PAST

  • ‘Past’ refers to a past tense or form of a verb.
  • We also include ‘perfect’ aspects in this category since they do have some reference to the past.

I thought… (polite)

English Grammar Profile C1 point 80 in the category of PAST is defined as: past simple ‘I thought’ as a politeness structure to sound less direct. However, there is no way to formally decide if this is actually a politeness construction.  If it is not, it might still contain B2 modal passive or B1 reporting structures. For […]

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need not have | needn’t have + PAST PARTICPLE

In the English Grammar Profile, C1 point 205 in MODALITY is defined as: PAST, NEGATIVE: ‘needn’t have’ + ‘-ed It means that somebody did something, but it was not necessary.  Also, note that uncontracted ‘not’ is possible. Here are two examples: You needn’t have come so far, Asgardian. listen In fact, she need not have hurried. TED Well, we needn’t have worried. A search in iWeb:

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if + PAST PERFECT + MODAL VERBS

C1 point 112 in CLAUSES/conditional is defined as: Conditional subordinate clauses with ‘if’ + the past perfect simple and modal verb + ‘have’ + ‘-ed’ in the main clause, to talk about imagined situations in the past, often with regret. *Note the same definition with ‘would‘ is listed at B1!  Basically, this means that for

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IF IT WERE NOT FOR

In the English Grammar Profile, C2 point 125 in CLAUSES/conditional is defined as ‘If it weren’t / were not for’ + noun phrase to introduce conditions in formal contexts. past simple For example: And none of us would be here if it weren’t for you. Listen iWeb doesn’t allow a search for **** to the right even on a premium licence. 1 IF

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past simple negative

A2 English Grammar Profile point 10 in the category of NEGATION is defined as: negative statements of main verbs in the past simple with ‘didn’t’ + main verb A search in iWeb for: did n’t _VVI 1 DID N’T KNOW 189531 2 DID N’T WANT 163517 3 DID N’T GET 103113 4 DID N’T THINK

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past simple affirmative

The past simple affirmative is used to describe completed actions or events in the past. Its usage varies with proficiency level, starting with a limited range of regular and irregular verbs at A1 level, increasing at A2 level, and covering a wide range of verbs at B1 level. The most common verbs used in the past simple tense are also listed, providing a useful reference for English language learners.

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past perfect continuous in a relative clause

In the English Grammar Profile, B2 point 78 in the category of PAST is defined as: past perfect continuous in relative clauses to give background information. For example: I was scrolling on social media,  and I saw a friend who had been sharing positive news stories. TED A search in iWeb corpus for: who|that|which had been _vvg gives us the most common continuous verbs found in past perfect continuous relative

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past perfect continuous + adverb ‘had already been doing’

B2 English Grammar Profile point 76 in the category of PAST is: past perfect continuous WITH ADVERBS in the normal mid position For example: I had just been doing some reading. listen An iWeb search for: had _rr been _vvg 1 HAD ALREADY BEEN WORKING 359 2 HAD ALREADY BEEN USING 210 3 HAD PREVIOUSLY BEEN USING 122 4 HAD ALSO

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