Tense of the Past in TOEIC®: The Method to Stop Confusing Them

Past tenses in English (past simple, past continuous, past perfect, past perfect continuous) are used to locate actions completed or ongoing in the past.

In the TOEIC®, they appear very often in Part 5 and 6, especially to test your ability to spot time markers and understand the chronology of events.

For example, "The manager had reviewed the report before the meeting started" uses the past perfect to show that one action (reviewing) happened before another (the meeting).

The TOEIC® here tests your ability not to confuse the auxiliary forms (did/was/had) or to ignore the time clues that tell you which tense to use.

The Four Past Tenses: Forms and Uses

Each past tense has a well-defined role:

• Past simple expresses a punctual, completed action (yesterday, last week).
• Past continuous shows an action ongoing at a specific point in the past (at 3 PM yesterday).
• Past perfect establishes anteriority (Action A before Action B).
• Past perfect continuous emphasizes the duration of an action before a point in the past.

Past Simple

Affirmative form: Subject + verb-ed / irregular form

• “The manager reviewed the proposal yesterday.”
  ผู้จัดการได้ทบทวนข้อเสนอเมื่อวานนี้

Negative form: Subject + did not + base verb

• “The team did not submit the report on time.”
  ทีมไม่ได้ส่งรายงานตรงเวลา

Interrogative form: Did + subject + base verb ?

• “Did the CEO approve the budget last week?”
  CEO อนุมัติงบประมาณเมื่อสัปดาห์ที่แล้วหรือไม่?

When to use it? The action must be completed, associated with a specific date or time in the past.

Past Continuous

Affirmative form: Subject + was / were + verb-ing

• “The accountant was reviewing the files at 10 AM.”
  พนักงานบัญชี/นักบัญชีกำลังทบทวนเอกสารอยู่เมื่อเวลา 10 โมงเช้า

Negative form: Subject + was / were not + verb-ing

• “The employees were not attending the meeting at that time.”
  พนักงานไม่ได้เข้าร่วมประชุมในเวลานั้น

Interrogative form: Was / Were + subject + verb-ing ?

• “Were you working on the project yesterday afternoon?”
  คุณกำลังทำงานในโครงการนี้เมื่อบ่ายวานนี้อยู่หรือไม่?

When to use it? The action must be ongoing at a specific moment in the past

Past Perfect

Affirmative form: Subject + had + past participle

• “The director had prepared the slides before the presentation began.”
  ผู้อำนวยการได้เตรียมสไลด์ไว้แล้วก่อนที่การนำเสนอจะเริ่มขึ้น

Negative form: Subject + had not + past participle

• “The team had not finished the analysis before the deadline.”
  ทีมยังไม่ได้วิเคราะห์ให้เสร็จก่อนถึงกำหนด

Interrogative form: Had + subject + past participle ?

• “Had the client signed the contract before the meeting?”
  ลูกค้ารได้เซ็นสัญญาไปแล้วก่อนการประชุมหรือไม่?

When to use it? The action must be prior to another action in the past.

Past Perfect Continuous

Affirmative form: Subject + had been + verb-ing

• “She had been working on the project for three months before the deadline.”
  เธอทำงานในโครงการนี้มาเป็นเวลาสามเดือนแล้วก่อนถึงกำหนดส่ง

Negative form: Subject + had not been + verb-ing

• “The consultant had not been reviewing the data before the error was found.”
  ที่ปรึกษาไม่ได้กำลังทบทวนข้อมูลอยู่ก่อนที่จะพบข้อผิดพลาด

Interrogative form: Had + subject + been + verb-ing ?

• “Had they been negotiating for weeks before the deal closed?”
  พวกเขาเจรจาต่อรองกันมาหลายสัปดาห์แล้วก่อนที่ข้อตกลงจะปิดลงหรือไม่?

When to use it? When you want to emphasize the duration of an action before a point in the past.

Time Clues That Determine the Tense

In the TOEIC®, time markers are your best allies.

Certain words mandate a specific tense. If you spot them, you save 5 seconds per Part 5 question.

Yesterday, last week, ago, in 2019 → Mandatory Past Simple

• "The company launched its new product last quarter."
  บริษัทได้เปิดตัวผลิตภัณฑ์ใหม่เมื่อไตรมาสที่แล้ว

While, at that moment, at 9 AM yesterday → Past Continuous

• "The accountant was reviewing the files at 10 AM."
  พนักงานบัญชีกำลังทบทวนเอกสารอยู่เมื่อเวลา 10 โมงเช้า

Before, after, by the time, already, just → Past Perfect

• "By the time the CEO arrived, the meeting had started."
  เมื่อซีอีโอมาถึง การประชุมได้เริ่มต้นไปแล้ว

For + duration + before → Past Perfect Continuous

• "She had been working on the project for three months before the deadline."
  เธอทำงานในโครงการนี้มาเป็นเวลาสามเดือนแล้วก่อนถึงกำหนดส่ง

What is often seen: candidates read too quickly and miss the words "before" or "already," which are obvious signals. You must get into the habit of spotting these clues when listening to the audio.

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Checklist: Which Tense to Choose in 3 Seconds

When facing a Part 5 question about past tenses, ask yourself these questions in order.

• Step 1: Is there a precise time marker (yesterday, last year, ago)? → Past Simple
• Step 2: Is there a specific time or "while"? → Past Continuous
• Step 3: Are there two actions with chronology (before, after, by the time)? → Past Perfect
• Step 4: Is there "for + duration + before" or emphasis on duration? → Past Perfect Continuous
• Step 5: And if nothing jumps out at you, just look at the general context.

Candidates who progress quickly share one thing: they spot the clues in seconds.

Comparison: Past Simple vs Past Perfect

These two tenses are the most tested in Part 5. You can distinguish them this way:

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Ready to Take Action?

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