ALL English Past Tenses Explained in 12 Minutes [including USED TO and WOULD!]
Learn all about English past tenses in 12 minutes: how and when to use them, and the differences between the different past tenses. In this video, we're going to discuss the following past tenses in English: the past simple, the past continuous, the past perfect, the past perfect continuous, and the phrases 'used to' and 'would'.
We will also look at the differences between them, to make sure you're not mixing them up.
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Here's a quick look at what each of the English past tenses looks like. To learn how to use them, watch the video :)
Past simple:
I played tennis last week. ('play + ed' is a regular past simple form)
I went to the cinema last night. ('went' is an irregular past simple form, the present tense form is 'go')
To ask a question, use 'did' + present tense form:
Did you play tennis last week?
Did you go to the cinema last night?
To make it into a negative sentence, use 'did not' + present tense form:
I did not play tennis.
I did not go to the cinema.
Past continuous:
I was playing tennis between 8 and 9 this morning.
So, it's 'was' or 'were' + verb + ing
To ask a question, invert 'was'/'were' and the subject:
Was I playing tennis between 8 and 9 this morning?
To make it negative, add 'not' after 'was'/'were':
I was not playing.
Past perfect:
When I went to London, I realised I had been there before.
So, you need 'had' and the past participle form (third form). 'Been' is the past participle form of the verb 'to be'.
To ask a question, invert 'had' and the subject:
Had you been to London before we travelled there together?
To make it negative, add 'not' after 'had':
I had not been to London.
Past perfect continuous:
We had been talking when you arrived.
You need 'had' + 'been' + verb + ing
To ask a question, invert 'had' and the subject:
Had you been talking when I arrived?
To make it negative, add 'not' after 'had':
We had not been talking.
Used to:
I used to like spaghetti when I was a child.
'Used to' is followed by a verb in the present tense.
To ask a question, do it in the same way you do it in the past simple tense. So:
Did + subject + use to + verb
Did you use to like spaghetti when you were a child?
To make it into a negative sentence, say:
I didn't use to like spaghetti.
Would:
We would go to the seaside a lot when we were younger.
Use 'would' and a verb in the present tense.
To ask a question, invert 'would' and the subject:
Would you go to the seaside a lot when you were younger?
To make it into a negative sentence, say:
We wouldn't go to the seaside much when we were younger.
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Пікірлер: 243
And I have to say, and I mean it sincerely, that no English teacher has explained the past tenses better than you. Everything is crystal clear to me now. Thank you and I won't unlink from your channel. 😊😊😊
@english_with_aga
3 ай бұрын
That is nice to hear, thank you for your feedback
@sangarefassou3211
3 ай бұрын
Hello my dearest... Thanks for everything you do for us, thanks again, there is something about present perfect,, For example, I am at the hospital I didn't return yet in this case, is better to say that: I have gone to the hospital, or I am at the hospital.. Thanks for everything
It's just like putting on glasses for the first time in your whole life
Although I am a beginner in English, I can understand your explanation. Thank you so much. Simple and effective methodology From Algeria
@english_with_aga
7 ай бұрын
Glad it was helpful!
Beautiful lesson ☺️. Love this lesson ❤
Brilliant explanation!! Thank you!!
Thanks for explaining, it’s very clear and repeats a few times so that helps a lot.
Thank you very much for the clearly made distinction between the past tenses!!!
As usual I'm able catch very easy what are you explaining about..thank you Agnieszka...you're so great really❤❤❤
Incredible- I heard plenty of classes explaining all these points but in a paragraph as you said not even delivered in such an incredible way.. I am subscribed.. that's the only one I can do for you! Hats off you.
Thanks a lot, it is very informing ! Very clear and connected examples which made things more understandable . ☺️
Thank you so much for your time to teach us 💕
That straightforward explanation! thank you!
@english_with_aga
5 ай бұрын
Amazing, glad you found it useful!
