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

Past Continuous Forms

Positive Negative Question

•I was singing. •You were singing. •We were singing. •They were singing. •He was singing. •She was singing. •It was singing.

•I was not singing. •You were not singing. •We were not singing. •They were not singing. •He was not singing. •She was not singing. •It was not singing.

•Was I singing? •Were you singing? •Were we singing? •Were they singing? •Was he singing? •Was she singing? •Was it singing?

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 11, she ____________________ lunch.

At 12:30, she ___________________.

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?

Use 2

Two (or more) actions that were in progress in the past at the same time

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

talking.

While I was reading, he was writing.

Use 3 Tell what was happening or in progress when

something else happened or interrupted a past in-progress action

Describe the scenes:Car accident

Broken bone

Meeting a future girlfriend

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 traffic light showed the red light.

Other examples:

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

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

He was driving too fast when he crashed the car.

I was trying to study when you called.

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 were they doing?

Form of Past Continuous

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 ?

Remember –ing spelling rules?

Verb ending in... How to make the -ING form Examples

(Most verbs) Add -INGsay - saying

go - goingwalk - walking

1 vowel + 1 consonant Double the consonant, then add -INGswim - swimming

hit - hittingget - getting

1 vowel + 1 consonant + E

Final –ie

Remove E, then add –ING

Change –ie to y, then add -ING

come - cominglose - losinglive – living

die – dyingtie -- tying

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)

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.