How to Talk About the Past in English
Hi, I’m Martin.
Welcome to Oxford Online English!
In this lesson, you can learn how to talk
about the past in English.
Talking about the past includes many things.
Do you want to talk about interesting experiences
you’ve had, tell a funny story, or talk
about something you regret in the past?
In this lesson, you’ll see the words, phrases
and structures you need to talk about the
past in clear, fluent English.
Let’s start by seeing how you can talk about
your experiences in the past.
Have you ever been bungee jumping?
No, I haven’t.
I’ve been skydiving, though.
What about you?
Have you ever done any extreme sports like
that?
Does windsurfing count?
I’ve tried windsurfing, although that was
a long time ago.
I think windsurfing definitely counts!
I’ve seen people doing it and they were
going at crazy speeds.
I’ve never done anything like that myself.
Skydiving sounds very extreme to me.
Where did you do it?
It was in Spain.
I did a tandem jump.
It was fun, but I’m not sure I’d do it
again.
You probably know already that English has
different past verb forms to talk about the
past in different ways.
However, you often need a present verb form
to talk about the past.
You saw an example in the dialogue you just
heard.
Use the present perfect to talk or ask about
experiences in the past, but only if you don’t
say a time!
For example:
I’ve tried windsurfing.
I’ve never been bungee jumping.
Have you ever been skydiving?
Of course, you can change these to talk about
different things, like this:
I’ve read ‘The Idiot’.
I’ve never drunk whisky.
Have you ever grown your own vegetables?
However, as soon as you mention a time, you
need to switch to a past tense.
For example:
I went windsurfing three years ago.
I didn’t drink a lot last year.
Did you eat a lot of sushi when you were in
Japan?
For this reason, when you’re talking about
life experiences, you often start with the
present perfect, and then switch to the past
tense when you mention a specific time.
For example, someone might ask you, Have you
ever been to Australia?
You might answer, Yes, I went there two years
ago, for my friend’s wedding.
The question is present perfect, because it’s
asking about experiences without mentioning
a time.
The answer mentions a time—two years ago—and
so you need the past simple.
Next, let’s see how you can talk about differences
between the past and the present.
Wow!
You used to have a beard?
You look so different!
Yeah!
That was during my punk rock phase.
Really?
Did you use to be in a band or something?
Yes, but it wasn’t anything big.
There were a few of us who were all mates,
and we would play in pubs or small clubs.
So, what were you?
Singer?
Guitar?
Drummer!
I used to play the drums.
And now?
You don’t play any more?
No, I gave up.
In English, there are past structures which
you can use to show a difference between the
past and the present.
Can you remember any of these from the dialogue?
You can use used to to talk about something
which was true in the past, but isn’t true
now.
For example:
He used to have a beard.
–> He had a beard in the past, but he doesn’t
have one now.
I used to live in Berlin.
–> I lived in Berlin in the past, but I don’t
live there now.
You can also use the negative form—didn’t
use to—to talk about things that weren’t
true in the past, but are true now.
For example:
They didn’t use to get on so well.
–> They didn’t get on well in the past,
but they do now.
I didn’t use to wear glasses.
–> I wear glasses now, but I didn’t in
the past.
You can also make questions:
Did you use to play a musical instrument?
Didn’t he use to work here?
You can also use would to talk about actions
or habits which you did in the past, but you
don’t do now.
For example:
When we got home, Mum would make us beans
on toast and then we’d watch cartoons.
There was this bakery near the office where
I would go every lunchtime to get a sandwich
and chat to the other regulars.
Finally, you can also use a present verb plus
any more.
This has a similar meaning to used to.
Let’s look:
She doesn’t live here any more.
–> She lived here in the past, but she doesn’t
live here now.
I don’t have time to listen to music any
more.
–> I had time in the past, but now I don’t.
What about you?
How is your life different now?
Let’s practice: pause the video and make
three sentences about how your life is different
to the past.
Try to use all of the language from this section:
used to, would and any more.
You can say your sentences out loud, or write
them down.
Pause the video and do it now!
In the next two sections, you’re going to
see useful language for telling a story.
Oh!
Have I told you what happened to us on our
trip?
No!
What happened?
It’s a really crazy story.
So, we were sitting on the bus, ready to leave…
Where were you going?
Sofia.
Anyway, the weather was awful.
It was raining so hard you couldn’t even
see out of the window, and…
Who were you travelling with?
With my wife.
We were planning to visit some old friends
who…
Where was the bus leaving from?
From Athens.
Look, can I tell my story, or not?
Oh, sorry…
When you tell a story, you need to set the
scene.
What does ‘set the scene’ mean?
