Page 126 - DENG102_COMMUNICATION_SKILLS_II

Unit 9: Tenses

Questions (interrogative sentences) notes

auxiliary verb + subject + verb + ing + ?
was/were I/a dog etc. going/taking
Negative sentences
subject + auxiliary verb + not + verb + ing
I/a dog etc. wasn't/weren't going/taking
!

Caution You can also use the Past continuous to show your irritation over something or
somebody in the past.

Example: She was always asking me stupid questions.

9.2.3 Past Perfect tense

It is used in situations like:

1. A completed action before another activity in the past

Example: 1. When we arrived, the concert had already finished.
2. It had got/gotten worse before it got better.

2. Third conditional sentences and reported speech

Example: 1. If I hadn’t taken my keys from the drawer, I would be unable to get into
my house.
2. My mother asked me whether I had visited her friend the previous day.
3. Dissatisfaction with the past

Example: I wish I hadn’t gone there.
Form: Positive sentences:
subject + auxiliary verb + Past participle
I/a boy etc. had eaten/given/gone

!
Caution Typical Mistakes

1. As soon as I went inside, My daughter hided hid behind the curtain.
(the past participle of the verb “to hide” is “hid”, not “hided”)
2. By the time I had reached the venue most of the guests HaD left.
(“By the time” indicates that the guests had left before the speaker reached the venue,
not the other way around!)
Questions (interrogative sentences):
auxiliary verb + subject + Past participle + ?
had I/a boy etc. eaten/given/gone

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