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I have a question about "Past Simple" tense. I understand it, but I want to make sure of something regarding its usage.
Ex:
(A)
-I ate cookies yesterday.
-I went to the library last week.
-I wrote my homework.
(B)
-I did eat cookies yesterday.
-I did go to the library last week
-I did write my homework.
I use both of them, but the first group is the most, of course. Both are simple past but they have a slight difference, according to my knowledge. That's why I want to make sure whether or not I misunderstood the simple past's usage. So, my question is about group (B) specifically.
*Do you find any problem in using this way of expressions?
*Are they correct grammatically or you would feel it awkward if someone used such terms?
The simple past construction is the default if you are just stating something that happened in the past, with no context.
The "did + verb" construction is rather infrequent and only used in specific cases. If you are telling someone what happened yesterday, it would be incorrect to say, *"I did go to school, and then I did stay late to study with friends." You must say, "I went to school, and then I stayed late."
"Did + verb" is used in these instances:
To contrast negative and positive verbs: "I didn't do this, but I did do that" = "I didn't eat cake yesterday, but I did eat cookies."
To contradict an assumption or wrong belief:
Mother: I don't think you helped with the housework yesterday.
Jane: No, I did help. Mary didn't help. (or, It was Mary who didn't help.)
So no, the three "did" sentences you wrote do not sound awkward or wrong, if they are used in the right context. But the context is very important. When in doubt, use the simple past.
The simple past construction is the default if you are just stating something that happened in the past, with no context.
The "did + verb" construction is rather infrequent and only used in specific cases. If you are telling someone what happened yesterday, it would be incorrect to say, *"I did go to school, and then I did stay late to study with friends." You must say, "I went to school, and then I stayed late."
"Did + verb" is used in these instances:
To contrast negative and positive verbs: "I didn't do this, but I did do that" = "I didn't eat cake yesterday, but I did eat cookies."
To contradict an assumption or wrong belief:
Mother: I don't think you helped with the housework yesterday.
Jane: No, I did help. Mary didn't help. (or, It was Mary who didn't help.)
So no, the three "did" sentences you wrote do not sound awkward or wrong, if they are used in the right context. But the context is very important. When in doubt, use the simple past.
Yes, your answer is almost the same as what I know; did+v could be used only when you want to emphasize something to the other one especially when he/she's in denial to what you said such as the example you gave above.
Thanks a lot saibot for your clear answer.
Last edited by Authentic Bird; 03-24-2019 at 08:48 AM..
Reason: removing 'the'
The past perfect tense is often used instead of the past tense.
"He ate cookies." is past tense. It's an active tense.
"He had eaten cookies." is past perfect. It's a passive tense.
One is used quite often in describing a series of events that happened in the past that are related in some way:
"He ate cookies, then jumped up, ran to the door, and called for his child."
The other is used in a passive way; each action is it's own thing, and it all happened a longer time ago.
"He had eaten cookies. He had jumped up and had run to the door, and had called for his child."
Notice how the action differs? The first could have happened one second ago. The other sounds like it happened some time ago in a more distant past.
Also notice how some of the verbs conjugation changes; ate-eaten, ran-run.
People who use the past perfect tense a lot can also screw up that conjugation change. A lot of them will say "He had went.", when "He had gone." is correct. Other, similar mistakes are made.
There are times when both tenses can be used in the same sentence.
"He had eaten his breakfast earlier, but he ran so hard he was hungry, so he ate an early lunch."
The past perfect tense is often used instead of the past tense.
"He ate cookies." is past tense. It's an active tense.
"He had eaten cookies." is past perfect. It's a passive tense.
One is used quite often in describing a series of events that happened in the past that are related in some way:
"He ate cookies, then jumped up, ran to the door, and called for his child."
The other is used in a passive way; each action is it's own thing, and it all happened a longer time ago.
You forgot to mention the past perfect tense (He has eaten cookies). And all of these sentences are "active" voice. There is no "active tense" or "passive tense".
Passive voice would be:
Cookies were eaten by him. (simple past)
Cookies have been eaten by him. (present perfect perfect)
Cookies had been eaten by him. (past perfect)
The OP didn't ask about the differences between simple past, present perfect, and past perfect, nor about the active and passive voices, so I'm not going to go into that more now, but I wanted to clear up the terminology.
The past perfect tense is often used instead of the past tense.
