Content tagged with "past, completion"
4 item(s) found.The difference between past perfect and past perfect continuous
Check the following contrast between the past perfectThe aspect expressing completion. E.g.: He’s finished university. and the past perfect continuousThe aspect expressing duration, formed with be + verb-ing. E.g.: What are you doing?. The former emphasisSpecial importance or attention given to something. E.g.: All I wanna do is have some fun.es completionA concept, related to the perfect aspect, expressing that an action has finished. E.g.: He’s finished university. while the latter emphasises the activity or its durationA concept, related to the continuous aspect, expressing that an action is in progress. E.g.: What are you doing? .
By 6 he had eaten all the food. (there was nothing left)
He put down the fork he had been eating with and left the table.
Past perfect for actions completed before a point in the past
We use the past perfect tenseA grammatical category that is marked by verb inflection. To express when an event or action happens in time or when a state exists, we use tenses. to express that an eventA general term expressing that somebody or something does something or that something happens. E.g.: An apple fell on Isaac’s head. took place before another event in the past, that is, it had been completeA concept, related to the perfect aspect, expressing that an action has finished. E.g.: He’s finished university.d. This tense allows us to keep track of the order of the events if this is not clear otherwise.
Notes: past simple and past continuous
EventA general term expressing that somebody or something does something or that something happens. E.g.: An apple fell on Isaac’s head.s and background descriptions in a story
In a story which is told in past time the events are expressed with past simple, whereas for background description past continuous is used.
Past simple for completed actions in the past
The past simple is used for actionA general term expressing that somebody or something does somethings which are completed at a definiteRelating to a specific or determined person, thing, idea or time. E.g.: I know the guy you are talking about. ("the guy you are talking about") point of timeA particular moment in time. E.g.: She came home at six. ("six") I was born in 1980. ("1980") in the past. This point can be implied, or expressed with a time expressionA word or group of words used in a particular situation. E.g.: Good morning, at six, on the sofa or a clauseA group of related words containing a subject and a verb.:
