Helping Hints for the Past
Auxiliary Verbs Used with Past Tenses
Knowledge of auxiliary verbs used in various tenses is the key to correct tense conjugation. Here is a review of auxiliary verbs for past tenses:
Past Simple:
Use 'did' in the question and negative form to express something that happened at a specific moment in the past. Use no auxiliary verb in the positive form.
Example:
The widow didn't have a beneficiary.
How long did it take to reach an agreement?
BUT:
The issuing bank rejected your last proposal.
Past Continuous:
Use 'was / were' in the past tense for the positive, negative and question forms in the past continuous tense to express what was happening at a specific moment in the past.
Example:
The company wasn't going to announce the closing date until Investments Group called us.
Company A was eyeing a hostile takeover of Company B when the government intervened.
Past Simple Passive:
Use 'was / were' in the past for positive, negative and question in the past simple passive to express a past passive operation. Remember that the passive takes the participle form of the principal verb.
Example:
The non-taxable income was not fully declared on the tax form.
Was the dividend presentation prepared by Dan?
Past Perfect:
Use 'had' in the past for the positive, negative and question forms for the past perfect tense to express something that had happened before another action occurred in the past.
Example:
They had been explaining the fixed exchange rate when the officer entered the hall.
The accrual was included in the estimate.
Past Perfect Continuous:
Use the verb 'had been' in the past perfect for the positive, negative and question forms for the past perfect tense to express the duration of something that had been happening up to another past moment in time.
Example:
She had been doing well financially until she wrote a bank draft for more than was in her account.
The economy had been struggling through a bear market for so long that people didn't know how to react.