"He ate cookies." is past tense. It's (an active voice).
"He had eaten cookies." is past perfect. It's (an active voice).
One is used quite often in describing a series of events that happened in the past that are related in some way:
"He ate cookies, then jumped up, ran to the door, and called for his child."
The other is used in an (active way); each action is it's own thing, and it all happened a longer time ago.
"He had eaten cookies. He had jumped up and had run to the door, and had called for his child."
Notice how the action differs? The first could have happened one second ago. The other sounds like it happened some time ago in a more distant past.
Also notice how some of the verbs conjugation changes; ate-eaten, ran-run.
People who use the past perfect tense a lot can also screw up that conjugation change. A lot of them will say "He had went.", when "He had gone." is correct. Other, similar mistakes are made.
There are times when both tenses can be used in the same sentence.
"He had eaten his breakfast earlier, but he ran so hard he was hungry, so he ate an early lunch."
You enrich the topic with your addition, in the same time it added several wondering for me
I edited your comment according to your response to saibot. Now, There is no a passive voice in your examples, right? Because if there is, I will ask about it. I don't blame you if you got scrambled between a passive & an active voice because a passive voice in some cases is really not as clear as saibot's examples.
It takes other pictures that makes it confusing with me, too.
In relation to your comment:
* The first wondering about what I bolded in Black from your response.
In fact, I always think and I've been told that "past simple" tense is used more than past perfect tense, past perfect tense is used rarely or rather not as much as other tenses but now, you say:" past perfect tense is OFTEN used INSTEAD of simple past".
* The second wondering about its usage itself ( Look at what I colored in purple, please):
-Is this a common usage?
-If the events, I want to talk about, were happened in close past, such as yesterday, for instance, and in the same time,they were not. Is it OK/better if I use past perfect tenses in the same way you used it here?
* My usage to past perfect tense:
I'll write my understanding and usage to this tense. Usually when I want to use I use it in this way:
A sentence that consist of 2 actions, for instance; one happened in the "past simple" tense and the other happened in the past perfect tense in which using past perfect tense helps us to know the Chronological Order of these actions.
Ex: " She went to school after she had eaten her breakfast."
The Second action has happened before the First action. She ate her breakfast First, then she went to school Second. It became obvious that the second one has happened before the first one due to using past perfect tense that refers to the chronological order.
(Look at what I colored in Magenta, it seems similar to my usage. So my wondering is about the case I colored in purple).
* If we speak about historical events, is it OK to use past perfect tense instead of past simple tense?
Like to say ,for instance:
"The First World War (WW1) had finished in 1918". instead of saying " The First World War (WW1) finished in 1918".
* About past perfect formula:
I know it's had + V-P.P (Past Particle)= Past Perfect. So, I can understand writing "I had gone" instead of "I had went", according to the formula.
*Notice: There is info I got from YouTube says that past simple tense is used more among people in U.S while PRESENT perfect tense is used more among people in Britain. In other words, people in US when they want to talk about the past, they tend to use past simple tense more than other past tenses while people in Britain tend to use present perfect tense more. ( Look they said simple past & present perfect tense, not PAST PERFECT tense).
I'm not sure of it, so you can correct it or add your insight about it.
Sorry for asking a lot.
Thank you very much banjomike for your informative response.
You forgot to mention the past perfect tense (He (had) eaten cookies). And all of these sentences are "active" voice. There is no "active tense" or "passive tense".
Passive voice would be:
Cookies were eaten by him. (simple past)
Cookies have been eaten by him. (present perfect perfect)
Cookies had been eaten by him. (past perfect)
The OP didn't ask about the differences between simple past, present perfect, and past perfect, nor about the active and passive voices, so I'm not going to go into that more now, but I wanted to clear up the terminology.
If a passive voice always came like these examples, it would be always clear. Some times, it takes other pictures such as:
"'I've been sent a Message".
This sentence was really a PUZZLE for me when I read it for the first time
Other pictures that have a passive voice:
"I've been told to go there."
"I've been taught...etc. "
"I've been heard....etc."
I can understand why it's confusing some times.
Thanks a lot saibot for your valuable notice and clarification.
Addition: I edited your response to convert (has to had) to refer to the past perfect.
Last edited by Authentic Bird; 03-26-2019 at 07:52 AM..
Reason: Addition
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