🎯 B2 Grammar Master

Unit 3: Past Tenses & Habits

📚 Complete Grammar Guide

⏪ Past Simple

+ I/you/he/she/it/we/they played
- I/you/he/she/it/we/they didn't play
? Did I/you/he/she/it/we/they play?
✓ Single completed actions
✓ Past habits & permanent situations
✓ General truths about the past
✓ Main events in a story
"Tom and I played chess and he won."
"A famous footballer lived in our house before we bought it."
⚠️ Emphasis: "I did win! Who told you I didn't?"

⏳ Past Continuous

+ I/he/she/it was playing / You/we/they were playing
- I/he/she/it wasn't playing / You/we/they weren't playing
? Was I/he/she/it playing? / Were you/we/they playing?
✓ Actions at a specific moment in the past
✓ Temporary situations
✓ Annoying habits (with always)
✓ Actions in progress / Background info
"At five o'clock, I was reading my new book."
"The sun was shining and the birds were singing."
⚠️ Interrupted action: "I was playing when it suddenly crashed." (Past Simple interrupts!)
⚠️ Don't use for regular/repeated actions: ✗ "we were playing volleyball every day"

🔙 Past Perfect Simple

had + past participle
+ I/you/he/she/it/we/they had played
- I/you/he/she/it/we/they hadn't played
? Had I/you/he/she/it/we/they played?
✓ Situations before the past
✓ Completed actions before a moment in the past
✓ When the result at a past moment matters
"We 'd lived next to the gym for months before I decided to join."
"I 'd already bought the game when I saw it was cheaper elsewhere."
⚠️ After using past perfect once, switch to past simple: "I had already had one lesson, which was great fun, and I knew immediately..."
⚠️ "It was the first/second time I'd been on a plane."

🔃 Past Perfect Continuous

had been + -ing
+ I/you/he/she/it/we/they had been playing
- I/you/he/she/it/we/they hadn't been playing
? Had I/you/he/she/it/we/they been playing?
✓ Actions continuing up to a moment in the past
✓ Actions stopping just before a past moment
"When you saw us, we had been running for six miles – and we still had a mile to go!"
"Sarah looked tired because she had been exercising all morning."

🔄 Would (Past Habits)

would + bare infinitive
+ My grandfather would take me to the park.
- We would never play games together.
✓ Past habits (especially distant past)
"When I was very young, my grandfather would take me to the park to play."
⚠️ Don't use in questions/negatives with this meaning (except "would never")
⚠️ States: ✓ "We used to have a house..." ✗ "We would have a house..."

📌 Used to

used to + bare infinitive
+ I used to train three times a week.
- I didn't use to be good / I never used to be good / I used not to be good
? Did you use to play hockey?
✓ Past habits AND past states
✓ Particularly for the distant past
"My mother used to play a lot of squash before I was born."
"We used to have a house that was right next to the park."

🎯 Be/Get Used to

be/get used to + -ing form / noun
be used to: familiar, no longer strange
get used to: process of becoming familiar
✓ Familiar situations (be used to)
✓ Becoming familiar (get used to)
"I didn't like being goalkeeper at first but now I'm used to it."
"I'm gradually getting used to being in a new team."

📝 Quiz Challenge

Score: 0/10

⏱️ Speed Round

Score: 0 Time: 30s

Speed Challenge!

Answer as many questions as you can in 30 seconds!
Each correct answer adds 3 seconds.

🧩 Tense Matcher

Match the sentence with the correct tense!

Matches: 0/8

📖 Story Builder

Complete the Story!

Fill in the blanks with the correct past tense forms.

📰 Reading Comprehension

The Marathon Runner

Marcus had always dreamed of running a marathon. By the time he turned thirty, he had been training for five years. Every morning, he would get up at 5 AM and run through the quiet streets of his neighbourhood. He used to hate early mornings, but he had got used to the routine.

Last Saturday was the big day. When Marcus arrived at the starting line, the sun was shining and thousands of runners were stretching and warming up. He had never felt so nervous. The race started at 9 AM, and Marcus was running well until mile 18, when he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his knee. He had been pushing himself too hard.

Despite the pain, Marcus didn't give up. He slowed down but kept moving forward. When he finally crossed the finish line, four hours had passed. His family, who had been waiting near the finish line all morning, cheered loudly. Marcus didn't win the race, but he had achieved his lifelong dream.