Past Tense vs. Past Participle: The Differences, Rules and Uses of the English Preterite | FluentU English Blog (2024)

You may be confused about the difference between the past tense and past participle verb forms.

It’s easy to see why. After all, these two verb forms are often identical.

But have no fear. I’m here to help you out.

By the time you’re done with this post, you should understand that there are clear differences between the past tense (or preterite) and the past participle verb form, even if they often look alike.

Contents

• The Difference Between the Past Tense and Past Participle
• What Is the Past Tense or Preterite?
• • Simple Past Tense
  • Past Continuous Tense
  • Past Perfect Tense
  • Past Perfect Continuous Tense
• What Is the Past Participle?
• • Past Participle and Past Perfect Verb Tense
  • Past Participle and Passive Voice
  • Past Participle as an Adjective
• Forming the Past Tense and Past Participle
• • Regular Verbs in the Past Tense and Past Participle
  • Irregular Verbs in the Past Tense and Past Participle
  • Conjugating the Preterite Tense in the Negative and Interrogative Forms
• Examples of the Past Tense and Past Participle in Action
• • “A long time ago, in a galaxy far far away…” — “Star Wars”
  • “I used to be an adventurer like you, but then I took an arrow to the knee.” — various characters in “Skyrim” (video game)
  • “Last Friday night, we danced on tabletops and we took too many shots.” — Katy Perry
  • “We haven’t had that spirit here since 1969.” — Eagles
  • “I could have been somebody, instead of a bum, which is what I am, let’s face it.” — Marlon Brando
  • “Remember when I cried to you a thousand times?” — Avril Lavigne
• How to Practice the Preterite
• And One More Thing...

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The Difference Between the Past Tense and Past Participle

Basically, the past tense is a true verb tense. Also called the “preterite,” it expresses an action has happened in the past, or has previously existed (but no longer does).

Meanwhile, the past participle isn’t a true verb tense. It requires an auxiliary verb like “has” or “have,” and is commonly used as a compound verb.

What Is the Past Tense or Preterite?

The past tense is one of three tenses in English, aside from the present tense and future tense. The concept of tenses is reflected in the way we conjugate verbs. For this post, we’re going to concentrate on the past tense.

The English preterite is used whenever we’re talking about an action or an event that has already taken place and has been completed.

For example:

I ate an apple. (The action of eating the apple is already over.)

He married her a few months ago. (The event of getting married has already taken place.)

So if you’re unsure about which tense to use, ask yourself: Is the event already completed? If the answer is yes, then you’ll likely need to use the English preterite.

Moreover, in addition to the verb form, sentences in the past tense will often have a time word, which can be a clue to tell you that the action happened in the past.

Look out for some of the following words and phrases that indicate the preterite tense:

The past tense can be further divided into four distinct forms—simple, continuous, perfect and perfect continuous.

Simple Past Tense

You use this tense when the action has already happened or has been completed.

• I went to Paris.
• I ate a chicken sandwich.
• I played basketball with my friends.

Past Continuous Tense

We use the past continuous to refer to something in the past that has already happened, but as though it were still happening (usually in the context of another event).

• I was studying when the phone rang.
• I was eating a chicken sandwich when he called me.
• Sara was sunbathing when the rainstorm started.

The “-ing” verb gives us the impression of an action that is happening, while the “was” means that it took place in the past.

Past Perfect Tense

We usually use this to talk about events that have already been completed before a specified time or another event.

• I had eaten lunch by 11:00.
• I had eaten a chicken sandwich that my mother had made for me.
• The package had been delivered before I got home.

The use of the verb “had” along with the specific verb form “eaten” (which is the past participle form) tells us that it’s in the past perfect.

Past Perfect Continuous Tense

Finally, we use this verb form to refer to an action that was still happening until another event occurred.

• I had been eating since I woke up last Tuesday.
• I had been eating chicken sandwiches from the local diner until I learned to cook on my own.
• She had been studying for hours before she finally understood the concept.

What Is the Past Participle?

The past participle—one of two participles in English, the other being the present participle—is a verb-based word form that has three uses: (1) to form the perfect tense; (2) as an adjective; and (3) to form the passive voice.

Past Participle and Past Perfect Verb Tense

To form a past perfect verb phrase, you need an auxiliary verb ( had ) and a past participle word, like in these examples:

• She had already eaten dinner when I arrived at her house.
• They had finished the project before the deadline.
• By the time he woke up, his friends had already left.

