Past Simple and Past Continuous

Simple Past Tense

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

• Regular verbs: -ed

• Irregular verbs II

Tell your partner – use past tense verbs!

• What did you do yesterday?

• What did you do Friday night?

• Where were you Saturday morning?

• What did you do to celebrate your last birthday?

• How did you learn to speak English so well?

Past Continuous: Three Uses• Use 1: Past actions that were in progress at a particular time in

the past; actions that were not yet finished at a past time

Erika’s Schedule8 – 9: had breakfast9 – 10: finished her homework10 – 11: exercised11 – 12: cooked lunch12 – 2: shopped2 – 5: talked to a friend on the phone

At 8:30, Erika _________________ breakfast.

At 9:15, she ___________________ her homework.

At 10, she _____________________.

At 11:30, she ___________________.

At 1, she ____________________ lunch.

At 3, she ______________ to a friend.

Tell a classmate – use past continuous verbs: I was _______ing

• Where were you last Thursday at 8 p.m.? What were you doing?

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

• What were you doing Sunday morning at 7 a.m.?

• What were you doing last night at this time?• What were you doing last week at this time?• What were you doing last year at this time?

Past Continuous, continued

• Use 2: Two (or more) actions that were in progress in the past at the same time

• Use while• Examples: Sorry, I wasn’t listening to you while you were

talking.While I was reading, he was writing.

Past Continuous, continued

• Use 3: Describe and set the scene; tell what was happening or in progress when something else happened or interrupted a past in-progress action

• Examples:Car accidentBroken boneMeeting a future boyfriendA Crime

Form: Using past and past continuous together

• Use past continuous to say what was in progress

I was crossing the street …

• Use simple past for the interrupting action

when the driver ran the red light.

Other examples:

I was sleeping when the telephone rang and woke me up.

He was driving too fast when he crashed the car.

More Examples:

We were watching the news when the announcer made a special live report.

I was trying to study when you called.

Student examples:

Practice: Do you have a good memory?Are you a good witness?

• Directions: Look at the following picture for one minute. Try to remember as many details as you can, but don’t write anything.

Only one minute…

• Ready, go ….

One minute…

What do you remember?

1. How many people were there?2. Where were the people?3. What was hanging from the ceiling?4. What was the bank robber holding?5. What was the bank robber wearing?6. What color was his hair?7. What was covering the bank robber’s face?8. Was the bank robber right-handed or left-handed?9. What was the bank manager doing?10. What was the bank teller doing?11. Who was walking into the bank?12. What time was it?13. What was under the bank manager’s desk?

Form of Past Continuous

Subject + was / were + verb+ing

Negative:Subject + was / were + not + verb+ing

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

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

A little practice1. The telephone (ring) when I (take a shower).

2. I (eat) dinner when you (come) to visit.

3. It (begin) to rain while they (walk) home.

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

5. The driver (no pay) attention to the cars in front when he (crash) into the red convertible.

6. She (chop) onions when she (cut) her finger.

7. They (watch) TV when the electricity (go) out.

8. A: What (you, do) yesterday at 5:00? I tried to call you but no one answered.B: I didn’t hear the telephone. I (vacuum).

Final Tips …

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

She was talking while he was driving.• Use when when telling about sequence of

events (one action that was in progress that was interrupted by another event in the past):

I was just leaving when you called.(first action in progress) (interrupting event)