{"id":1476,"date":"2012-08-30T12:50:48","date_gmt":"2012-08-30T19:50:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/e-gmat.com\/blogs\/?p=1476"},"modified":"2022-11-24T16:26:28","modified_gmt":"2022-11-24T10:56:28","slug":"verbs-past-tense","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/e-gmat.com\/blogs\/verbs-past-tense\/","title":{"rendered":"Verbs – Past Tense"},"content":{"rendered":"A <\/span> 2<\/span> min read <\/span><\/span>\n

The verbs that denote that the actions took place in the past are said to be the verbs written in past tense. For example:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  1. John went<\/strong> to school yesterday.<\/li>
  2. Gina prayed<\/strong> before she slept<\/strong>.<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    Past Tense can be further divided into four sub-categories:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Simple Past Tense<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    This tense is used to present general information about the actions that started in the past and finished in the past as well. We also use this tense to talk about past habits. For example:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    1. Many freedom fighters gave<\/strong> their lives, fighting for the independence of their country.<\/li>
    2. Mary practiced<\/strong> for 12 hours every day before her first performance.<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

      Past Progressive\/Continuous Tense<\/strong> <\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

      This tense is used to show an action that was happening in the past. The time of the action may be or may not be indicated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Like the present continuous tense, the past tense is also derived by adding \u201cing\u201d to the base verb. A point to remember here is that only the verb-ing word does not make the continuous tense. The verb-ing word must be preceded by a past tense helping verb to make the verb in present continuous. Let\u2019s take examples here:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      1. Roy was playing <\/strong>football with his younger brother.<\/li>
      2. The managers were looking<\/strong> for people for a numbers of vacant posts in the company.<\/li>
      3. The power went off when I was reading. <\/strong><\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

        The verbs in all the above three sentences are \u201cwas playing\u201d, \u201cwere looking\u201d, and \u201cwas reading\u201d. Notice that if we used only \u201cplaying\u201d, \u201clooking\u201d, or \u201creading\u201d in these sentences, they would not qualify as verbs in the absence of the helping verbs \u201cwas\u201d, \u201cwere\u201d, and \u201cwas\u201d respectively. These helping verbs actually show the tense of the action. Hence, in present continuous tense, the verb-ing word MUST BE PRECEDED by is\/are\/am.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        Past Perfect Tense<\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

        This tense describes action that was completed before a certain moment in the past:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        1. I had met Julia some 20 years ago.<\/li>
        2. My great grandfather had given this watch to my grandfather.<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

          The past perfect tense verbs are always written with \u201chad\u201d.  However, this word in itself is not a past perfect verb. To be so, \u201chad\u201d must be followed by the verb in its participle form. The verbs in the above mentioned examples follow this structure. So \u201chad\u201d together with the participle form of verb makes the past perfect tense.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

          If \u201chad\u201d is used just by itself and is not followed by a verb in its participle form, then it works as simple past tense verb.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

          1. I had <\/strong>your book but not anymore. (Simple Past Tense)<\/li>
          2. The team had<\/strong> great respect for its former coach. (Simple Past Tense)<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

            Past Perfect Continuous Tense<\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

            This tense is used to present an action that started sometime before a certain point the past and continued up to that time. This tense is a mix of past continuous and past perfect tense and hence uses the following structure:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            1. When Prof Roy joined the institute, Prof Sen had already been teaching there for six years.<\/li>
            2. At that time, he had already been working on his fifth book for three months.<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

              Click here to view details about past tense.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

              <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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              The verbs that denote that the actions took place in the past are said to be the verbs written in past tense. For example: John went to school yesterday. Gina prayed before she slept. Past Tense can be further divided into four sub-categories: Simple Past Tense This tense is used to present general information about […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","ub_ctt_via":""},"categories":[94,1,95],"tags":[],"featured_image_src":null,"author_info":{"display_name":"e-GMAT","author_link":"https:\/\/e-gmat.com\/blogs\/author\/administrator\/"},"yoast_head":"\nGMAT Prep - Verbs - Past Tense | e-GMAT Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/e-gmat.com\/blogs\/verbs-past-tense\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"GMAT Prep - Verbs - Past Tense | e-GMAT Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The verbs that denote that the actions took place in the past are said to be the verbs written in past tense. 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