hi I'm Martin welcome to Oxford online
English in this lesson you can learn how
to talk about the past in English
talking about the past includes many
things do you want to talk about
interesting experiences you've had tell
a funny story or talk about something
that you regret in the past in this
lesson you'll see the words phrases and
structures you need to talk about the
past and clear fluent English let's
start by seeing how you can talk about
your experiences in the past
have you ever been bungee jumping no I
haven't I've been skydiving though what
about you have you ever done any extreme
sports like that does windsurfing count
I've tried windsurfing although there
was a long time ago
I think windsurfing definitely counts
I've seen people doing it and they were
going at crazy speeds I've never done
anything like that myself
skydiving sounds very extreme to me
where did you do it
it wasn't Spain I did a tandem jump it
was fun
but I'm not sure I'd do it again you
probably know already that English has
different past verb forms to talk about
the past in different ways however you
often need a present verb form to talk
about the past you saw an example in the
dialogue you just heard use the present
perfect to talk or ask about experiences
in the past but only if you don't say a
time for example I've tried windsurfing
I've never been bungee jumping have you
ever been skydiving of course you can
change these to talk about different
things like this I've read the idiot
I've never drunk whiskey have you ever
grown your own vegetables however as
soon as you mentioned a time you need to
switch to a past tense for example I
went windsurfing three years ago I
didn't drink a lot last year did you eat
a lot of sushi when you were in Japan
for this reason when you're talking
about life experiences you often start
with the present perfect and then switch
to the past tense when you mention a
specific time for example someone might
ask you have you ever been to Australia
you might answer yes I went there two
years ago for my friend's wedding
the question is in present perfect
because it's asking about experiences
without mentioning a time the answer
mentions a time two years ago and so you
need the past simple next let's see how
you can talk about differences between
the past and the present
Wow you used to have a beard you look so
different
yeah that was during my punk-rock phase
really did you used to be in a band or
something
yes but it wasn't anything big there
were a few of us who were all mates and
we play in pubs or small clubs so what
were you singer guitar drummer
I used to play the drums and now you
don't play anymore no I gave up in
English there are past structures which
you can use to show a difference between
the past and the present can you
remember any of these from the dialog
you can use used to to talk about
something which was true in the past but
it isn't true now for example he used to
have a beard he had a beard in the past
but he doesn't have one now I used to
live in Berlin I lived in Berlin in the
past but I don't live there now you can
also use the negative form didn't use to
to talk about things that weren't true
in the past but are true now for example
they didn't used to get on so well they
didn't get on in the past but they do
now I didn't used to wear glasses I wear
glasses now but I didn't in the past you
can also make questions did you used to
play a musical instrument didn't he used
to work here you can also use wood to
talk about actions or habits which you
did in the past but you don't do now for
example when we got home mum would make
us beans on toast and then we'd watch
cartoons
there was this bakery near the office
where I would go every lunchtime to get
a sandwich and to chat
two other regulars finally you can also
use a present verb + anymore this is a
similar meaning to use - let's look she
doesn't live here anymore
she lived here in the past but she
doesn't live here now I don't have time
to listen to music anymore
I had time in the past but now I don't
what about you how is your life
different now let's practice pause the
video and make three sentences about how
your life is different to the past
try to use all of the language from this
section used to wood and anymore you can
say your sentences out loud or write
them down pause the video and do it now
in the next two sections you're going to
use useful language for telling a story
Oh have I told you what happened to us
on our trip
no what happened it's a really crazy
story so we were sitting on the bus
ready to leave where were you going
Sofia anyway
the weather was awful it was raining so
hard you couldn't even see out the
window and who are you traveling with
with my wife we were planning to visit
some old friends where was the bus
leaving from from Athens look can I tell
my story or not
oh sorry when you tell a story you need
to set the scene
what does set the scene mean it means
you need to describe the background of
the story what was happening at the
start of the story who was there and
what were the people in your story doing
at the start to give background to a
story you use the past continuous for
example we were sitting on the bus ready
to leave
it was raining so hard you couldn't even
see out of the window if you're telling
a story from your own life you'll often
start with one or two sentences in the
past continuous to set a scene you might
say I was living in a small apartment at
the time I was driving home after work
this isn't just useful when you're
telling long stories you can use this
anytime you're giving a slightly longer
answer about the past for example in a
job interview or an IELTS exam however
if you do want to tell a longer story
there are some other things you'll need
to know
did I tell you about my driving test
no what happened I passed you know a
ticket last week and I hadn't taken any
lessons not one no way but you must have
practiced at least no and I had only
driven a car twice in my life how did
you pass it was rush hour we drove out
of the test center and then we sat in a
traffic jam all the streets were totally
stuck
I made three left turns and finally we
arrived back at the test center I just
drove around the block once hot tanks as
a pass hey I didn't make any mistakes so
what happened next
did you drive home well what happens I
tried and I had a very small accident I
mean I don't think it even counts as an
accident maybe you should take some
driving lessons very funny when you
start a story you usually say when these
things took place you'll say something
like last week this happened two years
ago in summer so yesterday I was walking
down the street this time reference
fixes the time when your story starts
what does this mean well think about the
story you heard in the dialogue the time
reference was last week during the story
I talked about things that happened
before the start of the story even
further in the past I also talked about
the things that happened in the story
meaning they happened after the start of
the story do you know how to talk about
these two different ideas do you
remember from the dialogue to talk about
things that happened before the start of
the story use the past perfect had done
for example
I hadn't taken any driving lessons I had
only driven a car twice in my life
the story was about taking a driving
test you need to use the past perfect to
talk about things that had happened
before the start of the story let's see
another example when I was 25 I quit my
job and decided to train as a pilot I
had always wanted to learn to fly here
you have a time reference which fixes
the start of the story then you use the
past perfect to talk about things which
happened before that time further in the
past if you're talking about the events
of your story just use the past simple
like this we drove out of the test
center we sat in a traffic jam for ages
I had a small accident on the way home
using these verb tenses you can make it
clear when things happen in the past and
whether something happened before or
after something else do you have a funny
story you'd like to share let us know in
the comments let's look at one more
topic
do you speak any other languages not
really I used to speak Spanish but I
haven't used it for years I wish I'd
started learning other languages when I
was younger so much easier if you start
earlier yeah I know what you mean
if only I'd kept my Spanish going why
don't you pick it up again it had come
back maybe you know what though I wish
I'd spend some time in Latin America
when I had the chance I could have lived
there for a year or two and my Spanish
would have gotten really good well you
could still do it right in the dialogue
you saw three different forms you can
use to talk about regrets in the past do
you remember them first you can use wish
plus the past perfect to talk about
something you regret for example I wish
I'd learned other languages when I was
younger I wish I hadn't said that
remember that here you're talking about
the opposite of what really happened if
you say I wish I hadn't said that you
did something in reality and now you
regret it you can also use if only plus
the past perfect like this if only I'd
kept my Spanish going if only I hadn't
wasted so much time the meaning is very
similar to wish you did something or you
didn't do something in the past and now
you regret it
finally you can sometimes use could have
to express regrets in the past often as
part of a longer if sentence for example
I could have tried harder if I hadn't
left things to the last minute I could
have passed easily let's do one more
practice think of three regrets that you
have make
three sentences using the language from
this section try to use all three forms
wish if only and could have pause the
video and make your sentences now you
can say them aloud or write them down
done great now you've learned many
different ways to talk about the past in
English which English past form do you
find the most difficult to use let us
know in the comments and maybe you'll
get some useful tips remember to check
out our website to see more free english
lessons oxfordonlineenglish.com
thanks for watching see you next time