Past Continuous vs Past Simple

Student: Valentina Estrella; 1st grade highschool Teacher: Irene Zabiela ESL prívate teacher

Past Continuous

FORM

[was/were + present participle]

Examples:

You were studying when she called.

Were you studying when she called?

You were not studying when she called.

Complete List of Past Continuous Forms

USE 1 Interrupted Action in the Past

Use the Past Continuous to indicate that a longer action in the past was interrupted. The interruption is usually a shorter action in the Simple Past. Remember this can be a real interruption or just an interruption in time.

Examples:

I was watching TV when she called.

When the phone rang, she was writing a letter.

While we were having the picnic, it started to rain.

What were you doing when the earthquake started?

I was listening to my iPod, so I didn't hear the fire alarm.

You were not listening to me when I told you to turn the oven off.

While John was sleeping last night, someone stole his car.

Sammy was waiting for us when we got off the plane.

While I was writing the email, the computer suddenly went off.

A: What were you doing when you broke your leg?B: I was snowboarding.

USE 2 Specific Time as an Interruption

In USE 1, described above, the Past Continuous is interrupted by a shorter action in the Simple Past. However, you can also use a specific time as an interruption.

Examples:

http://www.englishpage.com/verbpage/pastcontinuousforms.html


Last night at 6 PM, I was eating dinner.

At midnight, we were still driving through the desert.

Yesterday at this time, I was sitting at my desk at work.

IMPORTANT

In the Simple Past, a specific time is used to show when an action began or finished. In the Past Continuous, a specific time only interrupts the action.

Examples:

Last night at 6 PM, I ate dinner.I STARTED EATING AT 6 PM.

Last night at 6 PM, I was eating dinner.I STARTED EARLIER; AND AT 6 PM, I WAS IN THE PROCESS OF EATING DINNER.

USE 3 Parallel Actions

When you use the Past Continuous with two actions in the same sentence, it expresses the idea that both actions were happening at the same time. The actions are parallel.

Examples:

I was studying while he was making dinner.

While Ellen was reading, Tim was watching television.

Were you listening while he was talking?

I wasn't paying attention while I was writing the letter, so I made several mistakes.

What were you doing while you were waiting?

Thomas wasn't working, and I wasn't working either.

They were eating dinner, discussing their plans, and having a good time.

USE 4 Atmosphere

In English, we often use a series of parallel actions to describe the atmosphere at a particular time in the past.

Example:

When I walked into the office, several people were busily typing, some were talking on the phones, the boss was yelling directions, and customers were waiting to be helped. One customer was yelling at a secretary and waving his hands. Others were complaining to each other about the bad service.

USE 5 Repetition and Irritation with "Always"


The Past Continuous with words such as "always" or "constantly" expresses the idea that something irritating or shocking often happened in the past. The concept is very similar to the expression "used to" but with negative emotion. Remember to put the words "always" or "constantly" between "be" and "verb+ing."

Examples:

She was always coming to class late.

He was constantly talking. He annoyed everyone.

I didn't like them because they were always complaining.

While vs. When

Clauses are groups of words which have meaning, but are often not complete sentences. Some clauses begin with the word "when" such as "when she called" or "when it bit me." Other clauses begin with "while" such as "while she was sleeping" and "while he was surfing." When you talk about things in the past, "when" is most often followed by the verb tense Simple Past, whereas "while" is usually followed by Past Continuous. "While" expresses the idea of "during that time." Study the examples below. They have similar meanings, but they emphasize different parts of the sentence.

Examples:

I was studying when she called.

While I was studying, she call

How do we use the Past Continuous Tense?

The past continuous tense expresses action at a particular moment in the past. The action started before that moment but has not finished at that moment. For example, yesterday I watched a film on TV. The film started at 7pm and finished at 9pm.

At 8pm yesterday, I was watching TV.

past present future

8pm

At 8pm, I was in the middle of watching TV.

When we use the past continuous tense, our listener usually knows or understands what time we are talking about. Look at these examples:

http://www.englishpage.com/verbpage/simplepast.html

http://www.englishpage.com/verbpage/usedto.html

http://www.englishpage.com/verbpage/usedto.html


I was working at 10pm last night. They were not playing football at 9am this morning.

What were you doing at 10pm last night?

What were you doing when he arrived?

She was cooking when I telephoned her.

We were having dinner when it started to rain.

Ram went home early because it was snowing.

Some verbs cannot be used in continuous/progressive tenses.

We often use the past continuous tense to "set the scene" in stories. We use it to describe the background situation at the moment when the action begins. Often, the story starts with the past continuous tense and then moves into the simple past tense. Here is an example:

" James Bond was driving through town. It was raining. The wind was blowing hard. Nobody was walking in the streets. Suddenly, Bond saw the killer in a telephone box..."

Past Continuous Tense + Simple Past Tense

We often use the past continuous tense with the simple past tense. We use the past continuous tense to express a long action. And we use the simple past tense to express a short action that happens in the middle of the long action. We can join the two ideas with when or while.

