Simple past tense & past continuous_ Nguyen Trong Long

Use the simple past for: 1 action that happened in the past and is.. over, done, finished Use the past continuous for: 1 action that was in progress at a specific point in the past OR

Simple Past vs

Use the simple

past for:

1) action that

happened in the

past and is

over, done, finished

Use the past continuous for:

1) action that was in progress at a specific point in the past OR

2) focusing on an action that continued for a long time in the past

Simple Past (Examples) Action that was completed in the past:

Tom went fishing last week.

I worked until 2:00 p.m yesterday.

My family came to visit me last year.

*Time Expressions frequently used with the simple past:

yesterday, last ,

Past Continuous (Examples)

Action that was in progress at a

particular point in the past:

At 2:00 yesterday, Tom was playing

Grammar Structure:

Here are some reminders about how to make the

simple past and past

continuous:

The simple past: structure

English has two types

of verbs in the past

Look at the following

list of past tense

verbs…

which verbs are

regular , and which

are irregular ?

 Regular verbs

 Irregular verbs

For regular verbs, simply use the –ed form of the

verb in a positive sentence.

When I was a child, I _ the piano.

Donna and _

in Paris when she was younger

For irregular verbs, use the correct past tense form in positive sentences.

Last week, I _ you a letter.

The students _ a speech in

English They a great job!

The verb BE

Remember the forms of verb BE for the simple past tense:

Simple Past (Negative)

For all verbs (EXCEPT be ), use:

1) Sara worked yesterday.

Sara didn’t work yesterday.

2) They had an argument.

They didn’t have an argument.

3) Sam took classes last year.

4) I learned how to sew.

VERB BE (Negative)

For this verb ONLY, never use didn’t Simply ADD the word NOT after the

verb.

I was tired I was NOT tired.

She was here She was NOT here They are happy They are NOT happy.

The Past Continuous:

Don’t forget that VERB BE is part of this structure.

I, He, She, It WAS

You, We, They WERE

Past Continuous (Negative)

For this tense, simply ADD the word NOT after the verb BE.

They were arguing last night.

They were NOT arguing last night.

She was yelling at me.

Important Note about

These verbs are called STATIVE (or

non-action) verbs Here are some

examples:

believe understand have (possession) forget remember belong

I liked Rome.

NOT: I was liking Rome.

She had a headache.

NOT: She was having a headache.

I knew the answer.

Using both tenses together:

Sometimes we use both the simple past and the past continuous

together to mean

That one action (simple past)

interrupted a continuing action (past continuous)

1.Dan burned his hand while he was cooking dinner.

=in the middle of cooking dinner, he

burned his hand.

2 When Helen called , we were

having dinner.

=in the middle of eating dinner, Helen

called.

We can use 2 verbs in past

continuous to say that two actions

were happening simultaneously in the past:

Ex Jim was at the park He was

sitting on the grass and reading

For more practice

1) Go to our class website:

www.ecc6.blogspot.com

2) On the right side, click on Grammar

Site Then click on 330

3) Click on Grammar, and then go down the

page to Verbs Click on activities for

These activities give excellent

exercises if you need them.