Simple Past

USE 1 Completed Action in the Past

Use the Simple Past to express the idea that an action started and finished at a
specific time in the past. Sometimes, the speaker may not actually mention the
specific time, but they do have one specific time in mind.
Examples:
I saw a movie yesterday.
I didn't see a play yesterday.
Last year, I traveled to Japan.
Last year, I didn't travel to Korea.
Did you have dinner last night?
She washed her car.
He didn't wash his car.
USE 2 A Series of Completed Actions

We use the Simple Past to list a series of completed actions in the past. These
actions happen 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and so on.
Examples:
I finished work, walked to the beach, and found a nice place to swim.
He arrived from the airport at 8:00, checked into the hotel at 9:00, and
met the others at 10:00.
Did you add flour, pour in the milk, and then add the eggs?
USE 3 Duration in Past

The Simple Past can be used with a duration which starts and stops in the past. A
duration is a longer action often indicated by expressions such as: for two years,
for five minutes, all day, all year, etc.

2 Past Simple & Past Continuous
Examples:
I lived in Brazil for two years.
Shauna studied Japanese for five years.
They sat at the beach all day.
They did not stay at the party the entire time.
We talked on the phone for thirty minutes.
A: How long did you wait for them?
B: We waited for one hour.
USE 4 Habits in the Past

The Simple Past can also be used to describe a habit which stopped in the past. It
can have the same meaning as "used to." To make it clear that we are talking
about a habit, we often add expressions such as: always, often, usually, never,
when I was a child, when I was younger, etc.
Examples:
I studied French when I was a child.
He played the violin.
He didn't play the piano.
Did you play a musical instrument when you were a kid?
She worked at the movie theater after school.
They never went to school, they always skipped class.
USE 5 Past Facts or Generalizations

The Simple Past can also be used to describe past facts or generalizations which
are no longer true. As in USE 4 above, this use of the Simple Past is quite similar
to the expression "used to."
Examples:
She was shy as a child, but now she is very outgoing.
He didn't like tomatoes before.
Did you live in Texas when you were a kid?
People paid much more to make cell phone calls in the past.

3 Past Simple & Past Continuous
Past Continuous
FORM
[was/were + present participle ing]
Examples:
You were studying when she called.
Were you studying when she called?
You were not studying when she called.
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:
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.

4 Past Simple & Past Continuous
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"


5 Past Simple & Past Continuous
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 called.
Question Affirmative Negative
Did you read the newspaper?
Erica wrote a note
Joseph didnt have many problems
Did Bob ride his motorcycle
Loren and Jessie went to Acapulco last week
My brothers were not at home Yesterday
Did the bride kiss her mother?
He was worried about the test
Silvia didnt break my best friend heart
Did she cry all night long?
He spoke English all the time
They didnt come to school today
Did it rain last night?

7 Past Simple & Past Continuous
Complete the dialogue using the Past Simple tense.

Robert: Hi Alice, what __________ you __________ (do) last weekend?
Alice: I __________ (do) a lot of things. On Saturday, I __________ (go) shopping.
Robert: What __________ you __________ (buy)?
Alice: I __________ (buy) some new clothes. I also __________ (play) tennis.
Robert: Who __________ you __________ (play)?
Alice: I __________ (play) Tom.
Robert: __________ you __________(win)?
Alice: Of course I __________ (win)!
Robert: What __________ you __________ (do) after your tennis match.
Alice: Well, I __________ (go) home and __________ (take) a shower and then __________ (go)
out.
Robert: __________ you __________ (eat) in a restaurant?
Alice: Yes, my friend Jacky and I __________ (eat) at 'The Good Fork'
Robert: __________ you __________ (enjoy) your dinner?
Alice: Yes, we __________ (enjoy) our dinner very much thank you. We also __________ (drink)
some wonderful wine!
Robert: Unfortunately, I __________ __________ (go NEGATIVE) out this weekend. I
__________ __________ (eat NEGATIVE) in a restaurant and I __________ __________ (play
NEGATIVE) tennis.
Alice: What __________ you __________ (do)?
Robert: I __________ (stay) home and __________ (study) for my test!
Alice: Poor you!

2. WAS or WERE?
1. A man ___ walking his dog. 2. A lot of people ___ shopping.
a. was a. was
b. were b. were

3. Tom and Sarah ___ watching television. 4. Two teenage boys ___ fighting.
a. was a. was
b. were b. were

5. Sally ___ jogging with her friend this morning. 6. Another man ___ watching her.
a. was a. was
b. were b. were

7. The students ___ using the computer lab. 8. The young newly weds __ sleeping.
a. was a. was
b. were b. were

8 Past Simple & Past Continuous
9. A baby ___ crying. 10. A lot of people ___ working.
a. was a. was
b. were b. were
3. Fill in the blanks with the simple past or past continuous form of the verbs.

A: Hi, Mary. I ________________ (see/neg.) you at school last Monday.
B: Hello, Bob. I ________________ (come/neg.) on Monday. I wasn't ________________ (feel) well,
so I ________________ (decide) to go to the doctor.
A: Oh! ________________ (be) it serious?
B: No, the doctor ________________ (examine) me and ________________ (tell) me I
________________ (have) the flu. He ________________ (prescribe) some medicine and
________________ (tell) me to go home and rest.
A: _________ you ________ (stay) home all day last Monday?
B: No, only in the morning. I ________________ (have) to work in the afternoon, and guess what?
A: What?
B: When a friend ________________ (drive) me home, he ________________ (crash) his car. He
________________ (see/neg.) the red light.
A: _________ anyone _________ (get) hurt?
B: Thank God, nobody ________________ (do).
A: I'm happy to hear that. Well, Mary, I have to rush now. While I ________________ (listen) to your
story, I ________________ (remember) that my wife ________________ (ask) me to go to the
mechanic to get our car. See you later. Take care.