It means you need to describe the background
of the story.
What was happening at the start of the story?
Who was there, and what were the people in
your story doing at the start?
To give background to a story, you use the
past continuous.
For example:
We were sitting on the bus, ready to leave.
It was raining so hard you couldn’t even
see out of the window.
If you’re telling a story from your own
life, you’ll often start with one or two
sentences in the past continuous to set the
scene.
You might say:
I was living in a small apartment at the time.
I was driving home after work.
This isn’t just useful when you’re telling
long stories; you can use this any time you’re
giving a slightly longer answer about the
past, for example in a job interview or an
IELTS exam.
However, if you do want to tell a longer story,
there are some other things you’ll need
to know.
Did I tell you about my driving test?
No, what happened?
I passed!
You know, I took it last week, and I hadn’t
taken any lessons.
Not one!
No way!
But, you must have practiced at least?
No!
I had only driven a car twice in my life
How on earth did you pass?
It was rush hour.
We drove out of the test centre, and then
we sat in a traffic jam.
All of the streets were totally stuck.
I made three left turns, and finally we arrived
back at the test centre.
I just drove around the block once!
And that counts as a pass?
Hey, I didn’t make any mistakes.
So what happened next?
Did you drive home?
Well…
What happened?
I tried, and I had a very small accident.
I mean, I don’t think it even counts as
an accident.
Maybe you should take some driving lessons.
Very funny.
When you start a story, you usually say when
these things took place.
You’ll say something like:
Last week…
This happened two years ago, in summer.
So, yesterday, I was walking down the street…
This time reference ‘fixes’ the time when
your story starts.
What does this mean?
Well, think about the story you heard in the
dialogue.
The time reference was ‘last week’.
During the story, I talked about things that
happened before the start of the story, even
further in the past.
I also talked about things that happened in
the story, meaning they happened after the
start of the story.
Do you know how to talk about these two different
ideas?
Do you remember from the dialogue?
To talk about things that happened before
the start of the story, use the past perfect:
had done.
For example:
I hadn’t taken any driving lessons.
I had only driven a car twice in my life.
The story was about taking a driving test.
You need to use the past perfect to talk about
things that had happened before the start
of the story.
Let’s see another example:
When I was 25, I quit my job and decided to
train as a pilot.
I had always wanted to learn to fly.
Here, you have a time reference which ‘fixes’
the start of the story
Then, you use the past perfect to talk about
things which happened before that time, further
in the past.
If you’re talking about the events of your
story, just use the past simple, like this:
We drove out of the test centre.
We sat in a traffic jam for ages.
I had a small accident on the way home.
Using these verb tenses, you can make it clear
when things happened in the past, and whether
something happened before or after something
else.
Do you have a funny story you’d like to
share?
Let us know in the comments!
Let’s look at one more topic.
Do you speak any other languages?
Not really.
I used to speak Spanish, but I haven’t used
it for years.
I wish I’d started learning other languages
when I was younger.
It’s so much easier if you start earlier.
Yeah, I know what you mean.
If only I’d kept my Spanish going…
Why don’t you pick it up again?
It’d come back.
Maybe…
You know what, though?
I wish I’d spent some time in Latin America
when I had the chance.
I could have lived there for a year or two,
and my Spanish would have got really good.
Well, you could still do it, right?
In the dialogue, you saw three different forms
you can use to talk about regrets in the past.
Do you remember them?
First, you can use wish plus the past perfect
to talk about something you regret.
For example:
I wish I’d learned other languages when
I was younger.
I wish I hadn’t said that.
Remember that here you’re talking about
the opposite of what really happened.
If you say I wish I hadn’t said that, you
did say something in reality, and now you
regret it.
You can also use if only plus the past perfect,
like this:
If only I’d kept my Spanish going.
If only I hadn’t wasted so much time.
The meaning is very similar to wish: you did
something, or didn’t do something, in the
past, and now you regret it.
Finally, you can sometimes use could have
to express regrets in the past, often as part
of a longer if-sentence.
For example:
I could have tried harder.
If I hadn’t left things to the last minute,
I could have passed easily.
Let’s do one more practice.
Think of three regrets that you have.
Make three sentences using the language from
this section.
Try to use all three forms: wish, if only
and could have.
Pause the video, and make your sentences now!
You can say them aloud, or write them down.
Done?
Great!
Now, you’ve learned many different ways
to talk about the past in English.
Which English past form do you find the most
difficult to use?
Let us know in the comments, and maybe you’ll
get some useful tips!
Remember to check out our website to see more
free English lessons: Oxford Online English
dot com.
Thanks for watching!
See you next time!