Past

There are a number of ways of talking about the past:

• We talked for hours on the phone. (past simple)
• She was running to catch the bus. (past continuous)
• I*’ve*** cleaned the kitchen. (present perfect simple)
• I*’ve*** been painting. (present perfect continuous)
• I*’d*** paid by credit card. (past perfect simple)
• I*’d been reading** about the accident in the paper.* (past perfect continuous)
• The kids would play in the garden in the summer evenings and we would sit and talk for hours. (modal verb would)
• He used to play lots of sport when he was younger. He doesn’t seem to do any exercise now. (semi-modal verb used to)