CHAPTER II THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
A. SIMPLE PAST TENSE
1. The Definition of Simple Past Tense
In term of definition, different linguists define past tense differently. However the definitions are more or less same. According to Marcella Frank, he
defines that “simple past tense represents definite time; it refers to events that were completed before the statement is made. It often accompanied by such
expression of definite past as yesterday last year, two years ago etc.”
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It means that simple past tense expresses an action in the past taking place that ends when
the speaker uses it in real communication. This definition parallel with Bernard Comrie’s statement in Tense, “Past tense refers to situation that held at some time
prior to the present moment. Often, it seems that the use of past tense forms also carries the information that the situation no longer hold.”
2
Referring to this definition, it can be seen that past tense is used to talk about an action that
happened in the past. Moreover, Betty Schamfer Azar, in her book “Understanding and Using
English Grammar”, said “The Past Tense indicates that an activity or situation began and ended at a particular time in the past.”
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Therefore, it expresses situations or events that existed at particular point in the past.
Furthermore, according to Michael Swan in his book Practical English Usage, he said that “the simple past tense is the one most often used to talk about
past. It can refer to short, quickly finished actions and events, to longer actions and situations, and to repeated happenings.”
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1
Marcella Frank, Modern English Part 1 Parts of Speech Englewood Cliffs: Prentice Hall. Inc, 1990, p. 49.
2
Bernand Comrie, Tense, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1985, p. 41.
3
Betty Schamfer Azar, Understanding and Using English Grammar, Englewood Cliffs: Prentice Hall Inc., 1989, p. 24.
4
Michael Swan, Practical English Usage, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1980, p. 469.
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Referring to the several definitions above, simple past tense is a form that indicates an activity or situation that happened in the past and also the use of the
past tense only locates the situation in the past, without saying anything about whether that situation continues to the present and future, we also use the simple
past tense to describe the events that move story forward.
2. The Forms of Simple Past Tense
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