PAST TIME

THE SIMPLE PAST TENSE

1. it is used to talk about actions completed in the past at a definite time

yesterday,                          P

2 years ago

– He arrived yesterday.

– When did he arrive? = the time is asked about

you use this tense to talk about short, quickly finished actions in the order which they

       happened

– She went to the station, bought the ticket and got on the train.

– When he was a boy he never bit his nails.

– When I was a child we always went to a church on Sundays.          the action was repeated in

a period of time which is now terminated (ukončena)

 

THE PAST CONTINUOUS

1. describes an action which was already going on (probíhal) at a particular moment in the past

– What were you doing this time last year? = co jste ZROVNA dělali

– I phoned you last night at 7 but nobody answered the phone. Were you having a bath?

= ptáme se na konkrétní okamžik

– When did you write it? I wrote it at 3. = ve 3 jsem to zrovna napsal

What were you doing at 3? I was writing at 3. = ve 3 jsem zrovna psal

– The cat drowned. = it was very sad. – utopila se

The cat was drowning. But we managed to save it. – topila se

 

1. the continuous form is used for longer background actions,

while the simple form is used for shorter actions which happened in the middle or interrupted it

– When I was having a bath, the phone rang.

I was having a bath

– What were you doing when the fire broke out? = co jste dělali (were you watching TV?)

– What did you do when the fire broke out? = co jste udělali

1. in narrative, the continuous form is used for descriptions, the simple form for actions, events

– The bride was wearing a white dress, the bridegroom was trembling and looking pale when

suddenly a man stood up at the back of the church and said:…

1. always +  the past continuous

– He was always getting into trouble with the police.

1. politeness: suggestions (uncertainly)

– I was thinking we could meet. = tak jsem myslel…

– We were hoping you might come round. = tak jsme doufali, že…

– I was wondering if you could help.

– × I thought we could meet.- nepoužijeme, zní neosobně

1. unfulfilled event

– I was going to phone you yesterday, but then I forgot.

– We were expecting you yesterday, but you didn´t come.

 

 

THE PAST PERFECT TENSE

1. refers to an action which happened before another action in the past

– I could see from his face that he had received bad news. – He received bad news. I could see it

from his face.

had received              I could see

– She said some horrible things. He tried not to think about it. = talking about tings in the order in

which they happened. = He tried not to think about what she had said.

1. the Past Prefect Simple in the time clauses after time conjunctions:

– when, as soon as      after, before       by the time

– He put down the phone. He started to laugh. = When / As soon as he put down the phone, he

started to laugh.

– after, before – nemusíme dát předminulý čas.

=After he put down the phone, he started to laugh. Before they left the house, they (had)

checked the windows.

– They didn´t leave the house until they had checked the windows.

THE PAST PERFECT CONTINUOUS

1. refers to an action which had been going on up to a moment in the past which we are thinking about

– When he finally arrived I had been waiting for half an hour.

– When I left home it had been snowing. = it stopped a moment before

it was snowing. = zrovna sněžilo

• used to

– describes a habitual state – Grandpa used to have horses. – but he doesn´t now

or action in the past –  We used to go dancing.

• would

– eseje, charakteristiky, knihy

– is used for past habitual actions or typical behaviour

– you use it in written English

– Grandpa would turn on the radio, light his pipe and fall asleep.

• It´s time to go home. × It´s time you went home.

I´d rather go home than stay here. × I´d rather you didn´t smoke here.

 

TRANSLATION

 

It´s 10 o´clock in the evening. Peter is sitting on the sofa. What a busy day it has been. That´s his first night in his own flat. He lived his whole life with his parents, but now he is on his own.

Peter stands up, goes into the kitchen and gets a beer from the fridge. He hasn´t managed to unpack all the boxes yet. His friend left a moment ago. No wonder they are tired. They have been up since 6 a.m. They have helped him a lot.

Peter has had an idea. He will give a party and invite them all. But when? As soon as he had finished unpacking.(as soon as- časová spojka)

 

It was 10 o´clock in the evening. Peter was sitting on the sofa. What a busy day it had been. He had lived his whole life with his parents, but now he was on his own.

Peter stood up, went into the kitchen and got a beer from the fridge. He hadn´t managed to unpack all the boxes so far. His friends had left a moment before. No wonder they were tired. They had been up since 6 a.m. They had helped him a lot.

Peter had had an idea. He would give a party and invite them all. But when? As soon as he had finished unpacking.

 

1. Zuzana dropped two cups while she was washing up last.
2. She thanked him for everything he had done for her.
3. I´d rather you stayed at home and didn´t go out.
4. She was leaving the building when she remembered that she had left her umbrella in the office.
5. By the time we got to the station, the train had left.
6. We used / would have our breakfast in bed on Sundays.
7. He tried to phone them, but something had happened with the telephone lines.
8. Have you heard it? The Prime Minister has resigned. He resigned because of illness.
9. I felt horrible after my lunch. I had eaten too much.
10. I found out the all the time I had been writing to my friend, my mum had been opening the letters and (had been) reading the replies.
11. I didn´t see you in the pub yesterday. I stayed at home and watched TV.