English Past Tenses Overview

Vocabulary flashcards covering the key structures, indicators, and rules for English past tenses (Past Simple, Past Continuous, Past Perfect, and Past Perfect Continuous) from the lecture notes.

Past Simple Form

The grammatical structure $S + V_2 + \text{complement}$ for affirmative statements, and $S + \text{did not} + V_0$ for negative statements.

Past Simple Key Indicators

Time expressions that indicate the past simple tense, including ago, last, past, and in followed by a past year or time period (e.g., in 2009 to 2022).

Past Continuous Form

The grammatical structure $S + \text{was/were} + V\text{-ing}$.

While / As Conjunctions

Grammatical indicators typically followed by the past continuous tense ($\text{was/were} + V\text{-ing}$) when describing an action in progress in the past.

Past Perfect Form

The grammatical structure $S + \text{had} + V_3$.

By the time Rule

A past sentence structure combining by the time with a past simple clause ($V_2$) and a past perfect main clause ($\text{had} + V_3$).

Past Perfect Continuous Form

The grammatical structure $S + \text{had} + \text{been} + V\text{-ing}$.

Past Perfect Continuous Indicators

Time duration keywords including for, since, and all, used when an action was ongoing in the past up until another past time or had a clear result in the past.