Teaching Tips: PAST

PAST: TYPICAL ERRORS

From English Grammar Today
Cambridge Dictionary
Jan. 25, 2023

We use the past simple, not the past continuous, to talk about past habits:

• I walked to school every day when I was young.
• Not: I was walking to school every day…

We use the past simple, not the past continuous, to emphasize completed events at a specific time in the past:

• I called her office at 4 o’clock yesterday afternoon.
• Not: I was calling her office at 4 o’clock yesterday afternoon.

We use the past simple to refer to a definite time in the past, not the present perfect or the past perfect:

• I woke up at seven o’clock this morning.
• Not: I’ve woken up at seven o’clock this morning.

We use the present perfect, not the past simple, to refer to time up to now:

• I haven’t paid my electricity bill yet.
• Not: I didn’t pay my electricity bill yet.

We use the past simple, not the past continuous, to refer to repeated main events. We only use the past continuous for repeated background events:

• He cycled to Claire’s house last night. (main event)
• Not: He was cycling to Claire’s house last night. (We see this as the background event and expect to hear the main event following it - for example: He was cycling to Claire’s house last night when we saw him on the street.)

We don’t use the past continuous in the same way as used to when we refer to things in the past which are no longer true:

• We used to have picnics in the park in the summer.
• Not: We were having picnics in the park in the summer.

We don’t use the past perfect in the main clause of a conditional sentence. It is only used in the conditional clause:

• If we had known you were alone [conditional clause], we would have visited you [main clause].
• Not: If we had known you were alone, we had visited you.

Adapted from: https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/grammar/british-grammar/past-typical-errors. Accessed on January 25, 2023. © Cambridge University Press 2023. All rights reserved.