Revision of past simple and past continuous


Past simple


Form:

The form of the Past Simple is the same in all persons.


Positive:

I/You/He/She/It/We/They went/moved to London in 2001.

Negative:

We use didn’t + infinitive (without to) in all persons.

I/You/He/She/It/We/They didn’t go/move to London in 2001.

Question:

We use did + infinitive (without to) in all persons.

When did I/you/he/she/it/we/they go/move to London?


Use:

We use the Past Simple to talk about:


1 finished events in the past when we know when they happened.

I bought some nice things at the market last weekend.


2 past habits or states. A time expression is usually necessary.

I always got up at six in those days.   (habit)

I lived in Australia for several years. (state)


Common time expressions with the Past Simple:
  * last night/Saturday/week/month/year;
  * yesterday; yesterday morning/afternoon/evening;
  * in the twentieth century/1927;
  * ten years/two weeks/a month ago.




Past continuous


Form:


Positive:                                                             Negative:

Subject + to be + verb-ing                                               Subject + not to be +
verb-ing

I/He/She/It was playing tennis at 5:00.        I/He/She/It was not playing tennis at 5:00.

We/You/They were playing tennis at 5:00. We/You/They were not playing tennis at 5:00.


Question:

to be + subject + verb-ing

Were you playing tennis at 5:00?                                 Yes, we were.  No, we weren’t.

Was he playing tennis at 5:00?                                    Yes, he was. No, he wasn’t.


Use:

We use the Past Continuous to talk about:


1 activities that continued for some time in the past, especially to show a longer activity that
was interrupted by a shorter one.

I was making dinner when the phone rang.


2 activities that form the background, especially to set a scene.

We were walking along the beach chatting to one another. Suddenly, we heard a call for help.


3 activities happening at a certain time in the past.

What were you doing at 10 o’clock last night?


4 two activities happening at the same time in the past.

While I was eating dinner, my parents were watching TV.







Exercises


1 Choose the most suitable tense.

1 While Diana watched/was watching her favourite TV programme, there was a power-cut.

2 Who was driving/drove the car at the time of the accident?

3 What exactly were you doing/did you do when I came into your office yesterday?

4 They flew/were flying to the USA two years ago.

5  About four years ago, I decided / was deciding to become a chef.

6  Georgia had / was having a shower when someone knocked at the door.

7  Holly and I ran from the house to the taxi because it rained / was raining heavily.

8  Two men argued / were arguing outside, so I went to see what was happening.

9  We ate / were eating breakfast when a letter came through the letter box.

10  I dreamt / was dreaming about my favourite band when the alarm clock went off.

11 While I practised / was practising the trumpet late last night, a neighbour came to complain.




2 Put each verb in brackets into either the Past Simple or the Past Continuous.

1 Andrew …………………(arrive) when I was getting ready to go out.

2 I ………….. (get) up early this morning. I …………..(wash), …………..(dress) and then I …………….. (have)
breakfast.

3 My brother ……………….……. (break) his leg while he ……………..……………(ski) last week.

4 When …………………………………………………………… (get married/your parents)?

5 What……………………………………………………………………………. (you do) last weekend?

6 What …………………………………………………………………………(you do)  at 7 o’clock on Saturday?

7 He first …………………….…….. (meet) his wife when he ……………….…………………. (study) in Berlin.



Other exercises can be found :

Murphy, Raymond. English Grammar in Use.  Unit 5 – Unit 6

or

Beaumont, D., Granger, C. The Heinemann English Grammar. An Intermediate Reference and Practice
Book. Unit 4 - Unit 5