The document discusses various aspects of verb tenses in English including: 1) The past simple tense including its form, meaning, and common time expressions used with it. 2) The past continuous tense including its form, meaning when used to indicate simultaneous or progressive past actions, and common time expressions. 3) The present perfect tense including its form, meaning when used to indicate past experiences or actions with relevance to the present, and common time expressions. 4) The past perfect tense including its form, meaning when used to indicate past actions that occurred before something else in the past, and common time expressions.

1. Past simple: form
Affirmative of Regular verbs: base form + “-ed”
I visited my sister in hospital.
Negative: Subject + “didn't” + base form
My friends didn't like the theatre play.
Interrogative: “Did” + subject + base form
Did your parents decide to travel by plane?

2. Past simple: meaning
- Actions taking place in the past time.
The opera started at 8 o'clock.
- Sequence of actions in the past time.
I got up, had a shower and left to school.
- Narrations (novels, history)
The Normans invaded England in 1066.

3. Past simple: time expressions
- Expressions with ago: “three years ago”, “two
weeks ago”
-Expressions with last: “last month”, “last year”.
- Other expressions: “in 1999”, “when the war
finished”, “after dinner”.

4. The past continuous: form
- Verb to be in the past + a verb in the -ing form
At 11 o'clock ↳I was watching TV
- Interrogative: Past of to be + Subject + V-ing
↳
Were they listening to music ↵when you arrived?
- Negative: Past of to be + “not” + V-ing
I noticed that ↳they were not listening to me.

5. The past continuous: meaning
Past continuous: meaning
- The past continuous expresses progressive actions
taking place at a certain time in the past.
“What were you doing at 12 o'clock last night ?”
the policeman asked
I was making a cake when the bell rang.
- Also parallel actions in the past.
While I was cooking, my boyfriend was doing the
washing up.

6. The past continuous:
Past continuous: meaning
time expressions
- The past continuous often appears with while time
expressions as in
There was an accident while I was having
dinner.
- Also with time expressions indicating the moment
when the action happened as in
At twelve o'clock I was still [aún] studying.

7. Present perfect: form
- Present of have + pp of verb
They have finished their work.
- Negative: Present of have + “not” + pp of verb
The train hasn't arrived.
- Interrogative: Present of have + subject + pp of v.
Have you eaten your cake?

8. Present perfect: meaning
- Past experiences (someone has/hasn't experienced
something in the past).
All my friends have smoked cigarettes before.
I have been to France a few times.
- A very typical question in the present perfect
includes ever:
Have you ever played a piano?

9. Present perfect: time
expressions
Already (+), yet (- ?), once/twice/three times,
never...
The weather has already changed.
Have they paid yet?
Susan has won the prize once.
Some people have never tried the real cognac.
We cannot normally use an adverbial expression
indicating when the action happened
*My dog has died two years ago. (INCORRECT)

10. Past perfect: form
- Past of have + pp of verb
They had finished their work when I saw them.
- Negative: Past of have + “not” + pp of verb
When I phoned her, the train hadn't arrived.
- Interrogative: Past of have + subject + pp of verb
Had they sold the shirt the day you went to buy
it?

11. Past perfect: meaning
- Past actions taking place before a certain point in
the past.
All my friends had learnt to drive when I got my
licence.
I had sent a message to Sally when she wrote to
me.

12. Past perfect: time expressions
The past perfect typically appear with when clauses
(proposiciones) or when time expressions as in
↳
When he went to buy a present for his girlfriend, ↵
the shop had already closed.
↳
At seven o'clock↵ all the spectators had left the
stadium.