A Lovely Day

Yesterday (1)___________ a lovely day. I (2)___________ on a picnic with my family. We
(3)___________ to Oatly Park. The weather was warm and (4)___________. We (5)___________
on the grass under a tree and (6)___________ a delicious lunch. It was very pleasant.
After lunch, we (7)___________ for a walk around the park and (8)___________. On the way home
we (9)___________ at a cafe for afternoon tea. It (10)___________ delicious, too. We had a very
nice day.
These are the words to choose from:
go sunny sit have drive go be be talk stop

READING COMPREHENSION

Out To Lunch
All morning, all that Ted could think about was eating lunch. He got up late and did not get a chance
to eat breakfast before the school bus arrived. Ted was hoping to have a Ham sandwich. Ham is
Ted's favorite lunchmeat. Ted also enjoys apples, but doesn't like the yellow or green ones. At

9 Past Simple & Past Continuous
lunchtime Ted ran to the cafeteria. When he got in line he asked for Ham sandwich, but they only
had Tuna and Turkey. Ted is allergic to Tuna, so he asked for the Turkey. He ate the sandwich so
fast that he gave himself the hiccups.

ANSWER THE QUESTIONS:
1. Why is Ted so hungry for lunch?
a. He ate too much b. He didn't eat breakfast today
c. He didn't eat lunch yesterday d. He didn't eat dinner yesterday

2. What is Ted's favorite lunch meat?
a. ham b. turkey c. salami d. bologna

3. What color apple might you find in Ted's lunch box?
a. yellow b. green c. red d. Ted doesn't like apples

4. Which lunch item should Ted never eat?
a. ham b. turkey c. apples d. tuna.

Find Someone Who...

went to a movie this week ________ didn't take a bath today________
got up before 7:00 AM today________ didn't wear earrings today________
was born in May________ played basketball last week________
went to Acapulco last year________ kissed somebody today________
didn't have breakfast today________ ate a big breakfast today________
drank tea yesterday afternoon________ watched TV last night ________
A Terrible Day
Yesterday (1)___________ a terrible day. I (2)___________ to a barbeque at a friend's place. I
(3)___________ the bus to Fairfield but the bus was an hour (4)___________. Because I
(5)___________ late, everyone had already started eating. So, there (6)___________ no food left. I
was very (7)___________
On the way home, the bus (8)___________ a flat tire. Then I had to walk home but it
(9)___________ to rain. I (10)___________ very wet. I had a terrible day yesterday.
These are the words to choose from:
arrive be get start take go have be late angry

10 Past Simple & Past Continuous
Basic Verb List
Regular Verbs -
Infinitive Present
3
rd
person
Preterit/Past Participle
To ask ask, asks asked asked
To call call, calls called called
To change change,
changes
changed changed
To decide decide
decides
decided decided
To end end, ends ended ended
To help help, helps helped helped
To land land, lands landed landed
To like like, likes liked liked
To love love, loves loved loved
To look look, looks looked looked
To move, moves
moved
move moved
To need need, needs needed needed
To play play, plays played played
To show, show shows showed showed
To study study,
studies
studied studied
To talk talks talk talked talked
To turn turn, turns turned turned
To walk walk, walks walked walked
To want want, wants wanted wanted


11 Past Simple & Past Continuous
Irregular Verbs
Infinitive Present 3
rd

person
Preterit Past
Participle
be is am are was were been
begin begin begins began begun
break break breaks broke broken
bring bring brings brought brought
buy buy buys bought bought
catch catch
catches
caught caught
choose choose
chooses
chose chosen
come come comes came come
cost cost costs cost cost
cut cut cuts cut cut
do do does did done
drink drink drinks drank drunk
drive drive, drives drove driven
eat eat eats ate eaten
fall fall falls fell fallen
feel feel feels felt felt
fight fight fights fought fought
find find finds found found
fly fly flies flew flown
forget forget
forgets
forgot forgotten
freeze freeze,
freezes
froze frozen
get get gets got gotten
give give gives gave Given
go go goes went gone
have have has had had

12 Past Simple & Past Continuous
hear hear hears heard heard
hide hide hides hid hidden
hit hit hits hit hit
hurt hurt hurts hurt hurt
keep keep keeps kept kept
know know knows knew known
leave leave leaves left left
lend lend lends lent lent
let let lets let let
lose lose loses lost lost
make make makes made made
meet meet meets met met
pay pay pays paid paid
put put puts put put
quit quit quits quit quit
read read reads read read
ride ride rides rode ridden
say say says said said
see see sees saw seen
sell sell sells sold sold
send send sends sent sent
shake shake
shakes
shook shaken
shut shut shuts shut shut
sing sing sings sang sung
sit sit sits sat sat
sleep sleep sleeps slept slept
speak speak
speaks
spoke spoken
spend spend
spends
spent spent

13 Past Simple & Past Continuous
spread spread
spreads
spread spread
steal steal steals stole stolen
stick stick sticks stuck stuck
swim swim swims swam swum
take take takes took taken
teach teach
teaches
taught taught
tell tell tells told told
think think thinks thought thought
throw throw throws threw thrown
wake wake wakes woke woken
wear wear wears wore worn
win win wins won won
write write writes wrote written

What did you do last weekend?
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