To express the past, there are several verb tenses in English. Two of these tenses are the past simple and the past continuous. The basic difference between these two tenses is that the past simple is used to express finished actions whereas the past continuous is used to express actions that were taking place at a specific moment in the past.

On the other hand, the prepositions of time are those that introduce a prepositional phrase of time. In other words, the prepositions of time tell us when an action happens.

Here are the forms and uses of the past simple and the past continuous tenses.

The past simple

When we need to use the past simple form of a verb, we must know whether the verb is regular or irregular.

• In regular verbs, the affirmative form of the past simple adds the ending -ed to the infinitive (work > worked).
• In irregular verbs, the affirmative form of the past simple is a different word from the infinitive (go > went).

There are no rules to know which verbs are regular and which are irregular. We must know the most common irregular verbs.

These are the forms of the past simple of a regular verb (work):

Here are the forms of an irregular verb (go):

The past simple is used:

1) To express finished actions or states in the past:

• I worked in a factory 20 years ago (Cat. Fa 20 anys vaig treballar a una fàbrica).
• Did you watch the film on TV last night? (Cat. Vas veure la pel·lícula de la tele ahir a la nit?).
• Mr Green didn’t come in his office yesterday. (Cat. Ahir Mr Green no va venir al seu despatx).
• Marcia met her husband at a party when they were both 15 (Cat. La Marcia va conèixer el seu marit a una festa quan tots dos tenien 15 anys).
• It was very hot last summer, do you remember? (L’estiu passat va fer molta calor, te’n recordes?).
• We felt happy when he left (Cat. Ens vam alegrar quan ell va marxar).

The past continuous

Here are the forms of the past continuous:

Notes:

• As in the present continuous, the past continuous is composed of two elements: the auxiliary verb be (conjugated in the past) + the gerund.
• In the past continuous, we only conjugate the verb be. For this reason, there is no difference between regular and irregular verbs (for example: I was working, I was going).
• The verb be is an irregular verb (be > was/were).

We use the past continuous:

1) To express actions that were taking place at a specific moment in the past. At that moment, the action was not fisnished yet.

• I was sleeping at eleven last night. (Cat. Ahir a les onze de la nit jo dormia/estava dormint).
• What were you doing at this time yesterday? (Cat. Què feies/estaves fent ahir a aquesta hora?).
• I wasn’t doing anything (Cat. No feia/estava fent res).

2) To express simultaneous actions in the past (with the connector while [Cat. mentre]).

• While I was doing all the work, he was talking on the phone with his friend (Cat. Mentre jo estava fent tota la feina, ell estava parlant per telèfon amb el seu amic).
• They were flying to Paris while I was waiting for them in the office (Cat. Ells estaven volant a París mentre jo els estava esperant a l’oficina).

We very often use the past continuous in combination with the past simple to express an action that was taking place in the past (in past continuous) when another action took place in that moment (in the past simple). For example:

• I met Mr White when I was going out of the building (Cat. Em vaig trobar el Sr White quan jo sortia de l’edifici).
• We were walking down the street when the tree fell down (Cat. Estàvem caminant pel carrer quan l’arbre va caure).

The three basic prepositions of time are: in, on and at. As you can see, they have the same form as the prepositions of place. The prepositions of time indicate when something happens. They are equivalent to the Catalan ‘a’/‘en’ or the Spanish ‘en’, but in English they are used in different contexts. To use the prepositions of time correctly, we must learn the prepositional phrase (that is, the preposition + the noun).

Here are the basic uses of the prepositions of time:

In

1) With years, centuries and historical periods:

• In 2010
• In the 19th century
• In the Middle Ages
• In modern times
• In the present
• In the past
• In the future

2) With the names of the months and seasons of the year:

• In April
• In September
• In Winter
• In Summer

3) With the parts of the day:

• In the morning
• In the afternoon
• In the evening
• In the night

4) With a period of time, to indicate when something will happen in the future:

• In a moment
• In five minutes
• In one week
• In three years

On

1) With the days of the week:

• On Monday
• On Tuesday
• On Sunday
• On Fridays
• On weekdays

2) With dates and nouns denoting specific dates:

• On 16th June
• On 4th November, 2005
• On the 23rd
• On Christmas Day
• On New Year’s Eve

At

1) With clock times and nouns denoting clock times:

• At 6 o’clock
• At a quarter past eight
• At 2 pm
• At midnight
• At midday
• At sunset
• At dawn
• At night

2) With names of holidays and with the noun ‘weekend’:

• At Christmas
• At Easter
• At the New Year
• At the weekend

Speaking on the phone is a very common activity, both in a working environment and in our daily life. We may do so with customers, colleagues or friends, but in all the cases speaking on the phone requires the use of specific words and expressions. A clear pronunciation is very important when speaking on the phone, so it is a good idea to practise the expressions carefully before attempting to make a call or answering the phone. It is also necessary to have good listening skills because in a telephone conversation you cannot see the other person and therefore you will not have the help of the body language.

It is also very common to speak about dates and clock times. We may need to write dates in formal business letters or we may need to say dates and clock times in our daily conversations. In the particular case of the dates, there is a great difference between the written and the spoken forms. Clock times are mostly used in speech.

Here are some common expressions used in telephone conversations. They are divided in categories according to their purpose and they all include an equivalent expression in Catalan.

Answering the telephone

• Hello? (Cat. Digui?)
• Commercial Department, hello? (Cat. Departament comercial, digui?)
• Joan Alsina speaking (Cat. Joan Alsina, diguim?)
• Customer service, can I help you? (Cat. Servei al client, en què el puc ajudar?)

Asking for the other person’s identification

• Who’s calling? (Cat. Qui és?, de part de qui?, qui el truca?)
• Where are you calling from? (Cat. D’on truca?)
• May I have your name please (formal) (Cat. Em pot dir el seu nom si us plau?)
• Is that Mr Peter Bramwell? (Cat. Parlo amb el Sr. Peter Bramwell?)
• Is that the Commercial Department? (Cat. És el departament comercial?)

Identifying yourself

• This is Joan Alsina (Cat. Sóc Joan Alsina)
• My name’s Joan Alsina (Cat. Em dic Joan Alsina)
• I’m calling from Zara (Cat. Truco de Zara)

Asking to speak to someone

• Can I speak to Mr Peter Bramwell please? (Cat. Puc parlar amb el Sr. Peter Bramwell si us plau?)
• May I speak to Mr Peter Bramwell please? (formal) (Cat. Podria parlar amb el Sr. Peter Bramwell si us plau?)
• Is Mr Peter Bramwell there? (Cat. Està el Sr. Peter Bramwell?)
• I’d like to speak to Mr Peter Bramwell (Cat. Voldria parlar amb el Sr. Peter Bramwell)
• Could you put me through to Mr Peter Bramwell? (Cat. Em podria passar amb el Sr. Peter Bramwell?)

If Mr Peter Bramwell answers the phone himself, the answer could be:

• Speaking! (Cat. El mateix, sóc jo mateix)

If someone else answers the phone, see below:

Asking the other person to wait

• One moment please (Cat. Un moment si us plau)
• Hold on please (Cat. No pengi si us plau)
• Just a minute (Cat. Un minut)

Connecting with other people

• I’ll put you through (Cat. Li passo)
• I’l put you through to Mr Bramwell (Cat. Li passo al Sr. Bramwell)
• I’ll put you through to his office (Cat. Li passo al seu despatx)

Explaining that the other person is not available

• I’m afrain Mr Bramwell is not in his office right now (Cat. Em temo que el Sr. Bramwell no és al seu despatx en aquest moment)
• Mr Bramwell is in a meeting at the moment (Cat. El Sr. Bramwell és a una reunió en aquest moment)
• I’m afraid the line’s busy at the moment (Cat. Està comunicant)

Asking about the reason of the call

• What does it concern? (formal) (Cat. De què es tracta)
• What’s it about? (Cat. Sobre què és?)

