AEE 2394: How to Know Which Past Tense to Use in English

Summary

All Ears English Podcast: Episode AEE 2394 - How to Know Which Past Tense to Use in English

Release Date: April 21, 2025

---

Introduction

In Episode 2394 of the All Ears English Podcast, hosts Lindsay McMahon and Aubrey Carter delve into the intricacies of English past tenses. Aimed at intermediate to advanced ESL learners, this episode addresses a common confusion: when to use the simple past, present perfect, or present perfect continuous tense. The hosts emphasize focusing on connection rather than perfection to achieve fluency.

---

The Student Question

The episode is inspired by a thoughtful question from a listener named Helmut (Heli):

"I'm trying to figure out when to use the correct past tense, and I'm unsure when to use past simple, present perfect, and present perfect continuous. For example, I talk to her. I've talked to her anytime in the past, and it has no relevance to the present. But why should I say that? And in what case should I say that?"
— [05:05]

Aubrey elaborates on the complexity, noting the challenge of translating these tenses from languages like German, French, or Spanish, where such distinctions may not exist.

---

Understanding Past Tenses

The hosts categorize the use of past tenses into two main buckets to simplify understanding:

1. When Tense Choice Doesn't Matter
2. When Tense Choice Matters

1. When Tense Choice Doesn't Matter

Lindsay and Aubrey explain that in many conversational contexts, the choice between simple past, present perfect, and present perfect continuous can be flexible without altering the meaning significantly.

"If it doesn't matter to the story, native speakers use them interchangeably."
— Aubrey Carter [07:28]

Examples:

• Simple Past: "I talked to her, and she promised to change." [08:16]
• Present Perfect: "I have talked to her, and she promised to change." [08:16]
• Present Perfect Continuous: "I've been talking to her, and she promised to change." [08:16]

All three convey similar meanings when the specific timing or duration isn't crucial to the narrative.

2. When Tense Choice Matters

The second category addresses situations where the specific tense choice impacts the clarity and meaning of the story. This is essential when details like the exact time or frequency of an action are important.

"When it is important to the story, which past tense you choose matters."
— Aubrey Carter [07:28]

Examples:

• Simple Past for Specific Times:
  "I talked to her Wednesday and then again today."
  — [14:05]

• Present Perfect for Repeated Actions with Ongoing Relevance:
  "We've emailed back and forth about it."
  — [15:55]

• Present Perfect Continuous for Emphasizing Duration:
  "We've been talking for weeks."
  — [11:22]

---

Role Play: Applying the Tenses

To illustrate the concepts, Lindsay and Aubrey engage in a role play:

1. Initial Statement (Neutral Tense Choice):
   Lindsay: "Hey, I've been talking to her about the project."
   — [13:50]

2. Inquiry Requiring Specific Tense:
   Aubrey: "Oh wait, when did you talk to her?"
   — [13:55]

3. Responding with Simple Past for Specific Time:
   Lindsay: "Oh, I talked to her Wednesday and then again today."
   — [13:57] & [15:03]

4. Explaining Repeated Actions with Present Perfect:
   Lindsay: "We've emailed back and forth about it."
   — [15:39]

This exchange highlights how the tense choice provides clarity based on the context of the conversation.

---

Key Takeaways

• Flexibility in Tense Usage: In casual conversations, the past tense can often be used interchangeably without changing the message.

• Importance of Context: When specific details about the timing, frequency, or duration of an action are crucial, selecting the appropriate past tense is vital for clear communication.

• Listening for Clues: Pay attention to how native speakers choose tenses in different contexts to better understand their application.

"Look out for it, think about it. When you deliver a phrase in the past tense, think: does it matter what grammar I'm using here or does it not?"
— Lindsay McMahon [17:17]

---

Conclusion

Lindsay and Aubrey wrap up by reinforcing the importance of recognizing when tense choice impacts communication. They encourage listeners to engage with their courses for deeper grammar understanding and to participate in their community for continuous practice.

"Past tense is especially confusing in English because sometimes you can choose any of them… today's tips will help you know which past tense to use in English."
— Aubrey Carter [16:36]

Listeners are also reminded to leave reviews and explore their previous episodes for further learning.

---

Final Thoughts

Episode 2394 serves as a valuable resource for ESL learners grappling with English past tenses. Through clear explanations, relatable examples, and practical role plays, Lindsay McMahon and Aubrey Carter provide actionable insights to enhance grammatical accuracy and conversational fluency.

