IV. The Present Perfect Continuous and the Present Perfect as Variants

The Present Perfect Continuous	The Present Perfect
1) with 'live' and 'work'
John has been living in London for a long time. How long have you been working here?	John has lived in London for a long time. How long have you worked here?
2) for actions repeated over a long period of time
I have been collecting stamps since I was a child.	I have collected stamps since I was a child.

Past tenses

The past tense refers an action to the past. Therefore it is primarily the tense of narration.

The Past Indefinite Tense

I. The Formation

Regular verbs form the Past Indefinite by adding the suffix '-ed' to the Infinitive without the particle 'to'. The Past Indefinite form of the irregular verbs should be remembered.

In interrogative sentences the auxiliary verb 'to do' in the Past Indefinite is placed before the subject. The notional verb is used in the infinitive without the particle 'to'.

In negative sentences the negative particle 'not' is placed between the auxiliary verb and the notional one.

• He arrived yesterday.

• Did he arrive yesterday?

• He did not arrive yesterday.

• He came yesterday.

• Did he come yesterday?

• He did not come yesterday.

II. The Use

1) The Past Indefinite is used to denote completed actions in the past (the actions are cut off from the present). It is also used to denote past states or habits.

• Shakespeare wrote “Romeo and Juliet”.

• Yesterday I got a good mark in Literature.

• She was deeply in love with him 10 years ago.

• Kitchens were small 300 years ago.

Note 1: The action may be momentary (a single action completed in the past) or prolonged (occupying a whole period of time now over).

• I only met her six months ago (a single action).

• I slept eight hours yesterday (a prolonged action within a period of time now terminated).

• We quarrelled for three days.

Note 2: The time of the action may be indicated by adverbials of past time (yesterday, a week ago, last year, the other day), may be implied in the situation through the mention of the place or other attending circumstances.

• I was in Bath in 1990.

• I ate turnips in Germany.

• He built the palace for Lord Henry.

Note 3: Sometimes reference is made to a particular action which is definite in the mind of the speaker and the hearer (without mentioning the time or the place of the action). Sometimes the time becomes definite as a result of a question and answer in the Present Perfect.

• Did you like the bride? (You saw her at the wedding).

• -Where have you been?

-I have been to the opera.

-Did you enjoy it?

2) Past Indefinite is used to denote a succession of past actions. They may be either single completed actions or actions of some duration occupying a whole period of time. Sometimes the actions follow immediately after each other, or one action causes a result.

• She looked at him for a long time and then shrugged.

• We marched all night and all day.

• My brother applied for a visa 6 times before he got one.

• Silverman ran to the car, jumped in and raced off into the night.

3) The Past Indefinite is used to denote repeated, habitual actions in the past.

• You often mentioned her in your letters.

4) The Past Indefinite is used to denote an action going on at the past moment with statal verbs and certain durative verbs (sit, stand, lie, hang, shine, gleam, talk, speak, wear, carry, walk and some others). In such cases the attention is focused not on its progress but it is the fact as such or the manner in which the action is presented that matters.

• He talked with deep emotion.

• The full moon shone down on the lightless blind-faced street.

Note 4: When we speak of inanimate things the Past Indefinite is the norm with the verbs mentioned above.

• On the table lay three rows of cards face upwards.

5) The Past Indefinite is used to denote future actions viewed from the past. It occurs:

a) in clauses of time, condition and concession:

• Probably, she knew that, whatever happened, he would not give her away.

b) when we describe plans, schedules, programes, etc. viewed from the past:

• He told me that he started for London in a week's time.

III. 'used to + infinitive', 'would + infinitive'

In English there are special means of expressing the idea of recurrent or permanent actions in the past.

'would + infinitive' expresses the idea of a past custom. It is typical only of literary style. It is found only in past time contexts and serves to express only recurrent actions.

• He would often wake up screaming on the night.

• Almost every day he would come to my place to have a talk.

'used to + infinitive' expresses the idea of a past action or state and implies contrast between the past and the present – what was typical in the past is no longer true at present.

• I used to be sentimental.

• It used to be my playground. There used to be an old oak in the yard.

Note 1: Two negative forms and two interrogative forms are possible with 'used to'.

• She didn't use to do...

• She didn't use to do...

• Did she use to do ...

• Did she used to do ...