SIMPLE PAST and

PAST CONTINUOUS

1- SIMPLE PAST TENSE

Actions, events, states that started and finished in the past (…ago, last …, yesterday… )

• Regular verbs: - ed• Irregular verbs: 2nd column

Microsoft Word Document

Tell your partner – use past simple

• What did you do yesterday?• What did you eat last night?• When did he come last week?• What was the food like?• Why were they absent yesterday?• Where were you Saturday

morning?

2- PAST CONTINUOUS

* The action started before that moment but has not finished at that moment.

* The most common use of the past continuous tense is to talk about something that was happening around a particular time 

- What were you doing at 9 in the evening?

- I was watching TV.

- We were playing Monopoly.

PAST CONTINUOUS

I wasYou wereHe was

She was Verb + ingIt wasWe wereYou wereThey were

Tell a classmate – use past continuous verbs: WAS / WERE _______ING

• What were you doing Friday at 5 p.m.?

• What was he driving Sunday morning at 7 a.m.?

• What was your sister watching last night at nine o’clock?

• What were the boys playing last Saturday afternoon?

EXAMPLES: PAST CONTINUOUS

Sorry, I wasn’t listening to you while you were talking.

While I was reading, he was writing.

3- Simple past met past continuous

I was crossing the street when the driver ran through the red light.

I was sleeping when the telephone rang .

He was driving too fast when he crashed the car.

I was trying to study when you called.

FORM OF PAST CONTINUOUS: MAKE SENTENCES• Affirmative: Subject + was / were + verb + ing

• Negation:Subject + was / were + not + verb +Ing

• Yes/ No Question:Was / Were + subject + + verb + ing ?

• Information Question:(WH) + Was / Were + subject + + verb + ing ?

A little practice 1

• The telephone (ring) when I (take a shower).• The telephone rang when I was taking a shower.

• I (eat) dinner when you (come) in.• I was eating dinner when you came in.

• It (rain) while they (walk) home.• It was raining while they were walking home.

• We (see) an accident when we (drive) on the freeway.

• We saw an accident when we were driving on the freeway.

A little practice 2

• She (chop) onions when she (cut) her finger.• She was chopping onions when she cut her finger

• We (watch) TV when the electricity (go) out.• We were watching TV when the electricity went out.

• My dad (do) the dishes while my mum (send) an email.• My dad was doing the dishes while my mum was

sending an email.

FINAL TIPS …

• Use while for two actions in progress at the same time in the past

E.g. She was talking while he was driving.

• Use when for an action that was in progress that was interrupted by another event in the past):

E.g. I was just leaving when you called.

Punctuation with WHEN and WHILE

When and while at the front of a sentence, use a comma:

•When you called, I was watching TV.

•While he was washing the clothes, I was doing the dishes.

When and while in the middle of a sentence, no comma

• I was watching TV when you called.

• I was doing the dishes while he was washing the clothes.