---

Notable Quotes with Timestamps:

• "If it doesn't matter to the story, native speakers use them interchangeably." — Aubrey Carter [07:28]
• "Look out for it, think about it. When you deliver a phrase in the past tense, think: does it matter what grammar I'm using here or does it not?" — Lindsay McMahon [17:17]
• "Past tense is especially confusing in English because sometimes you can choose any of them… today's tips will help you know which past tense to use in English." — Aubrey Carter [16:36]

---

Join the Community

For more tips and in-depth grammar lessons, consider joining the All Ears English courses and community. Enhance your English listening skills and connect with fellow learners to achieve fluency through meaningful conversation.

Visit allearsenglish.com to subscribe and receive weekly transcripts directly to your email.

---

Connection NOT Perfection!

Transcript

[Aubrey Carter]

This is an All Ears English podcast. Episode 2394 how to Know which Past Tense to Use in English.

[Lindsey McMahon]

Welcome to the All Ears English podcast, downloaded more than 200 million times. Are you feeling stuck with your English? We'll show you how to become fearless and fluent by focusing on connection, not perfection, with your American host, Aubrey Carter, the IELTS whiz and Lindsey McMahon, the English adventurer, coming to you from Arizona and Colorado, usa. And to get your transcripts delivered by email every week, go to allearsenglish.com subscribe when you're in a conversation with a native speaker, how do you know if you should use the simple past, the present perfect, or the present perfect progressive? Find out the details and learn when it matters and when it doesn't in today's episode.

[State Farm Ad]

This episode is brought to you by State Farm. You might say all kinds of stuff when things go wrong, but these are the words you really need to remember. Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there. They've got options to fit your unique insurance needs, meaning you can talk to your agent to choose the coverage you need, have coverage options to protect the things you value most most, file a claim right on the State Farm mobile app, and even reach a real person when you need to talk to someone. Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there.

[Lindsey McMahon]

Hey there, Aubry. What have you been up to lately?

[Aubrey Carter]

Oh, I have been going to a lot of movies with my kids.

[Lindsey McMahon]

Yeah.

[Aubrey Carter]

And mostly because we bought this unlimited popcorn bucket and I want to like get my money's worth filling it every time. And we watched Snow White yesterday and we all loved it, which was especially surprising because it's been rated and reviewed really low. So my expectations were realized. But I was surprised. I loved it so much. It's crazy to me that anyone reviewed it low. So then I kind of dove into like why people are review and I really disagree with everything they're saying about the movie. So everybody out there listening, Go check it out and decide for yourself. I think it's a fantastic film that really modernized the story of Snow White and removed a lot of what was problematic about the original version. So check it out. I loved it.

[Lindsey McMahon]

All right. All right, Excellent. Well, I am going to the movies this weekend, so I have to decide what movie to see. So we'll see.

[Aubrey Carter]

You don't have little kids, so maybe usually not anyone out there who has young children like, this is a great movie.

[Lindsey McMahon]

All right, good to know. Good to know. Excellent. So you've been going to the movies. I love it. So today we're getting into a little grammar. And what you said there, Aubry, was I have been going to a lot of movies, right?

[Aubrey Carter]

So we have the past, past perfect progressive here. And then I said we watched Snow White. So that's past simple. And that's good to point out that we rarely stick with one verb tense in a sentence. And sometimes we have flexibility. Because I could say I've gone to. I have gone to a lot of movies and just used past perfect there. I could also have used past simple. Like, there's often flexibility. This makes verb tenses really tricky and.

[Lindsey McMahon]

But it also makes it real. You know, I've been reviewing some of our transcripts from our professional English course, and it's incredible how real our interviews with native speakers are. Right. It doesn't follow the textbooks, right? What we said in these conversations, we're always moving from one tense to the other in this way that doesn't feel like it would be covered in a textbook.

[Aubrey Carter]

But it's real English because it's not scripted. It's how we actually speak.

[Lindsey McMahon]

Exactly. Exactly. So I'm excited to get into this for our listeners today. But first, we want to mention our iOS app app reviewers. So, guys, if you left us a review on the iOS app, Android app, Spotify, Apple podcasts, wherever you listen, we love your reviews. We pass them on to the team. Aubry, this week I sent you some amazing reviews. And doesn't it just warm your heart?

[Aubrey Carter]

I loved getting that email to read through all of those reviews, all of the positive feedback. It really does make it all worth it for us. Right? It is huge to hear that. So thank you for every review.

