Past Tense and Past Continuous Verbs

Simple Past and Past Continuous

Simple Past TenseActions, events, states that started and finished in the past (ago, last , yesterday )Regular verbs: -edI studied English last night.Irregular verbs: 2nd columnI saw a car accident last night.

Tell your partner use past simpleWhat did you do yesterday?What did you do Friday night?Where were you Saturday morning?How did you do celebrate your last birthday?

Past Continuous Tense1) Describes an action that was happening at a certain time in the past

What were you doing at 9 in the evening?I was watching TVWe were playing Monopoly

Past ContinuousIwasYouwereHewasShe wasVERB + ingIt wasWewereYouwereTheywerePractice: 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 dont write anything.

Only one minute Ready, go .

One minute

What do you remember?How many people were there?Where were the people?What was hanging from the ceiling?What was the bank robber holding?What was the bank robber wearing?What colour was his hair?What was covering the bank robbers face?Was the bank robber right-handed or left-handed?What was the bank manager doing?What was the bank teller doing?Who was walking into the bank?What time was it?What was under the bank managers desk?

One minute

Tell a classmate use Past Continuous verbs: I was _______ingWhere 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 nine oclock?What were you doing last Saturday afternoon?

Simple Past X Past Continuous(when, as)

Past Continuous describes an action that was happening (the longer action)

I was crossing the street WHEN the driver ran through the red light.

Past Simple (the shorter action) describes the action that interrupts the longer action

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:The announcer made a special live report. when we were watching the news

When you called, I was trying to study.I was trying to study when you called.When I was trying to study, you called.

Past Continuous2) Describes two actions happening at the same time: (while)

Sorry, I wasnt listening to you while you were talking.While I was reading, he was writing.

Form of Past ContinuousSubject + 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 ?

Remember ing spelling rules?

Verb ending in...How to make the -ING formExamples(Most verbs)Add -INGsay - sayinggo - goingwalk - walking1 vowel + 1 consonantDouble the consonant, then add -INGswim - swimminghit - hittingget - getting1 vowel + 1 consonant + E

Final ieRemove E, then add ING

Change ie to y, then add -ING

come - cominglose - losinglive living

die dyingtie -- tying

A little practiceThe telephone (ring) when I (take a shower).The telephone rang when I was taking a shower.

I (eat) dinner when you (come) in.I was eating dinner when you came in.

It (rain) while they (walk) home.It was raining while they were walking home.

We (see) an accident when we (drive) on the freeway.We saw an accident when we were driving on the freeway.

A little practice 2She (chop) onions when she (cut) her finger..She was chopping onions when she cut her finger

We (watch) TV when the electricity (go) out.We were watching TV when the electricity went out.

My dad (do) the dishes while my mum (send) an email.My dad was doing the dishes while my mum was sending an email.

Final Tips Use while for two actions in progress at the same time in the past: GelijktijdigheidShe was talking while he was driving.

Use when for an action that was in progress that was interrupted by another event in the past):I was just leaving when you called.(handeling bezig)(storing)

Punctuation with When and WhileWhen 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 commaI was watching TV when you called.I was doing the dishes while he was washing the clothes.