Past tenses

Question 1

Situations when you use past simple:

Answer 1

1. Finished actions
2. Direct and polite way of making requests or personal opinions.
3. Future event after the expression “Its time”

Question 2

Situations when you use past continuous:

Answer 2

1. Talks about actions in progress at a specific time in the past.
2. Use “hope” as a way of making a request more polite.
3. General background info (we were eating….when)
4. Use the adverb “always” to emphasize that something happened repeatedly and it was annoying.

Question 3

Situations when you use past perfect:

Answer 3

1. When you are refering to a time in past simple but want to refer to a further time in the past.

Question 4

Situations when you use used to and would:

Answer 4

1. Both can describe habits and states

Would:

1. Is used in hypothetical situations, specially in unreal conditionals.
2. To describe a person (I would describe james as….)
3. Future event that is described from a point of view in the past.
4. Describe willingness (most people would like to go to the gym)
5. With LOVE and PREFER
6. With the expression “would rather” in simple past.
7. To critizise a particular situation in the past.