As you can see in a couple of these examples, the “had” and the past participle can sometimes have an adverb between them, such as “already.”

Past Participle and Passive Voice

Past participles can also be used to form the passive voice. This form is often used in academic writing, or to de-emphasize the agent/subject of a sentence, or the person or thing performing the main action.

To form the passive voice, the past participle is used with either “was” or “were.”

• The car was driven by Max.
• The houses were built in the 19th century.
• The project was completed ahead of schedule.

You can refresh your memory on the differences between active and passive voice here.

Past Participle as an Adjective

Past participles can also be used as adjectives. In this case, just use their past perfect forms.

• The broken vase lay shattered on the floor.
• The excited children ran to the playground.
• The exhausted hiker collapsed onto the ground.

Forming the Past Tense and Past Participle

How you form the preterite depends on whether you’re dealing with a regular verb or an irregular one.

Regular Verbs in the Past Tense and Past Participle

For most verbs, the simple past and the past participle forms of the verb are the same, so you probably already know how to form them.

Just add the suffix “-ed” (or “-d” if the word already ends in “e”). Also:

• If a regular verb ends in e, you just need to add “-d” instead of “-ed.” For example, “agree” would become “agreed,” and “lie” (as in, not telling the truth) would be “lied.”
• When verbs end with a consonant + y, the “y” changes to an “i” and you then add “-ed.” For example, “marry” becomes “married“ and “bury” becomes “buried“ .

Irregular Verbs in the Past Tense and Past Participle

However, some other verbs are formed differently, and some don’t look like their past tense forms.

Irregular verbs don’t follow a specific pattern and can have many different endings such as: “-en,” “-n,” “-ne” and “-t.” Some of them, like “cost” and “read,” don’t change their spelling in the preterite. (However, “read” is pronounced like “red” in the past tense.)

Here’s how they’d look in the past tense:

And here’s how their past participles would look. Notice the use of the word “had” in the example sentences:

Conjugating the Preterite Tense in the Negative and Interrogative Forms

In English, we use the phrase “did not” (or the contraction “didn’t” ) to indicate the negative form. The main verb stays exactly the same. For example:

You did not finish the project on time.

She did not go to the party last night.

Similarly, the interrogative (question) form is indicated with a question mark at the end of the sentence and the word did .

Often, questions in the past tense use the following construction: “did + subject + verb.” For example:

Did you finish the project on time?

Did you go to the party last night?

Examples of the Past Tense and Past Participle in Action

“A long time ago, in a galaxy far far away…” — “Star Wars”

These words were the iconic (well known, classic) start to everyone’s favorite science fiction movie, “Star Wars.”Instead of wasting time showing the backstory (what happened before the movie’s story started), the movie just gave you some background on the situation with text.

The text in the movie actually follows this line with a description in the present tense. But if you’re using it in conversation, you’d use the past tense since you’re talking about something that already happened.

“A long time ago” is actually used in a number of different places since it’s such a common saying. For example, the song “American Pie” by Don McLean has the line:

“A long, long time ago, I can still remember how the music used to make me smile.”

How to use it in conversation: A long time ago, [past tense action].

This phrase is most suitable for revealing facts about the past or history, like:

“A long time ago, people thought the Earth was flat.”

You can also replace the words “A long time” with shorter time periods, like “a little while ago.” You can also move the phrase to the end of the sentence. For example:

“I saw the movie ‘Star Wars’ a little while ago.”

Some other versions of the phrase are “a short while ago,” “some time ago” and “eons ago.” That last phrase means that the action happened a really, really long time ago.

“I used to be an adventurer like you, but then I took an arrow to the knee.” — various characters in “Skyrim” (video game)

Even if you don’t play games, you might have seen this quote floating around on the internet. It’s from the fantasy role-playing game Skyrim, and is repeated by some characters a number of times.

The quote itself isn’t actually funny at all. The person is saying that he used to be an adventurer like the hero of the game, until he got shot in the knee by an arrow. But the amount of times it’s repeated makes it silly and memorable. From there, it became a meme (commonly repeated joke) on the internet.

How to use it in conversation: I used to [present tense action], but then [explanation for why you stopped that action].

This is a great way to talk about things that you did in the past but no longer do now for some reason. You could say:

“I used to play football, but then I had a back injury that made it impossible for me to play.”

