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Talking about the past

Level: intermediate

Past events and situations

We use the past simple to talk about:

  • something that happened once in the past:

The film started at seven thirty.
We arrived home before dark.

  • something that was true for some time in the past:

Everybody worked hard through the winter.
We stayed with our friends in London.


Most evenings, we stayed at home and watched DVDs.
Sometimes they went out for a meal.

or used to:

We used to go for a swim every morning.

or would:

Most evenings, he would take the dog for a walk.
They would often visit friends in Europe.



Past simple, used to and would 1


Past simple, used to and would 2


We use the past continuous:


At half-time we were losing 1–0.


He broke his leg when he was playing rugby.
She saw Jim as he was driving away.

Past simple and past continuous 1


Past simple and past continuous 2


The past in the past


Helen suddenly remembered she had left her keys in the car.

Past simple, continuous and perfect 1


Past simple, continuous and perfect 2


The past and the present

We use the present perfect:


I have been working at the university for over ten years.



Be careful!

I have seen that film yesterday.
We have just bought a new car last week.
When we were children we have been to California.



Have you seen Helen today?
We have bought a new car this week.

Present perfect and past simple 1


Present perfect and past simple 2


The future in the past


  • would as the past tense of will:

He thought he would buy one the next day.
Everyone was excited. The party would be fun.

  • was/were going to:


It was September. Mary was starting school the next week.

The past with modal verbs

could is the past tense of can:


would is the past tense of will:

He said he would come but he forgot.


I'll telephone him. He might have got home early.
She's very late. She could have missed her train.

We use should have as the past form of should:

You shouldn't have spent so much money.


They would have gone out if the weather had been better.


can you tell me a context in which we can say "It's been a long time since I spoke italian"?

Hello manuel24,

The context in my previous answer (a person having trouble speaking Italian and trying to explain this) is fine. As I said, the two forms can be used interchangeably.



The LearnEnglish Team

Can I use present perfect continuous in the example

"We have lived here since 2007." ?

"We have been living here since 2007."

it would be wrong?

Hello JHRoss,

Both the simple and continuous forms are possible here and there is little difference in meaning. The continuous form emphasises the ongoing duration of the action, while the simple form emphasises the action as a whole. We would tend to use the simple form if we are interested in the result of the action or the achievement it represents, or if the action is complete, while the continuous would usually be used when we want to focus on the duration of the activity, the effort it entails or if the activity is not finished.

You can read more about the present perfect simple and continuous on this page.



The LearnEnglish Team

Hello The LearnEnglish Team,

I've once seen the following sentence.
''At school I disliked the maths teacher because he was always picking/always picked on me."

As my understanding, the past continuous is used here to express annoyance and the past simple describes an action happened in the past.
Is this possible to use "used to" or "would" in this case, since the action is a repeated action in the past?

Thank you in advanced,

Hello toandue,

It's certainly grammatically possible to use both 'would' and 'used to + infinitive' here. The past continuous or past simple form sounds a little more natural to me, particularly if you use 'always' in the sentence. I suppose this is because it would be a little redundant with 'would' or 'used to', though not grammatically incorrect. 

Best wishes,
The LearnEnglish Team

Hello LearnEnglish Team,
What's the difference between "used to" and "would" when talking about past habits?

I'd like to know if we use "once" with simple past or present perfect, and why?
For example:
Have you ever gone scuba diving?
No, I haven't. But once I ( went, have gone) snorekling.
Which one is correct and why?
I wrote this example to assure that I don't mean " the number of times I've done something" .. I mean " one day".

Hello Raghad,

This depends on how 'once' is used.

'Once' can mean 'one time' and with this meaning it can be used with the past simple (when the time is defined) or the present perfect (when the time is not defined and is unfinished:

I've been scuba diving once. [in my life]

I went scuba diving once as a child. [a single complete time in the past]


'Once' can also mean 'some time ago' and with this meaning it is used with the past simple.

Once I enjoyed watching westerns but I don't anymore.


Best wishes,


The LearnEnglish Team