Very useful, Thanks for helping us
Thanks for the clear teaching of Past tense, Madam. Indeed I enjoyed learning. Please keep teaching us. God bless
Excellent!
Thanks for the lesson, my difficulties was using the past perfect in constructing a sentence.
Thanks for lovely lesson ❤
Amaizing content! really cool. Thank You
Thank you it's clear
Thank you so much a very useful video and it's perfect.
Thanks a lot!!!! It was useful!
Very detailed explanation for showing the differences of different past tenses. Thank you
@english_with_aga
11 ай бұрын
You're welcome!
Wow teacher❤.. You nailed it.made it look so easy. Thank you heaps.
I really enjoyed it you’re lifesaver
Clear expectations! Got it 👍 Thank you so much 🌺
@english_with_aga
2 жыл бұрын
I’m glad I could help! Any other topics you’d like to see?
Excellent thank you
This lesson is perfect! You are so good teacher!
@english_with_aga
Жыл бұрын
Thank you so much - glad you found the lesson useful :)
Very well done 👏👏❤
Thank you very much, extremely useful
Very thanks for video
Brilliant lesson about past tenses , thank you , Dziekuje bardzo !
Thank you!
Thank you 🙏🏽
This was very well explained and helpful. It’s ok when you know automatically which tense to use, but explaining it isn’t so easy, so thank you for your excellent and clear explanations. 😊
@english_with_aga
10 ай бұрын
Thank you so much for your comment - glad I couls help!
@artinshorttime5604
7 ай бұрын
. My best teacher in all time.Thank you for your interest in my messages
Simply Great 🎉
Hello, thanks for the lesson, for me the most difficult past tenses are: past perfect, past perfect continuous.
@artinshorttime5604
7 ай бұрын
Thank you for your interest in my messages
You speak slowly and clearly, you won another one subscriber ❤
Excellent explanation. The most difficult for me is Past perfect and sometimes past perfect continues.
Thank you Aga ,You are amazing ✨
Thank you very much . Very clear explanation and helpful.Past perfect and past perfect continuous is difficult
thank you my best teacher in all time. the diffcult in the past tenses is the word would because i learned from other english language teacher they have been using would same as will .and same thing for shall and should .
We can also use Past Continuous to talk about past events that happen at the same time (or events that are interrupted). I was cooking the dinner when my cat came in. (two past event that happen at the same time) Past Progressive Continuous (to emphasize duration, to show interruption). I had been cooking the dinner for 2 hours when my cat came in.
@user-jm9eh4wb9j
2 ай бұрын
That's something invented - 'Past Progressive Continuous' ))) Maybe you meant Past Perfect Continuous (or Past Perfect Progressive)?
Thanks teacher
Thank you, it's getting clearer to me now about every english past tenses, after watching this video. I had understood about all the english past tenses, but I still get confused to pick the appropriate tenses every time i talk to someone, and since english is not my main language, when i speak english i oftenly convert my language first to english in my mind, and the result usually not very good. (i think i should memorize them more, and practice more, watching more english videos). But, as i said before, your video is very helpfull to me. Thank's again!
This is the clearest way to explain grammar, thank you 🎉
@english_with_aga
11 ай бұрын
Thank you! Glad you found it useful!
Thanks Teacher🎉
Thank you very much mam. Very helpful. My favorite and kind English teacher.
You are an excellent English teacher. Best example!
@english_with_aga
4 ай бұрын
Thank you so much!
Thank you so Much for your teaching English. I like the way you teach.❤
@english_with_aga
2 ай бұрын
Thank you!
Wow, OMG these videos are so good; I really love them. You often start- certainly in your Shorts- with 'What's the difference between ...', then I'll pause the video, and try to explain it for myself before I listen further to your explanation. Excellent: question, reflection, correct answer. BTW you have a captivating smile; definitely, one of my best online teachers. Before, I never wanted to learn the English Tenses in a systematic way, because I thought of going into it in a more intuitive manner. Now, I'm really studying these tenses with you next to me and that is so comforting. I've now underpinned my intuitive approach with a more systematic understanding. Really great. Thanks a lot. Best regards from Belgium (Bruges!). If you ever come to Belgium, please give me a ring, I can show you around if you like. Best regards!
