By Simple past, Tenses

1. Well, "had" is the past tense of the verb "have", but I think you're asking specifically about its use as an auxiliary to form the past perfect tense of other verbs: I played -- simple past tense I have played -- present perfect tense I had played -- past perfect (or...

It's because 'sat' is the simple past tense- an action that takes place once i.e. I sat down. I was sitting, I had been sitting etc is the past continuous tense as it is an action that continues for some time when something else happens. Hope that explains it!

Is it possible to use "provided that" for sentences in the simple past? If it is possible, do we have to use the sentence with both verbs in the same tense? I know it works as a conditional sentence but it sounds strange to me in the past. How could I complete the following...

Hi Frank, Welcome to the forums. Your main problem seems to be tense. Today my friends and I have visited Grouse Mountain, in Vancouver, Canada. Usually with a specific day, use simple past. Present perfect is possible, but I think simple past is better here. We planned to visit it last week....

Hi guys, I'm not sure I get the point. If the facts are that one thing happened in the simple past and two things both happened in the same time frame which was prior to that, why would we want to change those facts by altering the tenses out of respect to preference or frequency of...

Hiu, The present tense suggests the belt-tightening is still going on. If this all related to events 20 years ago, one would of course use the simple past. Best wishes, Clive

No. Not quite right.Was he wearing any ring? -- at the moment you saw him.Did he wear any ring -- ever, at any time -- was he in the habit of wearing a ring sometimes? -- even if he was not wearing any ring at the moment you saw him.CJ

'Was he wearing any ring?' seems to me more appropriate as it indicates at that point in time, in parallel with the meeting, during the meeting 'Did he wear any ring?' is less appropriate IMO, as it indicates at any/some point in the past

thanks, To my ear, 'Was he wearing any ring?' seems like the man probably has the ring, but he did not wear it whereas 'did he wear any ring' indicates whether the man may or may not have the ring. that's only an opinion.

Dear sir/madam, I heard this question uttered in a movie in which a scene is about a child asking her guardian about a man whom she has met. the question is 'Was he wearing any ring?' the past continuous tense is used here. Would there be any difference if the question is asked this way,...