English Tenses

Also known as state-of-being verbs, these verbs cannot be used in any continuous tense, including the past continuous. This is because Stative verbs describe feelings that can't be directly observed or measured in terms of progress. Examples:

·       Incorrect: "I was knowing him."

·       Correct: "I knew him."

·       Incorrect: "He was owning a car."

·       Correct: "He owned a car."

Here are some examples:

·       I was watching a show when the power went out.

·       They were working in the office.

·       Mary was watching TV when her parents came home.

The past continuous tense adds detail to the concept of storytelling. It provides a sense of continuity to events, showing what was happening at a specific moment, or what was in progress when something else occurred.

The simple past tense describes a completed action in the past, while the past continuous tense describes an action in progress at a specific time in the past. For example: I went to the gym yesterday. (simple past tense); I was reading when the it started raining. (past continuous).

The simple past tense is a fundamental part of English grammar that expresses completed actions in the past, indicating a clear beginning and end to those actions. It helps in accurate storytelling, exam performance, and effective daily communication.

Here is a list of some books that students can consider to cover the topic of simple past tense extensively and effectively.

The simple past tense in English, according to Oxford Learner's Dictionaries, is used to 'describe actions or events that happened at a specific time in the past and are now completed. It's often used in narratives to recount completed actions in the past.'

To make a complete sentence, certain time expressions are used with present continuous tenses. These include: today, now, right now, at the moment, these days, currently, nowadays, this week, etc.

For example:

• He is working on a project right now.
• Currently, we are working from home.
• Today, I am going for an interview.