@english_with_aga
7 ай бұрын
Thank you so much for your comment 😊 It’s interesting to hear about how you’re watching and making the most of my videos! Good luck! 😀
Thank you teacher I understood well❤
Thank you
Gosh, this lesson is Perfect! :D I would like to see more of them ;)
@english_with_aga
2 жыл бұрын
Glad you liked it! What other topics would you like to learn about?
Thanks for your teaching, its understandable lesson thanks👍
@english_with_aga
Ай бұрын
You’re welcome! 😊
Thank you very much for the explanation ! Finally I understand some things here ! Where do we position the present perfect into that ?
Thank you mam for giving me knowledge & teaching me tenses
I thank you teacher!
i've never understood this subject so clearly before. thank you so much!! 🎉
@english_with_aga
4 ай бұрын
Glad to hear that! 😊
Fantastic dear
For me, the most difficult tense to learn is the"Past Perfect Continuous" Thank you for the lesson
Really, I appreciate a lot.
As a near native englisch speaker it is difficult for me to tell you what is the most difficult past tense form for me. I just speak and I am not conscious about the tenses at all. When doing an English test online, just for fun, most of the times my results vary between 89 or 90 percent and sometimes even a 100 percent. But at the moment I do prepare a little bit for an English test with Lufthansa regarding a job as a flight attendant. In the comments of applicants I’ve read that even native speakers sometimes don’t reach the 100 percent. My compliments to you ! You’re doing a great job and you’re doing it very sympathetically.
@english_with_aga
24 күн бұрын
Thank you so much! I wish you all the best with the exam!
Clear explanation thank you, the difficult tenses is past perfect continuous .
I love the way you teach English
Thank you very much, again, madame for teaching me English. Special using good way to make it easy to me.
@english_with_aga
6 ай бұрын
You are welcome!
I have to thank you for this wonderful and useful 12:33 minutes. ❤learned something deeply with correct examples. I already know abt past tenses but not this much detailed level..
@english_with_aga
9 ай бұрын
So glad I could help!
Hi Aga, you’re just great!!! At the first moment I thought to myself "she must be original British - no doubt, because her accent sounds sooo British". In the whole tutorial there is just one little moment, it's the moment when you say the word "that", that gives you away. Instead of pronouncing a “th”, you tend to say a “d”. I am pretty sure you have noticed this tiny little thing in your video. I mean, actually it' s clear to me that there must be another linguistic background because of your name. But, all my respect to you because of your wonderful British accent! I am Andy. My Dad was American and my Mom German. I got to know my father late, I must have been 11 or 12 years old when I met him first. So, it was just the right time for me to become a near native speaker. But as you can imagine probably, I more or less caught up this typical American mid western accent from my Dad. He lived in Kansas City at that time. Many years later I started to work as a flight attendant with Lufthansa. When I was employed with Lufthansa, I shared an apartment together with a colleague and she had been engaged with a British guy. At first I was laughing when hearing this funny British accent. It sounded strange to me. But I more and more began loving it. So I started imitating this “funny” accent - just for fun at the beginning. And later on I was so deep in there, that suddenly I started doing on board announcements with a real British accent. I remember a situation. I had just finished the boarding announcement and I went into the cabin offering beverages as a guy about my age asked me: “was it you? the one who just did the announcements?” “Yes, I answered”. “Come on he said, now when doing the service you sound like a mid western guy and before, I thought you were British because of your accent - that’s incredible he added. Today I am actually happy about the fact, that nobody recognizes where I’m originating from. At least nobody recognizes the fact that I am German. And that makes me happy with my English. Am I in England, people ask me “where are you from? From Australia? Am I in the US, the ask me, are u British? And these questions are compliments. Once an English professor told me not to play with my nice American accent, but I did - for fun. So, now it is like it is. Sometimes when visiting my American relatives they ask me: “Did you turn being British now?” Your tutorial about how to adopt a real British accent is exactly that what I was doing many years ago. Thanks again for your brilliant British tutorials. Please don’t hesitate correcting my lines to you. You might use them for another tutorial demonstrating the wrong tenses I might have used. Best regards - Andy.
