Questions tagged [past-simple]
Questions related to the past simple, simple past or preterite, which is mainly used to describe events in the past.
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did you read the document?
I have another little question.
If someone has to read a document for the next day, so I can ask "did you read the document" instead of "have you read the document" because to me ...
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present perfect have forgotten/ forgot
It's night and I haven't cleaned my clothes.
Should I say:
Oh, I have forgotten to clean my clothes and I will have to do that tomorrow!
Is it good? Or I should use the past simple ("I forgot ...
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I have eaten / had eaten / ate seaweed when I was in Thailand three years ago
quora.com:
1a) I have eaten seaweed when I was in Thailand three years ago.
My variants:
1b) I had eaten seaweed when I was in Thailand three years ago.
1c) I ate seaweed when I was in Thailand three ...
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They were married for 12 years before/when
In this particular sentence do before and when mean the same and can be used interchangeably?
They were married for 12 years before/when they died/got divorced.
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I read/was reading a book until I fell asleep
Can we use the past simple with "from .. to.." even if we didn't finish the book/the ship etc. or is it necessary to use the past continuous?
Examples with "from .. to ..":
I read ...
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I repaired/was reparing my bike from 2 to 4pm
What's the difference between the past simple and the past continuous when using "from ... to ..."?
I read a book from 2 to 4pm.
I was reading a book from 2 to 4pm.
I built a ship from 2 ...
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Which usage of Past Simple is it?
My grandfather fought Nazis in WWII and I'm afraid of talking to a stranger
Which use of Past Simple would you attribute this sentence to?
Is it a longer, repeated action in the past like "he ...
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I didn't eat since breakfast vs. I haven't eaten since breakfast
This question came in the Dhaka University admission test 2008-09
I didn't eat since breakfast
I haven't eaten since breakfast
Q) No grammatical error occurs in
(a) I didn't eat since breakfast.
(b) ...
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meaning of "has been on"
In the following example:
Scott has been on holiday. He had a terrible time.
I always thought that "Scott has been on holiday" would mean "He is still on it". But past simple, in ...
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He didn't do that from when he was a teenager
I've recently learnt that we can use "since" only with the connection to the present. But how should we say about THOSE ABSOLUTELY SAME actions but after they stopped? (I know about the past ...
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fell asleep vs had fallen asleep
Is it possible to say "When I got home, Ben was lying on the sofa. The TV was on, but he wasn't watching it. He fell asleep and was snoring loudly"?
The answer is "had fallen asleep&...
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Which is correct? "Today I've done something that I've never done before." or "Today I've done something I never did before
Question: Which is correct? "Today I've done something that I've never done before." or "Today I've done something I never did before.
Personally, the second one seems the most logical ...
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Past perfect not being used in casual speech?
Is it true that most people don't use the past perfect in casual conversation and the following monologue is usual for native speakers?
"So I saw Maggie and I asked her why
she didn't come to the ...
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Past tense usage for continuous actions
I stumbled upon this question when listened to an interview: "I lived there for two years". If described process happened in the past, isn't it better to use past perfect "I had lived ...
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PAST CONT/SIMPLE for regular actions
How long did you study English before you faced a burnout?
How long were you studying English before you faced a burnout?
From my understanding, both are correct and natural, although 2 implies a &...
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Have you brushed your teeth this morning? [duplicate]
Can a teacher ask: "Have you brushed your teeth this morning?"
if a child is at school and has no opportunity to brush them later that morning if they haven't yet, because their brush is at ...
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Backshifting in reported speech with 1)"for...", 2)"from...to...", 3)"while", 4)"until"
I've got a question about backshifting in reported speech.
I've got some examples where we use the simple past even though the objects of the actions haven't been completed (the book has never been ...
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Past Simple or Present Perfect when writing that something was/has been generated
I have very simple sentence, however I have 3 problems with it. The major one is whether I should you Past Simple or Present Perfect when saying that something was/has been generated. The Second one ...
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Difference between past simple and past perfect in conditional tenses
I have been confused about the difference between simple and past perfect in conditional tenses.
“If we had looked at the map, we wouldn’t be lost.”
“If we looked at the map, we wouldn’t be ...
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Pluperfect and simple past
I'm trying to talk about a person like this:
He had come prepared for the video.
He came prepared for the video.
Now the thing is that we say that pluperfect is used to talk about an event that ...
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Which sentence would you use in the given context?
I didn't call him because he could be busy.
I didn't call him because he could've been busy.
To mean "I didn't call him, thinking he could be busy," which sentence would you use? Also, what ...
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I've had 5 cups of coffee today. Does this mean I'll have more?
Is it true that if I say: "I've had 5 cups of coffee today" I intend to drink more today and if I say: "I had 5 cups of coffee today" I am not going to drink any more coffee today?
...
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I've been to the shops today or I went to the shops today
I have a question about the use of present perfect and past simple with unfinished time.
What is the difference between "I've been to the shops today" and I went to the shops today"? ...
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Question in present perfect, but answer in past simple. Why not a past simple question?
From the English workbook "access 2", page 48:
Finish the dialogue with verb forms in the present perfect or simple past.
Dan: Have you ever been to Dartmoor, Amira?
Amira: Yes, I have. I ...
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Why is the correct answer 'to have been cleaned'?
I'm doing my grammar practice of infinitive verbs.
The room is said ( ) last week.
A. to clean
B. to be cleaned
C. to have cleaned
D. to have been cleaned √
According to my intuition of English ...
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Can someone explain this conditional? (Past simple + past perfect)
I've just come across one conditional that I don't quite understand.
If what she said was true, Marilyn had almost certainly left town last night.
I understand that the first part of the sentence is ...
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I have studied at university an achievement?
I am a middle aged woman who went to university where I studied French. This was 30 years ago . If someone asks me: "what have you studied?" can I answer: "I have studied French at ...
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have you locked the door or did you lock the door?
I have a question about the use of phrases like "Have you locked the door", "have you closed the windows" etc.
Can these phrases be used when you left your house a while ago and ...
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past progressive or past simple: worked or working
In the following sentences, could the past progressive be replaced by the past simple with no change of meaning? Is there a preferred form?
We were working / worked hard yesterday because the boss ...
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When I tell a story in the past, shouldn't I use past tense when the verbs are describing states?
I asked someone to correct my sentence in the other site, the sentence is:
I saw her yelling at her boyfriend, but he seemed to be indifferent.
They corrected the sentence for the usage of the tense ...
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"Data was enetred into computer" "I entered the room"
For "Data" I reckon it is correct to say "Data was enterned into computer correctly".
And i reckon for myself "I entered the room" is correct and is " i was entered ...
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Which one is correct: "you called the wrong person" or "you are calling the wrong person" when you get connected with someone mistakenly?
Would you tell me which one is correct: "you called the wrong person" or "you are calling the wrong person" when you get connected with someone mistakenly? For example:
Person A: ...
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Is this a right question? "Who did had a problem last night?" [closed]
Is this a right question?
Who did had a problem last night?
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Usage of simple past and past continuous tenses in this example
Are both sentences grammatically accurate, and how does the meaning differ if at all?
Grandma May knitted a sweater while she was listening to music.
Grandma May was knitting a sweater while she ...
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"the museum didn’t open vs the museum wasn’t open"
The museum wasn’t open at 9 a.m.
The museum didn’t open at 9 a.m.
Could you explain please the difference in their meaning? I understand the first "open" is an adjective but the second &...
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Interpreting complex narratives
I've been struggling with understanding the usage of past tenses in complex narratives such as this one:
Once, Aunt Petunia, tired of Harry coming back from the barbers looking as though he hadn’t
...
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Do I need to repeat past perfect in two consecutive sentences describing the same event?
If I write the first sentence using both past simple and past perfect, and then in the next sentence I want to speak about the action described by past perfect in the first sentence, do I need to use ...
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Have you changed or did you change
This is from a newspaper:
Have you radically changed your dress sense in later life?
We would like to hear from people who have changed their dress style dramatically.
Did you undergo a style ...
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Action prior to past perfect
If I am writing a sentence using simple past and past perfect, and in the next sentence I want to emphasize that there was another action completed even more earlier, which tense shoud I use in the ...
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Simple past or past perfect?
"He is one of my favorite scientists. He died a few years ago. He had a nice sense of humor. One day, he threw a party for time travelers."
Shouldn't I use the past perfect somewhere here? ...
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I saw/have seen him while I was there
Let’s say that while on a vacation I run across someone I knew. By now, the vacation has already ended.
Which of the following sentences is correct?
I saw him while I was there.
I’ve seen him while I ...
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"It wasn’t always like that" / "It hasn’t always been like that"
It wasn’t always like that.
It hasn’t always been like that.
If I understand correctly, the first sentence tells us the situation can't be changed now or in future. But what tells the second sentence?...
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was just here / has just been here
He was just here, but he has gone away.
He has just been here, but he has gone away.
Which sentence is idiomatic? I suppose the first one because we need to show the difference in his location.
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<have> never had a girlfriend
Peter is a soldier. He's been fighting in a battle for days. Suppose he's now fatally injured. He's going to die soon. Lying in the arms of his army friend, he says,
I've never had a girlfriend.
I'...
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We've never seen a real dinosaur
Dinosaurs were extinct long ago.
We, the humans in the 21st century, have never seen a real dinosaur.
We, the humans in the 21st century, never saw a real dinosaur.
Why is the second sentence ...
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I was burned several times in the past
What's the difference between these two italicized sentences?
I've been burned several times in the past. The only time I was badly injured was two years ago.
I was burned several times in the past. ...
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in the past /before in present perfect and past simple
Does "in the past" work well both in the past simple and present perfect? Does "before" work better in the present perfect than in the past simple? Here are four groups of ...
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Why does it use simple present of "change" for a past event?
There is dialog on "The Vampire Diaries" that
"my parents died and everything changes"
Why is "changes" used instead of "changed" or "has changed"?
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Passive sentences
Is it correct to say the following sentences?
Jack's money was stolen in the train.
and
My car has been stolen. I'm going to call the police.
Should I use past simple or present perfect when ...
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I'm very tired because I travelled for several hours this morning
According to another thread, sentences 1, 3, and 4 are correct. But sentence 2 doesn't sound idiomatic. Would you please explain the reason?
In the afternoon, I said,
I'm very tired because I was ...
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