with Speak Method
| English Online with Speak Method |
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| Tense |
Example |
Meaning |
| Past
Tense |
She
waited. |
she
waited at some time in the past |
| Past
Progressive (continuous) |
She was waiting for two hours. |
she waited during two hours in
the past (an event/story told about the past and the waiting could
continue in the story) |
| Past
Perfect |
She
had waited for two hours. |
she
waited for two hours in the past (the waiting is finished, that part of
the event/story is over) |
| Past Perfect
Passive |
Her car had been parked for a
long time. |
passive form--the subject acted
on serves as the first noun; active past perfect: she had parked her
car. |
| Past
Perfect Progressive |
She
had been waiting for two hours before her friend arrived. |
she
waited for two hours and then something else happened (this tense is
usually followed by a new event) |
| Past |
I
slept all night. |
you
slept all night in the past |
| Past
Progressive |
I was sleeping all night. |
you slept during the night
(emphasizes time) |
| Past
Perfect |
I
had slept terribly for two days. |
at
some point in the past, you slept badly for 2 days |
| Past Perfect
Passive |
My bed had not been made for
days. |
passive form--the bed is being
(or not being) acted upon, active form: I had not made my bed. |
| Past
Perfect Progressive |
I
had been sleeping terribly for three days, but then I finally slept for
9 hours and felt better. |
you
slept badly, but then something else happened |
| Past |
Use for most situations in the
past. Often use it after using past perfect or past perfect
progressive, when adding details. |
| Past
Progressive |
Use to
show length of time--many hours, days, weeks, months, etc. |
| Past
Perfect |
Use
this tense when telling a story that happened in the past. Use it to
show periods of time in the past--two hours, three days, several weeks.
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| Past
Perfect Passive |
Though
grammar check often tells you to avoid the passive voice, it can be
useful when speaking/writing about "passive" things like rooms,
cars--any object that people act upon. It also adds color/change when
you use it here and there. |
| Past
Perfect Progressive |
As
with past perfect, use when telling a story that happened in the past.
For this tense, though, use it to show a change that happened. "He had been waiting, but ..." or "I had been working hard and then ..." |
| Read the Story: My husband and I took a weekend trip out of town. We decided to drive south on the interstate and explore. We had been driving for 4 hours when we noticed it was getting dark and there were no cities nearby. We found a small hotel. There was an old air conditioner that was very loud. The room had not been cleaned well either. We regretted that we had not made plans before we left. The next day, you could see we had not slept. |
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