Sentences that describe something that’s already happened and use words like ‘was’, are in the past tense. He ‘was’ sticky. Every verb has a past, present and future tense form ...
When you are writing, you can use words that show if the events have already happened, are happening now or will happen in the future. The past tense is used for things that have already happened.
Passive voice also allows one to help move words to emphasize them. Passive voice can also be useful ... petioles that house the ants and aid to protect them from herbivores.” One would use past tense ...