[Lindsey McMahon]

Yeah. So special. Thank you to Antonio Lopez from The Dominican Republic, Mojade, 22, Aurora from on March 5, Dan B. 303 and Muska, these are all five star reviews. Aubry, it's incredible. Yes.

[Aubrey Carter]

Thank you so much. We love giving you a shout out. We apologize if we don't say your name right, but we want to let you know how grateful we are for those ratings. All of these are five star ratings. Amazing. And every review, all of the feedback and all of the questions you leave us in these reviews make for great episodes for sure.

[Lindsey McMahon]

So go over and review the podcast wherever you're listening. And this episode is inspired by a student question, right?

[Aubrey Carter]

Exactly. This is from Helmut, who goes by Heli. Shout out to Heli, who asks great questions in our community. Whenever you sign up for any of our courses, you're automatically admitted into our community. You get live speaking practice, you get answers to your questions, and they often inspire really good conversations among community members. And as soon as I saw this one, I said, I'm gonna make an episode for All Yours English out of. Because it's. We get this question a lot. It's such a good one. I'm excited to dive into this.

[Lindsey McMahon]

O. Okay. I'm gonna go ahead and read the question. Okay. It's a little bit of a long one, so buckle in. Right? Buckle up, Buckle in. But let's listen in because we're going to get a lot out of today's episode. So here it is. I'm trying to figure out when to use the correct past tense, and I'm unsure when to use past, simple present perfect, and present perfect continuous. For example, I talk to her. I've talked to her anytime in the past, and it has no relevant to the present, no relevance to the present. But why should I say that? And in what case should I say that? That makes no sense, right? Aubry, why don't you read the next piece?

[Aubrey Carter]

I have talked to her. It's like, I have talked to her. I have talked to her in the past. The process is completely finished, but it has relevance to the present. I have talked to her, and she promised me she will change her behavior. Is the simple past in this case J generally the wrong tense? Because why should I say that when it has no influence on the present? I have been talking to her. I've talked to her in the past, but the result is not finished. I have been talking to her about the project, and we will finish it tomorrow. It's very confusing because we do not have these tenses in German. Oh, it's such a good question. This has been tricky for me, learning French and Spanish because we can't translate directly. We see that the verb tenses work differently in different languages, and we need to understand. You guys see that English language users often are very flexible with this. You see them use two different ones for the same situation, or two native speakers will do it differently. Is it a mistake? Is it not? There's probably more flexibility than textbooks teach you.

[Lindsey McMahon]

Oh, okay. So don't worry, guys. We do have two core rules. I guess we could call these rules. Right. And categories that you can go by as a rule of thumb when you decide what tense to use.

[Aubrey Carter]

Right? Exactly. Because sometimes any of them work, which actually seems to make it more confusing. So we have these two buckets. This is really going to help clarify. The first one is when it is unimportant to the message or the story. You're telling you can often choose any of these tenses. And this is what can be the most confusing if you're just trying to track native speakers and what they're saying. So if we take Helmut's example, for example, right? You talked to someone and she promised to change. If the person you're telling this to, you won't care when you talk to her, or how many times any of these past tense verb tenses could work. They each have a slightly different implication, but it's so subtle and it may not matter to the story. And when it doesn't matter, native speakers use them interchangeably.

[Lindsey McMahon]

Okay, I love it. So for. Let's give some examples here. Right? So when we use the present perfect, I've talked to her and she promised to change. Okay, so maybe we talk to her multiple times, or maybe we will again, but maybe we won't talk to her again. It could have just been once that she promised to change and never again.

[Aubrey Carter]

Right, Exactly. And it doesn't really matter to the story. So we might use present perfect or we might use past simple. Right? It really depends on whether it matters to the story. So especially in conversational English, native speakers will use these pretty interchangeably when it doesn't matter.

[Lindsey McMahon]

Okay, what about with the simple past here?

[Aubrey Carter]

If it doesn't matter with the same. Same sentence, I might say I talked to her and she promised to change. Maybe I spoke to her just once at a specific time and I won't need to again. But it could also be true that I talked to her multiple times. It really doesn't matter to the story, it doesn't matter to the person I'm telling. And so I might use past simple.

[Lindsey McMahon]

Right? Or you could use the present perfect continuous. It doesn't really matter. I've been talking to her and she promised to change. We could have talked many times, or maybe we just talked once earlier today. Right, but it's irrelevant.