Offering solutions

• Can you call back later? (Cat. Pots trucar més tard?)
• Could you call back later? (formal) (Cat. Pot trucar més tard?)
• Could I take a message? (Cat. Vol que li doni algun missatge?)
• Would you like to leave a message? (Cat. Vold deixar-li algun missatge?)
• Can I help you in anything? (Cat. El puc ajudar en alguna cosa?)
• Ok, I’l call back later, thanks (Cat. D’acord, trucaré més tard)
• I’ll try again, thanks (Cat. Ho tornaré a intentar, gràcies)

Leaving a message

• Could I leave a message please? (Cat. Puc deixar un missatge si us plau?)
• I’d like to leave a message for Mr Bramwell (Cat. Voldria deixar un missatge pel Sr. Bramwell)
• Could you please tell Mr Bramwell that Joan Alsina called? (Cat. Li pot dir al Sr. Bramwell que l’ha trucat Joan Alsina si us plau?)
• Please tell Mr Bramwell that… (Cat. Si us plau, digui al Sr Bramwell que…)

Explaining the reason of the call

• I’m calling on behalf of Inés Fernández (Cat. Truco de part de la Inés Fernández)
• I’m calling about… (Cat. Truco en relació a…)
• I’m calling to… (Cat. Truco per a…)

Saying goodbye

• Well, thanks for your help (Cat. Bé, gràcies per la teva ajuda)
• I’ll call you back in a few days (Cat. Et truco d’aquí uns dies)
• Goodbye (Cat. Adéu)
• Bye (Cat. Adéu)

There is a great difference in the way we write and say dates and clock times. In addition there is also a difference between British English and American English.

Dates

The table shows different ways of writing a date in British English and American English:

When writing or interpreting a written date, we must be aware of the variety of English. Notice the following:

• For a British person, 9/6/2007 is 9th June 2007; for an American person, it is: 6th September 2007.
• For a British person, 6/9/2007 is 6th September 2007; for an American person, it is: 9th June 2007.

Independtly of the format, we must say the dates like this:

• British English: the ninth if June two thousand and seven
• American English: June (the) ninth two thousand and seven

When we say a date, we must use the ordinal numbers (1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, etc.). In American English, we can eliminite the article the.

Here are some time expressions with dates:

• When did you arrive? (Cat. quan vas arribar?)
• I arrived in June (Cat. Vaig arribar el mes de juny)
• I arrived in 2007 (Cat. Vaig arribar l’any 2007)
• I arrived on 9th June 2007 (Cat. Vaig arribar el 9 de juny de 2007)
• I arrived on the 9th (Cat. Vaig arribar el dia 9)
• What’s the date today? (Cat. A quina data estem avui?)
• It’s 9th June (Cat. És el 9 de juny)

Notice that we use the preposition in with months and years and the preposition on with complete dates or expressions denoting dates.

Clock times

The figure shows the basic words that we need to tell the time:

Here are some examples of clock times in English:

Note the following:

• We use the word o’clock (Cat. en punt) only on the hour: three o’clock.
• For all the times between the hour and the half hour, we use the adverb past; for all the times between the half hour and the next hour, we use the adverb to.
• We must always use the word quarter (quarter past or quarter to). It is wrong to say: fifteen past or fifteen to.
• The half hour is expressed with half past and the previous hour.
• With the multiples of five, we say: ten past three. With all the others, we must say the word minutes: twelve minutes past three

The figure shows the parts of the day and the times included in each one.

Here are some expressions related to clock times. They are placed in a sentence:

• What time is it?, what’s the time (Cat. Quina hora és?)
• It’s a quarter past four (Cat. És un quart de cinc/Són les quatre i quart)
• It’s half past seven (Cat. Són dos quarts de set/Són les sis i mitja)
• What time will you come? (Cat. A quina hora vindràs?)
• I’ll come at ten (Cat. Vindré a les deu)
• It’s three in the morning (Cat. Són les tres de la matinada)

With clock times we use the preposition at, but notice that we do not use it in the question. It is wrong to say: at what time…?. With parts of the day, we must use the preposition in.

Other expressions related to clock times are:

• At noon / At midday (Cat. Al migdia)
• At sunset / At dusk (Cat. A la posta del sol)
• At midnight (Cat. A mitjanit)
• At sunrise / At dusk (Cat. A la sortida del sol)