Ron’s ESL Blogs

When we talk about something that happened in the past, we use the past tense. However, there are also times when we use the past tense to express something else.

a). To express a wish
A wish is not something that happened in the past, but we need to use the past tense.
e.g.
I wish I had a car. (I do not have a car.)
He wishes he won the lottery.

In the above sentences, the past tense has nothing to do with the past time.

b). In the sentence pattern “It’s time …”
When “It’s time” followed by a clause, the past tense is used in the clause.

e.g.
It’s time we left.
It’s time we took design seriously.
It’s time you sold your old car.

Here we are not talking about what happened in the past. If I say “It’s time you sold your old car.” to you, you still have your car, and you are driving it.

c). To show politeness
Sometimes we use the past tense because we want to be polite. The past tense is more polite than the present tense.

e.g.
I wonder if you can come to dinner tonight.
I wondered if you could come to dinner tonight.
I was wondering if you could come to dinner tonight.

If you are inviting a friend, you use the first sentence. If you are inviting your boss, you probably will use the second or the third sentence. The third, the past progressive tense, is even more polite than the second.

d) In the “if” clause

We use the past tense in the “if” clause, if something is not a fact, or it’s unlikely to happen.

e.g.
If it rained tomorrow, I would not come. (I think it will rain tomorrow.)
If I got a raise, I would throw a party. (I don’t believe I will get a raise.)

When we use the simple present tense, it means that we believe it will happen.

e.g.
If it rains tomorrow, I will not come. (I don’t think it will rain tomorrow.)
If I get a raise, I will throw a party. (I think I will get a raise.)

Generally speaking, the past tense is used to express the past time, but there are special uses of the past tense. We need to pay attention to these special uses in learning English.

- Ron Lee

When we use “ago,” we must use the past tense. This is what your grammar teacher told you. Here are a few sentences that you might find confusing.

I have been using this computer since three years ago.

She had done her homework two hours ago.

They should have started using it years ago.

All the above sentences use perfect tense with “ago,” and they are all correct. Why? Well, the first sentence is correct because “since” is used. When we use “since,” we use the perfect tense. When we use both “since” and “ago” in a sentence, “since” is a bigger brother, and we obey the bigger brother. The second sentence is in perfect tense, but it’s past perfect. To be more accurate, “ago” cannot be used with the present perfect tense, but the past perfect tense is okay. In the third sentence, “should” is  a modal verb which has no past form. When we need to express something happened in the past, we have to use “should + perfect tense” form.

“Ago” is  used with the past tense, and above are just a few exceptions.

- Ron Lee

Infinitives are used in a common sentence pattern:

ask somebody to do something
I asked my brother to get me a dictionary.
want somebody to do something
The professor wanted John to come to his office.
expect somebody to do something
Her parents expect her to be a doctor.

For some verbs, we don’t use it this way. For example:

I let him borrow my bike. (correct)
I let him to borrow my bike. (incorrect)

Here we use an infinitive without “to.” It is called a zero infinitive. There are a few verbs used this way.

Let

Dad let me drive his car.
Let’s go shopping together.

Make

The mother made her son clean his own room.
The movie made him cry.

Have

I had my brother carry my suitcase.

See

I saw the thief run away.
You can also say “see somebody doing something,” but you don’t say “see somebody to do something.”

Hear

I heard her sing in the room.

Help

My friend helped me fix my car.
My friend helped me to fix my car.

“Help” is a special verb. It can be used with or without “to.”

When we study infinitives and gerunds, a few special verbs need some attention. They can be followed by both infinitives and gerunds, but the meanings are different.

Try

“Try to do something” is different from “try doing something” in meaning. “Try to do something” means you make an effort to do something; “try doing something” means experimenting with something to see if it will work.

e.g.

The doctor tried to save his life.

Here you have to use the infinitive because it means the doctor made an effort to save the patient’s life; he didn’t experiment with different ways that might have saved the victim’s life.

e.g.

He tried using another method.

He experimented with different methods to see which one would work. Therefore, you need to use a gerund here, not an infinitive.

Remember

“Remember doing something” means you did something in the past and you remember it. If you “remember to do something,” you haven’t done it, but you will do it.

e.g.

Remember to lock the door. (The door is unlocked; you need to lock it.)
I remember locking the door. (You locked the door, and you remember that you did it.)
I remember seeing Obama once. (You saw Obama in the past.)
I’ll remember to buy a gift for my wife. (You haven’t done it yet.)

Forget

“Forget” is like “remember” regarding the use of gerunds and infinitives.

e.g.

I forgot telling her about it. (You told her about it, but you forgot you did it.)
I forgot to tell her about it. (You meant to tell her, but you didn’t.)
I forgot to bring an umbrella. (You didn’t bring an umbrella.)

I forgot bringing an umbrella. (You brought an umbrella, but you forgot that you did.)

Regret

I regret to tell you that … (You’re going to tell me something.)
I regret telling her the truth. (You told her the truth already.)

“Remember,” “forget,” and “regret” have one thing in common: An infinitive means something hasn’t happened yet, and a gerund means something already happened.

A common English sentence pattern is:

Subject + predicate + object

The subject and the object must be a noun or a pronoun; the predicate must be a verb. If you have to use a verb as the subject or the object in a sentence, you must change this verb into an infinitive or a gerund. That is, you have to put “to” before the verb (infinitive), or add “ing” to the end of the verb (gerund).

When we use a non-verb form (infinitives and gerunds) as an object, we need to be careful because some verbs must be followed by a gerund and some verbs must be followed by an infinitive.

e.g.

I enjoy music. (correct)
I enjoy listening to music. (correct)
I enjoy to listen to music. (incorrect)
I enjoy listen to music. (incorrect)

I decided to go home early today. (correct)
I decided go home early today. (incorrect)
I decided going home early today. (incorrect)

Here are three important lists of verbs:

a) Verbs that can be followed by both infinitives and gerunds

begin
start
like
love
hate
prefer
continue

try
remember
forget
regret
(These last 4 verbs can be followed by both, but the meanings are different.)

b) Verbs that can only be followed by gerunds

enjoy
mind
finish
avoid
deny
keep
consider
postpone
practice
quit
suggest

(The following phrases must be followed by gerunds.)
it’s no use
be busy
it’s worth
can’t help
have trouble (difficulty)

c) Verbs that can only be followed by infinitives

decide
expect
want
hope
manage
need
offer
plan
promise
refuse

You can add more verbs to the lists, but I think these are the important verbs that students need to remember first.

-Ron Lee