Past Simple and Past Continuous

Pepa Mut

Form

• Past simple:I worked I didn’t workDid you work?

-ed spelling:Loved, stopped, planned,

studied, played

• Past continuous:I was workingI wasn’t workingWere you working?

-ing spelling:Dancing, planning,

studying, playing, lying (lie)

Use 1: Used separately• One short action

happens after another.

She knocked on the door and came in.

• Two long actions happen at the same time.

She was doing her homework while her

brother was playing on the computer.

Use 2: Both tenses together• Past simple: new action that interrupts another action• Past continuous: an action already in progress.

While I was sitting in a meeting my mobile suddenly rang.

Use 3: Emphasis on time

• Past Simple: just to mention something that happened in the past.

We went to the movies last Sunday.

• Past Continuous: to emphasize progress and that an action was taking place at a specific time.

We were watching TV at eight this morning.

The following verbs are usually only used in Simple Past (not in the progressive form).

-state: be, cost, fit, mean (They were on holiday.)-possession: belong, have (I had a cat.)-senses: feel, hear, see, smell, taste, touch (He felt the cold.)-feelings: hate, hope, like, love, prefer, want (I loved pizza)-brain work: believe, know, understand (I didn’t understand)

They had a dog.

Time expressionsI was going down when I fell off the stairs. While we were shopping Susan was talking on the

phone.We were having dinner when the bell rang.While she was washing the dishes, he was ironing.