This isn’t limited to actual actions. You can also talk about beliefs you used to have in this way, like:

“When I was a kid I used to think the world was flat, but then I started going to school and learned the truth.”

“Last Friday night, we danced on tabletops and we took too many shots.” — Katy Perry

Katy Perry’s song “Last Friday Night” is about a fun party that was a little too wild. In the song, the singer is remembering what happened at the party that Friday.

You might not know that this song is actually a response to another bit of pop culture—“Friday,” by Rebecca Black. “Friday” became extremely popular on the internet for how ridiculous it is. Rebecca Black actually makes an appearance in the music video “Last Friday Night.” More useless information for you to know! But actually, it’s great to know these things for conversations with native English speakers.

How to use it in conversation: Last [specific day or month], [past tense action].

Use this phrase to talk about something that happened in a specific time frame in the past. You can speak about “last year,” “last month” or even “last April.” The last option would mean that you’re talking about the April of last year. For example:

“Last April was very warm… but this April is freezing!”

You could also just say “last time” when you’re talking about repeating an action that you’ve done before, like:

“Last time you tried to eat a whole pizza by yourself, you were sick for two days.”

“We haven’t had that spirit here since 1969.” — Eagles

“Hotel California”by the Eagles is a haunting (hardto forget) song from the 1970s about checking into a hotel that seems inviting, but that you can never leave. This line is a response to the narrator (the person telling the story) asking for the hotel staff to bring him his wine.

A little bit of trivia if you like this song: The lyrics are really talking about how much of a trap California and “living the dream” really are. “Hotel California” is a criticism about how easily we’re attracted to wanting to be rich and spending a lot of money (the “high life” ).

How to use this in conversation: I haven’t [past participle action] since [time].

Use this line if you’re about to do something that you haven’t done in a long time. Using the negative “I haven’t” emphasizes the fact that a long time has passed since you’ve done this action. You could say:

“I haven’t gone swimming since 2005.”

If you want to use a timeframe instead of a specific time or date, simply change the word “since” to “in.” For example:

“I haven’t eaten in two hours. I’m starving!”

“I could have been somebody, instead of a bum, which is what I am, let’s face it.” — Marlon Brando

This line is from an old movie (1954) called “On the Waterfront,” but it’s still quoted a lot today. The powerful line is delivered by the famous actor Marlon Brando to his brother. It’s about a fight that had been “fixed,” or unfairly set up so one fighter would definitely win.

How to use this in conversation: I could have [past participle action], but [reason why you didn’t do the action].

This line is usually used to show regret. For example:

“I could have been a writer, but my parents pushed me to become a lawyer.”

Even though the speaker here doesn’t say that he really wanted to be a writer, it’s implied. You can tell that he actually wanted to be a writer because he uses this phrase.

You can also use this phrase to say that you chose one thing over another. If you use it this way, it doesn’t necessarily have to be negative, like:

“I could have eaten the brownie, but the cookie looked better.”

“Remember when I cried to you a thousand times?” — Avril Lavigne

Avril Lavigne is mostly known for her punk rock songs, but she also has some slower songs. “Remember When” is one of those slow songs. In it, Avril is remembering moments from a relationship that is now over.

How to use this in conversation: Remember when [past tense action]…

Even though the song uses the phrase to remember some negativemoments, it’s actually more often used to reminisce . Reminiscing is when you look back on things that happened in the past, in an enjoyable and nostalgic way. In this case, you would say it to the person that you’ve had the past experience with.

For example, I could tell you:

“Remember when I told you about Avril Lavigne’s song? Wasn’t that great?”

How to Practice the Preterite

The best way to learn the irregular past participles is by memorizing and practicing them.

To practice, look up a news article online and try to find some words you think are in the past tense or are past participles. Then take a guess which type of word they are.

You can also find examples in English videos. Listen closely for how and when the two are formed. The language learning platform FluentU has these in spades (having plenty of something).

FluentU takes authentic videos—like music videos, movie trailers, news and inspiring talks—and turns them into personalized language learning lessons.

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Okay, that’s it. You now know the differences between the past tense and the past participle and can form the preterite on your own, right?

Practice makes perfect, or rather: “Through diligent practice, the student had mastered the past participle, proving once again that practice makes perfect.”

Download: This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that you can take anywhere. Click here to get a copy. (Download)