train had left before we reached the station.
- She realised that she had forgotten the file.
Exam pointer: Watch for before, after, when, by the time, no sooner... than, hardly... when, scarcely... when. With no sooner / hardly / scarcely, the sentence begins with inversion: No sooner had he entered than the class fell silent. Note the pairing — no sooner goes with than, while hardly and scarcely go with when.
4. Past Perfect Continuous
Subject + had been + V4
Used for an action that had been going on for some time before another past action.
- He had been teaching for twelve years when he was promoted.
- They had been waiting since morning before the officer arrived.