Although it is not difficult to talk about the past in English, many students still mistakes when doing it. The reason is they use the different types of past verbs incorrectly.
Past verbs are used to explain when different actions/things happened in the past. For example, to say that one action happened before another action or they happened the same time. If you don't use past verbs correctly, you will either confuse the people you are talking to or tell them something which is wrong.
In this online exercise on talking about the past, we'll look at using four different verb tenses (the past simple, the past continuous, the past perfect and the present simple) to talk about when things that happened in the past. It is important to know that the meaning of some of these verb tenses can change a little depending on the context they are in.
Click here to see more online exercises on English verbs and phrasal verbs
Look at the verbs in bold in the below text about going on holiday to Barcelona. From the context think about the reason why that type of verb is being used in that part of the story and when the action happened (before another, at the same time of another or after another).
After you have read and understood both the text and why the verbs are being used, then do the two quizzes after the text to test your understanding.
Last year I went on holiday to Barcelona in Spain with my wife. It was my first trip to Barcelona and I had never been to Spain before. I had been to France, but that was when I was a child.
When we landed at Barcelona airport it was raining. I had thought that it was always sunny in Spain, so we hadn't brought any clothes for rainy weather. How stupid! After we had picked up our luggage, we caught a bus from the airport to the city centre.
While we were travelling on the bus, we asked a women if she knew how we could get to our hotel. She showed us on map where the hotel was and which bus stop to get off at.
The bus takes about 40 minutes to arrive in the middle of Barcelona. When the bus arrived at the last bus stop, we got off and started to walk to our hotel. After about 10 minutes we realised that we were lost and it was still raining. Unfortunately, neither of our mobile phones were working, so we couldn't look at an online map.
For about 30 minutes, we were trying to find the hotel. I was looking at the map and my wife was asking people if they knew where the hotel was. Nobody she asked, could speak English and my wife didn't know any Spanish (although she can speak some now) and I don't know any Spanish at all.
We finally found somebody who spoke English and he showed us where the hotel was. Five minutes after that we arrived at the hotel, very wet but happy. Even in the rain, Barcelona is a very beautiful city.
This quiz is divided into 2 parts.
For the first six questions, you have to decide which type of verb is being described. Choose from the question's selection box which one of the four verb types which you think is right. Click on the "Check Answers" button at the bottom of the quiz to check your answers.
When the answer is correct, an Additional Information Icon "" will appear next to the answer. Click on this for extra information on use of this type of verb.
In the second part of the quiz, you will find a text about somebody getting their first job interview. Complete the text by choosing the correct type of verb (present simple, past simple, past continuous or past perfect) in each selection box, so it makes sense. Look at the context that the verb is in to decide which type of verb is necessary. Click on the "Check Answers" button at the bottom of the quiz to check your answers.
Now that you understand how to use these verbs, practise it by creating your own sentences with the different types of past verbs.
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