English grammar
Past Tenses
English has many past tenses. Past simple tells what happened. Past continuous tells what was happening around it. Past perfect tells what happened before that.
Class Past Tenses
These are the forms taught in English classes all over the world. We show them with real videos, not made-up ones.
Past Simple
Subject + past verb (regular: -ed / irregular: went, saw, said…)
This is the tense we use most to tell a story. We use it for something that happened at one time in the past.
Past Continuous
Subject + was/were + verb-ing
We use this for something that was happening at one time. Another thing often happens at the same time. Example: "I was cooking when she called."
Past Perfect
Subject + had + past participle
This shows one past thing happened before another past thing. Example: "She had already left when I arrived." It helps make stories clear.