[Aubrey Carter]

Exactly. If it doesn't matter to the story, any of them work. Okay, now we get to the second bucket. Because when it is important to the story, which past tense you choose matters. And often what will happen is you'll be telling a story and you'll use whatever verb tense you want. But then if someone does, suddenly it does matter, because someone asks a specific question, like, wait, when did you talk to her? Or how many times did you talk to her? Then you're going to need to use the correct tense to be clear about what happened.

[Lindsey McMahon]

Yeah, like if you're a detective. Right. And you hear them Use a certain tense that might flag you for asking another question.

[Aubrey Carter]

Yeah, sometimes it matters. I think about. I had a conversation with my brother recently where he had talked to a friend of mine that they were potentially going to start dating. I'm like, but wait, when did you talk to her last? And how many times have you talked to her? It mattered. So I want the right verb tense.

[Lindsey McMahon]

Yeah. It's kind of funny how sometimes grammar is just. It doesn't matter that much. And sometimes it really, really does for the meaning. And we grab on to any hints that we can find. And that is, grammar is one of them. So again, we're moving over to the second scenario, which is when it. The tense is important to the story. Right. Which past tense you choose does matter. Okay.

[Aubrey Carter]

Right. So for instance, if someone asks you, wait, how many times did you talk to her about that? You would use the present simple. If you want to say, we just talked once or we talked a few times and you're talking about specific instances that are completed in the past, then you'll use present simple. Yes.

[Lindsey McMahon]

Okay. Or present perfect. We've talked multiple times and might need to talk again tomorrow. Right. Different meaning.

[Aubrey Carter]

Exactly right. This is an action that happened in the past, but might be. Can. Might happen again. Might be a repeated action. Then you'll use present simple perfect or.

[Lindsey McMahon]

The present perfect continuous. How would this look, Aubry?

[Aubrey Carter]

You might say, we've been talking for weeks and then we're using that we have been verb ing to emphasize. Like, okay, we've been talking.

[Lindsey McMahon]

Yeah, that would matter. That would place a lot of meaning in those words in that grammar choice.

[Aubrey Carter]

Exactly. So sometimes it doesn't matter. If it doesn't matter to the story we think about often, we'll talk about tmi. Are you providing too many details? Are you worried about the verb tense? When it doesn't matter to the story, then you can choose any of these. Right. It doesn't matter. But if it does matter, it's vital that you know which of these tenses to use and why, what it implies about what happened.

[Lindsey McMahon]

So we have to know when the grammar actually matters. Yeah. We're going to get into the role play in just a minute here. Yes. Are you in charge of hiring at your company? There are great candidates out there, but they tend to get hired fast. That's why speed matters. Stop struggling to get your job post seen on other job sites. Indeed's Sponsored Jobs helps you stand out and hire fast. With Sponsored Jobs, your post jumps to the top of the page for your relevant candidates so you can reach the people you want faster and it makes a huge difference. According to Indeed data, sponsored jobs posted directly on indeed have 45% more applications than non sponsored jobs. One of the things that I love about Indeed is that it makes hiring fast and easy so that I can get the most high quality applications for my job openings. There's no need to wait any longer. Speed up your hiring right now with Indeed and listeners of this show will get a $75 sponsored job credit. To get your jobs more [e-mail] a just go to indeed.com a e e right now and support our show by saying you heard about Indeed on this podcast. Indeed.com a e e that's I n d e dashed.com a e e Terms and conditions apply. Hiring Indeed is all you need.

[Aubrey Carter]

Foreign.

[Lindsey McMahon]

Okay, Aubry, let's get into a role play so we can see this all presented to our listeners very clearly.

[Aubrey Carter]

So perfect.

[Lindsey McMahon]

Here we go. So, hey, I've been talking to her about the project.

[Aubrey Carter]

Oh wait, when did you talk to her?

[Lindsey McMahon]

Oh, I talked to her Wednesday and then again today. We've emailed back and forth about it and we're meeting to finalize the details today at 4.

[Aubrey Carter]

Okay, this is really good. So the first thing Lindsay said, she could have used any of these. She could have said, I talked to her about the project. I have talked to her about the project. Or I've been talking to her about the project because it doesn't matter at that time. Like for all you know, I don't care when you talk to her. But then for some reason I need to know why? Because maybe I talked to her about the project and I need to know. It was before then you did, right? Yeah. Ask. When did you talk to her? This is past simple. I'm asking for specifics and I need you to use the correct verb tense to be clear.

