Past Tenses: How Many Are There And How Should I Use Them?
College of English Language in San Diego provides comprehensive English instruction, including mastering past tenses, enabling students to navigate real-world communication confidently.
College of English Language in San Diego provides comprehensive English instruction, including mastering past tenses, enabling students to navigate real-world communication confidently.
To learn about past tenses, you first have to have some previous knowledge of grammar. You need to be familiar with the most common English tenses, to know how to use the main tenses, and to differentiate between Present Simple and Present Continuous easily.
English grammar is a castle made of building blocks, and you need a solid foundation to move on to more complicated aspects of the language. So, before you join a San Diego, California English language school and learn the ways of the force, let us help you get started with the past.
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“Why couldn’t there be just one, or two, tops? Why must there be four past tenses, making me hear a buzzing in my head every time I try to wrap it around these pesky past tenses. Why do I have to know them all, it’s not like I’m looking for a job at the California Department of Education?”
We hear you, and we understand your troubles, but the thing is, no tense in the English language is superfluous, and not a single one is without its uses. Chances are that you’re going to find yourself in a situation, talking about the past, missing a past tense that would be perfect for what you’re trying to say. And that’s why there are four of time - one for every occasion. But let’s see what those occasions are.
Now, on to when we should use each of the four past tenses.
How do you use which past tense correctly? Past Simple, Past Perfect, Past Perfect Continuous…? The good thing is that it doesn’t matter much, and that we’re not going to get into too much detail on how to use each of the past tenses adequately.
What we are going to do, however, is give you a couple of tips on how to use every tense in the English language correctly, past tenses included. The catch is the same no matter the tense you’re trying to use.
Yes, there is, and it’s called College of English Language - the finest language school all of San Diego has to offer. And we don’t just teach tenses, we teach every aspect of the English language, from grammar to written and spoken communication. We leave no stone unturned! If you’re struggling to understand the commentary when visiting Petco Park for a game, come to our school and never miss a beat again!