When you talk about your childhood, you need to use past tenses and probably ‘used to’ as well. Here are some tips to avoid some of the most common mistakes.
pasttense
Regrets
Regrets are difficult for students to talk about.
What’s a regret? It’s wishing you could change the past by doing an action you didn’t do or by not doing an action you did do.
You can express regrets by using the verb ‘regret’ in the following way.
- Using a gerund (‘~ing’ verb) and object:
- a negative gerund and an object:
- Using ‘that’ with a simple past-tense verb:
“I regret playing video games instead of studying during high school.”
“I regret not studying in high school.”
“I regret that I played games so much.”
“I regret that I didn’t study.”
Share your regrets in the comments. I regret not studying German after secondary school.
Video: Talking About Experiences
Today’s video is about talking about experiences using the present perfect tense and simple past tense. Finding out if you have common experiences is a great way to make friends.
Tell Stories Easily by Using 4 Parts
You can tell stories easily by using four parts: beginning, main point, reaction and ending. Remember that stories usually stick to the past tense.
Beginning
It is common to use a past-continuous clause (was/were ~ing) and ‘when‘, followed by a past-tense clause (simple or continuous) for a detail to link to the main point.
“I was having a job interview when I felt the room shaking.”
Main Point
Get straight to the point. This is an action.
“There was a huge earthquake.”
Reaction
What did you do after the action you just talked about?
“Everybody left the building and went home.”
Ending
How did things get back to normal or back to a comfortable situation for you?
“I had to walk for five hours because there were no trains.”
This might be useful next time you write your diary.