[Lindsey McMahon]

Yeah, I think about past simple as really zooming in here. We're zooming into the exact point, the exact moment with a camera lens or something, right?

[Aubrey Carter]

Exactly.

[Lindsey McMahon]

Wait, when did you talk to her? Now we're getting details. We're getting specifics here, right?

[Aubrey Carter]

Exactly. So then you say I talked to her Wednesday and this has to be past simple because you are talking about a finished action in the past that happened at a specific time.

[Lindsey McMahon]

Of course you have to mirror the tense because you're asking me a specific question, right? You're asking for a day, and so I have to give you that exact day and I have to use the simple past. There Right.

[Aubrey Carter]

Well, it's interesting. It would like. Let's imagine that you have talked to her every day for two months about this. Then what you said would be different. You'd say, I've been talking to her about this every day. But the fact that you only talk to her once on Wednesday, you're going to use past simple.

[Lindsey McMahon]

I love it. And then I said we've emailed back and forth about it and we're meeting to finalize today. Okay. So we've emailed back and forth.

[Aubrey Carter]

Yeah. So using present perfect here we have emailed is letting me know it has happened many times and we're probably going to need to continue emailing about it. That's when we use present perfect. An action in the past that continues to now and is probably going to keep continuing.

[Lindsey McMahon]

Yes. I love it. This was a great question, but we only had time to really scratch the surface. So, you know, if you're really interested in building up your grammar skills, get into our courses. You know, we go through this stuff in B1, B2, C1. We build your fluency foundation for grammar too, right?

[Aubrey Carter]

Absolutely. And if you missed it, scroll up because we just did a two part series on past progressive grammar. So you can go up and see 2374 Past Progressive Grammar for English interruptions we really dove into when we use the past progressive and you don't want to miss that series.

[Lindsey McMahon]

I love it. Aubry where should we leave our listeners? Today we had a great question from our student. Where should we leave our listeners?

[Aubrey Carter]

Yeah, past tense is especially confusing in English because sometimes you can choose any of them, any of these verb tenses. It makes it difficult to know exactly why native speakers are using a specific past tense. I totally get why Heli Helmut was confused seeing these the flexibility here. So today's tips will help you know which past tense to use in English.

[Lindsey McMahon]

Yeah, I think the key is just knowing. Right? Looking out for it, thinking about it. So when we go to deliver a phrase or a sentence in the past tense, we're thinking, does it matter what grammar I'm using here or does it not? Right. And pay attention. When people are coming back to you with a specific question, what tense are they using Exactly?

[Aubrey Carter]

Right. Does it matter for the story? If not, don't worry about it. If it does, if it really matters when you talked and why, or when you ate that and why or how many times that in, then it does matter.

[Lindsey McMahon]

I love it. So good, good stuff. And guys, don't forget to go and leave us a review for Allers English wherever you listen, whether it's in the iOS Android app or Spotify Apple Podcasts. Leave us a review and we'll announce your name on the show. All right.

[Aubrey Carter]

Yes. Awesome. Thanks, Lindsay. This always fun getting into grammar with you. I love it.

[Lindsey McMahon]

It always is. It always is. We'll see you next time, Aubrey. Take care. Awesome.

[Aubrey Carter]

See you next time.

[Lindsey McMahon]

Bye. Thanks for listening. To all ears. Would you like to know your English level? Take our 2 minute quiz, go to allearsenglish.com fluencyscore and if you believe in connection, not perfection, then hit subscribe now to make sure you don't miss anything. See you next time.

[American Giant Ad]

This country was built on a distinctly American work ethic. But today, work is in trouble. We've outsourced most of our manufacturing to other countries, and with that, we sent away good jobs and diminished our capability to make things. American Giant is a clothing company that's pushing back against this tide. They make a variety of high quality clothing and activewear like sweatshirts, jeans, dresses, jackets, and so much more, all made right here in the USA from growing the cotton and adding the final touches. So when you buy American Giant, you create jobs for seamsters, cutters and factory workers in towns and cities across the United States. And it's about more than an income. Jobs bring pride, purpose. They stitch people together. If all that sounds good to you, visit AmericanGiant.com and get 20% off your first order when you use code STAPLE20 at checkout. That's 20% off your first order at AmericanGiant.com with promo code STAPLE20.