Expressing Past Activities

Expressing Past Activities

Story: My Holiday Journey

1. School Holidays: We closed school for the holidays, and I was both excited and nervous.
2. Calling My Mother: I was anxious to see my parents, so I called my mother to inform her that I would be leaving for home on Friday morning.

The Journey:

1. The journey home went well.
2. I saw beautiful landscapes, including Mount Usambara.
3. We arrived in Arusha City at 4:30 PM, where my father and younger brother were waiting for me at the bus station.
4. I was very happy to see them!

Holiday Activities:

1. Once home, I did many activities such as:

   • Going to the shamba (farm)
   • Washing dishes
   • Watering the garden
   • Visiting my friends

2. I really enjoyed my holiday!

Talking about the past

Past Tense

The Past Tense is used to talk about actions that started and finished at a definite time in the past. It symbolizes the ever-moving wheel of time, gathering moments of the future and throwing them into the past.

Simple Past Tense

1. Used to indicate an action completed in the past.

   • Example: I played football when I was a child.
   • The action is finished and happened at a specific time in the past.

2. Used for past habits.

   • Example: I played football when I was a child.

Structure:

1. Affirmative Sentences (Assertive):
   Subject + V2 (past form of the verb)
   Example: She wrote a letter.
2. Negative Sentences:
   Subject + didn't + V1 (base form of the verb)
   Example: She didn’t write a letter.
3. Interrogative Sentences:
   Did + Subject + V1 (base form of the verb)
   Example: Did she write a letter?

Past Perfect Tense

1. Used to describe an action completed before a certain moment in the past.

   • Example: The patient had died before the doctor came.
   • Past Perfect shows the action that happened earlier when two actions occurred in the past.

Structure:

1. Affirmative Sentences (Assertive):
   Subject + had + V3 (past participle)
   Example: She had written a letter.
2. Negative Sentences:
   Subject + had not + V3 (past participle)
   Example: She had not written a letter.
3. Interrogative Sentences:
   Had + Subject + V3 (past participle)
   Example: Had she written a letter?
4. Interrogative Negative Sentences:
   Had + Subject + not + V3 (past participle)
   Example: Had she not written a letter?

Past Perfect Continuous Tense

1. Used to describe an action that began before a certain point in the past and continued up to that time.

   • Example: I had been learning English in this school for 20 days.

Structure:

1. Affirmative Sentences (Assertive):
   Subject + had been + V1 (base form) + ing + Object
   Example: She had been writing a letter.
2. Negative Sentences:
   Subject + had not been + V1 (base form) + ing + Object
   Example: She had not been writing a letter.
3. Interrogative Sentences:
   Had + Subject + been + V1 (base form) + ing + Object
   Example: Had she been writing a letter?
4. Interrogative Negative Sentences:
   Had + Subject + not + been + V1 (base form) + ing + Object
   Example: Had she not been writing a letter?

Summary of Structure:

Tense	Affirmative Sentence	Negative Sentence	Interrogative Sentence
Simple Past	Subject + V2 (e.g., She wrote)	Subject + didn’t + V1 (e.g., She didn’t write)	Did + Subject + V1 (e.g., Did she write?)
Past Perfect	Subject + had + V3 (e.g., She had written)	Subject + had not + V3 (e.g., She had not written)	Had + Subject + V3 (e.g., Had she written?)
Past Perfect Continuous	Subject + had been + V1+ing (e.g., She had been writing)	Subject + had not been + V1+ing (e.g., She had not been writing)	Had + Subject + been + V1+ing (e.g., Had she been writing?)