awesome teacher you are
@english_with_aga
8 ай бұрын
Thank you! 😃
It's very helpful for learners thanks for made this vedio 🎉
You are amazing 👏
Your teaching genius is truly exceptional, words can’t fully capture its brilliance. ❤
@english_with_aga
2 ай бұрын
Thank you!
Thanks .
Very nice
Past perfect and past perfect continues . Thanks 👍
This is great. Can please make a video on the use of “will and would”
the most common difficult tense for me ,is past perfect tense
Thanks
Thank you, that I have found you, I have learnt a lot
@english_with_aga
8 ай бұрын
Wonderful!
Perfect
Thank you,
@Idi2704
8 ай бұрын
it is exactly the same
Best explanation
@english_with_aga
7 ай бұрын
Glad you think so!
very useful video
@english_with_aga
Ай бұрын
Glad you think so!
Thank you Agnieszka Murdoch ❤
Thanks teacher for your simple explanation The most dificulty is past perfect tense
Great lesson over past tenses in English..thanks..I started learning English when I entered yunior high school in 1968,but just a little and then was continued when I was studying in senior high school...so when I started study in university I had studied about basics of English..then I had been learning of English befire I met you in yutube...I used to make travelling abroad with bad English..next I would like make travelling abroad with good enough in English..hopefully
My lovely teacher Aga, even after an year l found your lessons on this vedio. Your beautifl face and it's smile. Such a calm look. i appriciate it. Youe clear pronunciation I love it. Good luck!❤️❤️❤️
I got it, tnx 🌺
Ilove you ,als l had thought that past perfect continuous is the most difficult one but after your video l found it very easy
Omg 😳😳 this video is perfect!!!! Thank you so much!!!! 🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰. And you are so pretty btw 🤭
Thank you ..
@english_with_aga
2 жыл бұрын
You’re welcome! Any other topics you’d like to see?
This video made my day I have understood very clearly. I have been watching this video for 3 times because I wasn’t able to clear the past perfect and perfect continuous now I understood properly ❤ thank you so much mam. This is my first video that I have watched on your channel, I’m your new subscriber from India ❤
@english_with_aga
Ай бұрын
Thank you for your feedback and for subscribing!
I just want to say thank you ❤
@english_with_aga
5 ай бұрын
You’re welcome! 😊
The hardest grammatical structure is Past Perfect. Thanks for your brilliant explanation ~ I can't wait your next tips.
@english_with_aga
2 жыл бұрын
It’s hard, I know! What else wiuld you like me to teach?
Well, hearing your class, your voice, I got traveling on the time, many years ago, I was luckly to life for a short time y Canterbury and made short trips to Wistable Beach. [Sorry for my grammar, I'm still trying improve it.]
We have to learn more from you.
I like your English ❤
Hi dear teacher it’s Abdul. This lesson is perfect and I’ve problems with the past perfect and past had been and have been I need to see more lesson and thank u so much
@english_with_aga
2 жыл бұрын
Thanks for your comment Abdul! I have a video coming up where I explain ‘have been’ (the present perfect). What else would you like to see?
@afghanfans455
2 жыл бұрын
I would like to see more vocabulary
I like it so captain teacher 😊
Thank you very much, the best teacher! LET THE ALMIGHTY CREATOR BLESS YOU 🙏🙏🙏🙏
Great