Past simple and Past Continous

The past simple and past continuous

What did you do yesterday?

Past Simple

• finished actions in the past (I went to the cinema.)

• habits or states in the past (When I was 5, I rode my bike every day.)

• actions happening one after the other in the past (I woke up, brushed my teeth and had breakfast.)

Keywords/phrases

A point in time in the past.

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yesterday, in the past, last night/year/month etc./in 2020 etc.

Multiple Choice

True or False:

For regular verbs, you can add -ed to form the Past Simple.

• True

• False

Regular verbs

• -ed: played

• -d: danced

• -(c)ed: robbed

• -ied: cry -> cried

Irregular verbs practice

​Change the verbs in brackets to the correct form

​Here's a video to explain the different uses

Past continuous

​The past continuous, also known as the past progressive tense, refers to a continuing action or state that was happening at some point in the past. The past continuous tense is formed as below:

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​Subject + was/were + verb+ing

• There are many situations in which this verb tense might be used in a sentence. For example, it is often used to describe conditions that existed in the past.

• ​The sun was shining every day that summer.

• ​As I spoke, the children were laughing at my cleverness.

​Past continuous

Past continuous and past simple. 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.

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• ​​When introduces the past simple

• ​While introduces the past continuous

Examples

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• ​The audience was applauding when he fell off the stage.

• ​She arrived while I was making dinner.

• ​It snowed while I was playing football.

• I was running along the road when I fell over.​

Multiple Choice

I went to the shop and bought some apples.

What type of sentence is this?

• Past Simple

• Past Continuous

Multiple Choice

I was reading a novel at nine o'clock this morning.

What type of sentence is this?

• Past Simple

• Past Continuous

Multiple Choice

I _____ my new job yesterday.

• started

• was starting

Multiple Choice

What _____ at around 8 a.m. this morning?

• did you do?

• were you doing

Multiple Choice

He didn't hear the phone ring. He _____ to really loud music.

• listened

• was listening

​Past continuous tense. Write the correct form of the past continuous tense.

​I went to your house yesterday, but you weren't there. What were you doing?

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​Complete the sentences using the verb in brackets.

​What were your brother and sister doing yesterday?

​​Complete the sentences using the verb in brackets.