Grammar Review: Tenses, Habits, and the Unreal Past

• In this lesson, we review key advanced structures for talking about past actions, annoying habits, and hypothetical situations. These help you express nuance and storytelling flair in everyday English.
• Category
• Structure
• Example
• Future in the past
• was / were going to + verb
• We were going to rent a villa in Boston, but plans changed.
• Verb + object + infinitive
• persuade / encourage someone to do
• Mark persuaded his in-laws to tag along on the road trip.
• Annoying habits
• be always + -ing / keep + -ing
• The children are always fighting in the backseat.
• Unreal past
• It's high time + past simple
• It's high time we compromised on our holiday schedule.
• Remember
• Use the future in the past to talk about past plans that were interrupted or changed.
• Use 'will' or 'would' to describe typical, stubborn habits or predictable behaviour.
• Use 'It's high time' or 'would rather' with a past tense to talk about hypothetical preferences or delayed actions.
• Use verbs like 'allow', 'encourage', and 'persuade' followed by an object and a full infinitive.
• Examples
• We were supposed to leave Chicago at dawn.
• David is always hogging the bathroom during our trips.
• I'd rather we stayed in a spacious holiday rental in Seattle.
• She encouraged her husband to drive carefully through the mountains.
• Common mistakes
• It's high time we go on a holiday.
• It's high time we went on a holiday.
• He made his son to pack his bags.
• He made his son pack his bags.

Complete the sentences

• We (be going to) ____ rent a cosy cottage in Maine, but we changed our minds.
• It's high time you (stop) ____ complaining about the cramped backseat.
• Sarah (encourage) ____ her husband to book the tickets for Chicago.
• The kids (keep) ____ asking if we were there yet during the entire drive.
• I (would rather) ____ stay in a spacious hotel in Boston than a noisy hostel.
• The teacher (let) ____ the students take a break outside in London.

Sources: photo by Tirachard Kumtanom on Pexels