Past simple v. past continuo

Grammar

Past simpleUses To refer to actions or situations in the past.

Form Verb + “ed”

Examples: want → wanted

earn → learned

stay → stayed

walk → walked

show → showed

Exceptions:

1. For verbs that end in "e" only add "-d".

Examples: change → changed

believe → believed

2. If the verb ends in a short vowel and a consonant double the final consonant.

Examples: stop → stopped

commit → committed

Form

3. verbs that end in a consonant and a "and" change the "y" with an "i".

Examples: study → studied

try → tried

Form

Structure

+ Subject + Main verb + Complements

Examples: She was a doctor. (Era doctora.) The keys were in the drawer. (Las llaves estaban en el cajón.)

Regular (+ed)Irregular

* Subject + To be + Main Verb + Complements

Examples: She was a doctor. (Era doctora.)

The keys were in the drawer. (Las llaves estaban

en el cajón.)

Structure

- Subject + Didn’t + Main Verb + Complements

Examples: I didn’t want to dance. (No quería bailar.)

They didn’t learn English. (No aprendieron inglés)

*Subject + To be + Main Verb + Complements

Examples: She wasn’t a doctor. (Ella no era doctora.)

Structure

Wasn’t Weren’t

- The keys weren’t in the drawer. (Las llaves no estaban en

el cajón.)

? Did + subject + Main Verb (infinitive) + Complements ?Examples: Did you want to dance? ( ¿Querías bailar ?)

Did they learn English? ( ¿ Aprendieron inglés?)

* To be (past tense) + Subject + Main Verb + Complements ?

Examples: Was she a doctor? (¿Era doctora?)

Were the keys in the drawer? (¿Estaban las

llaves en el cajón?)

Past continuousUses For actions that occurred at a specific time in the past.

Structure + Subject + Past tense of “to be” + V (gerund) + Complements

Examples: I was talking. (Estaba hablando.)

They were eating. (Estaban comiendo.)

- Subject + Past tense of “to be”+ "not" + V (gerund)

Examples: I wasn’t talking. (No estaba hablando.)

They weren’t eating. (No estaban comiendo.)

Structure ? Past tense of “to be” + Subject + V (gerund) + Complements) ?

Examples: Were you talking? (¿Estabas hablando?)

Were they eating? (¿Estaban comiendo?)

Particles While To indicate that while you were doing an action another person was doing something at the same time

Examples: I was talking while my mom was cooking (Yo estaba hablando mientras mi madre estaba cocinando)

While they were eating, they were watching the TV (Mientras estaban comiendo, estaban viendo la televisión)

Particles When It is used to say that an action was interrupted.

Example: They were eating when the phone rang.

(Estaban viendo la tele cuando el teléfono sonó.)

DifferencesPast simple Past continuous

To speak of a concrete action that began and ended in the past.

For actions that occurred at a specific time in the past.

I studied for the English exam.I didn’t study for the English exam.Did you study for the English exam?

I was studying for the English exam.I wasn’t studyng for the English exam.Were you studying for the English exam?

Exercices1) What (do) when I (call) you last night?

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

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

Laura Gantiva PoloHéctor Enri Vercher