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<h2>Past Tense</h2>
Past Tense refers any action from the last second backward to infinity. Past tense is subdivided into four:
<ul>
<li>Simple Past tense</li>
<li>Past Continuous tense</li>
<li>Past Perfect tense</li>
<li>Past Perfect Continuous tense</li>
</ul>
<h3>Use of Simple Past Tense:</h3>
<ul>
<li>This is used to talk about an action that took place sometime in the past either once, again and again; or an action that was true for some time.</li>
</ul>
<h4>Examples:</h4>
<table>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td width="213">
Positive
</td>
<td width="213">
Negative
</td>
<td width="213">
Interrogative
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="213">
I saw the rock last year.
</td>
<td width="213">
I didn’t see the rock last year.
</td>
<td width="213">
Did you see the rock?
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="213">
The secretary just typed that now.
</td>
<td width="213">
The secretary didn’t just type that now.
</td>
<td width="213">
Did the secretary just type that now?
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="213">
I fought while I was in high school.
</td>
<td width="213">
I never fought while I was in high school.
</td>
<td width="213">
Did I ever fight while I was in high school?
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="213">
Those small hamlets were united many years ago.
</td>
<td width="213">
Those small hamlets were not united many years ago.
</td>
<td width="213">
Were those small hamlets united many years ago?
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<ul>
<li>Simple Past tense is also used in reported speech to achieve sequence of tense:</li>
</ul>
<table width="657">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td width="328">
Direct Speech
</td>
<td width="328">
Reported/Indirect Speech
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="328">
Baku inquired, ‘who is this?’
</td>
<td width="328">
Baku inquired who this was.
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="328">
‘I am the general manager’, the man affirmed.
</td>
<td width="328">
The man affirmed that he was the general manager.
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="328">
Chinedu said, ‘I want to go home’.
</td>
<td width="328">
Chinedu said that he wanted to go home.
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="328">
‘Can I stay here?’ I asked.
</td>
<td width="328">
I asked if I could stay there.
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<ul>
<li>The simple past tense is also used with ‘it’s time’, ‘it’s about time’ and ‘it’s high time’:

<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>It’s time we discovered the truth.</li>
<li>It’s high time the children went to bed.</li>
<li>It’s about time I started avoiding alcohol.</li>
<li>Isn’t it time the boys left for the show?</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<h3>Use of Past Continuous Tense:</h3>
The past continuous tense is formed by using the past tense of be (was and were) and verb+ing. 
<ul>
<li>This is used mainly to refer to an action that was interrupted by another action. That is an action that continued before and after another action.</li>
</ul>
<h4>Examples:</h4>
I saw the bucket when he was searching for it.
‘Saw’ is the action that interrupted the past continuous tense ‘was searching’.
<table>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td width="213">
Positive
</td>
<td width="213">
Negative
</td>
<td width="213">
Interrogative
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="213">
The children were eating before their father came in.
</td>
<td width="213">
The children were not eating before their father came in.
</td>
<td width="213">
Were the children eating when their father came in?
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="213">
The principal was waiting angrily when the truant strolled in
</td>
<td width="213">
The principal wasn’t waiting when the truant strolled in.
</td>
<td width="213">
Was the principal waiting when the truant strolled in?
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="213">
As we were coming, he took to his heels
</td>
<td width="213">
As we weren’t coming again, he stayed.
</td>
<td width="213">
Did he run as we were coming?
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="213">
The inspectors were checking the teachers work, while we stayed and watched
</td>
<td width="213">
The inspectors weren’t checking the teachers work when we stayed and watched
</td>
<td width="213">
Were the inspectors checking the teachers work when we stayed and watched?
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<ul>
<li>It is also used for an action that was continuing in the past even when the interrupting action is not expressed.</li>
</ul>
<h4>Examples:</h4>
The students were beginning to drive their tutor crazy with their noise.
By that time, they were sweating profusely.
<h3>Use of Past Perfect Tense:</h3>
The past perfect tense is formed by using had and the past participle of the main verb.
<ul>
<li>This is used to refer to an action that started in the past and continued up to a given time in the past.</li>
</ul>
Dagir had lived in Kastina for six years before he became a politician.
When I met my wife, she had stayed with her uncle all her life.
<h3>Use of Past Perfect Continuous Tense:</h3>
The past perfect tense is formed by using had been and verb+ing form.
This has a similar function with past perfect. It is used distinctly for an action carried out several times up to a point in the past and continued to do after that point.
When I met my wife, he had been staying with her uncle all her life.
Dagir had been living in Kastina for six years before he became a politician.

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Past Tense

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