In the following example, we have two actions:

1. long action (watching TV), expressed with past continuous tense2. short action (telephoned), expressed with simple past tense

past present future

Long action.

I was watching TV at 8pm.

8pm

You telephoned at 8pm.

Short action.

http://www.englishclub.com/grammar/verbs-m_vmwct.htm


We can join these two actions with when:

I was watching TV when you telephoned.

(Notice that "when you telephoned" is also a way of defining the time [8pm].)

We use:

when + short action (simple past tense) while + long action (past continuous tense)

There are four basic combinations:

I was walking past the car when it exploded.

When the car exploded I was walking past it.

The car exploded while I was walking past it.

While I was walking past the car it exploded.

Notice that the long action and short action are relative.

"Watching TV" took a few hours. "Telephoned" took a few seconds. "Walking past the car" took a few seconds. "Exploded" took a few milliseconds.


First Conditional: real possibility

We are talking about the future. We are thinking about a particular condition or situation in the future, and the result of this condition. There is a real possibility that this condition will happen. For example, it is morning. You are at home. You plan to play tennis this afternoon. But there are some clouds in the sky. Imagine that it rains. What will you do?

IF condition result

present simple WILL + base verb

If it rains I will stay at home.

Notice that we are thinking about a future condition. It is not raining yet. But the sky is cloudy and you think that it could rain. We use the present simple tense to talk about the possible future condition. We use WILL + base verb to talk about the possible future result. The important thing about the first conditional is that there is a real possibility that the condition will happen. Here are some more examples (do you remember the two basic structures: [IF condition result] and [result IF condition]?):

IF condition result

present simple WILL + base verb

If I see Mary I will tell her.

If Tara is free tomorrow he will invite her.

If they do not pass their exam their teacher will be sad.

If it rains tomorrow will you stay at home?

If it rains tomorrow what will you do?


result IF condition

WILL + base verb present simple

I will tell Mary if I see her.

He will invite Tara if she is free tomorrow.

Their teacher will be sad if they do not pass their exam.

Will you stay at home if it rains tomorrow?

What will you do if it rains tomorrow?

Sometimes, we use shall, can, or may instead of will, for example: If you are good today, you can watch TV tonight.


1) Write past simple or past continuous in the gaps:

1) When the post man (arrive), my father (have a shower)

2) While my brother (study), my grandma (make) some muffins

3) I (go) to the doctor 2 days ago because I (have) a terrible headache

4) When I (be) 10, I (eat) a sandwich every evening

5) He (miss) the train because he (talk) with some friends

6) The thieves (come) into the house while the man (sleep)

7) I (drink) a glass of water at eleven. I'm not thirsty now

8) you (write) the composition last week?


9) My mother (not/be) at home when she (fall) down the stairs

10) The children (plant) a tree when their mummy (call) them

2) Use the past simple or past continuous

1) What (do) when I (call) you last night?..

2) I (sit) in a cafe when you (call)...

3) When you (arrive) at the party, who (be) there?..

4) Susie (watch) a film when she (hear) the noise...

5) Yesterday I (go) to the library, next I (have) a

swim, later I (meet) Julie for coffee....


6) We (play) tennis when John (hurt) his ankle...

7) What (they/do) at 10pm last night - it was really noisy?.

8) He (take) a shower when the telephone (ring)...

9) He (be) in the shower when the telephone (ring)...

10) When I (walk) into the room, everyone (work)...

11) It (be) a day last September. The sun

(shine)and the birds (sing) . I (walk) along the

street when I (meet) an old friend......

12) He (live) in Russia when the Revolution (start)...

13) When her train (get) to the station, we (wait) on the platform...

14) He (be) so annoying! He (always leave) his things everywhere...

15) On holiday we (visit) Rome, (see) the

Vatican, and (spend) a few days at the beach....

16) Why (stand) on a chair when I (come) into the room?..

17) They (lived) in Germany when they (be) young...


18) At 7pm yesterday, we (listen) to music..

19) When I (leave) the house, it (snow)...

20) He (work) in a bank when he (meet) his wife..

1 st CONDITIONAL

1. Read the information in the chart and complete the verbs in the sentences (do not use abbreviations in the future form):

a) If you (help) me with my homework, I (finish) it in time to go to the cinema.

b) If it (not/rain), the students (practice) sport in the playground.

c) Jane (come) home early if she (not/be) very busy at work.

d) Our teacher (be) pleased if we (do) our homework.


e) If Robert (play) football with us, we (win) the match. 2. Let’s save the planet! Complete the sentences using the first conditional

a) If we (recycle) more, we (help) our planet.

b) If people (share) their cars to go to work, there (not/be) so many car fumes.

c) We (save) thousands of trees if we (waste) so much paper.

d) If the govenment (fine) those who pollute the atmosphere, some factories (stop) throwing waste into rivers.

e) If we only (use) the water we need, we (contribute) to our planet's recovery.

Past Continuous vs Past Simple

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