SIMPLE PAST & PAST CONTINUOUS

SIMPLE PAST & PAST CONTINUOUS

By Puan Sajana

Do you know how to use the simple past and past continuous?

• Look at these examples to see how the past continuous and simple past are used.

  
  

Grammar explanation

• The past continuous and the simple past help us to show how two past actions or situations are connected.

Simple Past

• The simple past shows us that an action was in the past, not in the present. Regular past simple verbs have -ed at the end (e.g. called, played, arrived). Irregular verbs have a different form, usually with a different vowel sound (e.g. wake → woke, break → broke, feel → felt).

Simple Past

• We make the negative with didn't and the infinitive verb.

• My parents didn't call me yesterday.

  I didn't wake up early this morning.

  
  

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Simple Past

• We make the question form with did and then the subject and infinitive verb.

• Did you wake up early this morning? Did Sam play basketball when he was at university?

  
  

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Past Continuous

• The past continuous shows us that the action was already in progress at a certain time in the past.

• What were you doing at 8 p.m. last night? I was studying.

• This means that I started studying before 8 p.m. and I continued after 8 p.m.

Past Continuous

• The past continuous can also show that an activity was in progress for some time, not just for a moment.

• We were cleaning the house all morning.

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Past Continuous

• We make the past continuous with was or were and the -ing form of the verb.

• She couldn't come to the party. She was working.

  Three years ago, we were living in my home town.

  I tried to give him some advice, but he wasn't listening.

  What were you doing this time last year?

Past continuous and simple past

• When we use these two tenses together, it shows us that the past simple action happened in the middle of the past continuous action, while it was in progress.

• While I was studying, I suddenly felt sleepy.

Past continuous & simple past

• We often use these tenses to show an action interrupting another action.

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• Can you see a difference in the meaning of these two sentences?

• When the guests arrived, Jane was cooking dinner.

  When the guests arrived, Jane cooked dinner.

• In the first one, Jane started cooking dinner before the guests arrived. We know that because it uses the past continuous. In the second sentence, the guests arrived first and then Jane started cooking.