A presentation about the differences between simple past and past continuous

1.  Meaning & Use
Form (structure)
Exercise

2. When do we use the Simple Past tense?
 We use the Simple Past to express the
idea that an action started and finished at a
specific time in the past.
What are some common time expressions
used with the past tense?

3. I saw Maria yesterday.
Last Friday, the students took their spelling and
vocabulary tests.
They got married two years ago.

4. A sentence that has a
VERB in it
A sentence that has NO
VERB in it. It use TOBE

5. English has two types of
verbs in the past tense: taught
walked
studied
gave
became
cried
lived
did
Look at the following list
of past tense verbs…
which verbs are regular,
and which are irregular?
 Regular verbs
 Irregular verbs

6. Regular
Simple Form Past Tense
Walk
Study
Cry
Live
…end with –ed

7. Irregular
…DON’T end with –ed
some irregular verbs
Have a vowel change in the past tense:
Simple Form Past Tense
become became
give gave
drive drove
forget forgot

8. other irregular verbs
Have a different kind of change:
Simple Past
teach taught
bring brought
Leave left
Hear heard
Buy bought

9. And some irregular verbs
don’t change at all . . .
Simple Past
hit hit
put put
set set
The children set the table every Sunday.
The children set the table last night.

10. negative
I went to work yesterday.
I didn’t go to work yesterday.
VERB BE!
I wasn’t home last night
They weren’t late yesterda

11. questions
Did you go to work yesterday?
Did you come yesterday?
Were you a teacher?
Was she beautiful back then?

12. Form
VERBA NOMINA
+ v2
Was/were
• I went to Jakarta
last month
• She was a teacher
• They were very famous
-
Did not + V1 Was/were + not
• I didn’t go to Jakarta
last month
• She wasn’t a teacher
• They were not famous
?
Did + S + V1 Was/were + S + adj/ N
• Did you go to
Jakarta last month?
• Was she a teacher?
• Were they very famous?

13. (between brackets)
(simple past).
Last year, I (spend) ________my holiday in
Ireland. It (be) ________great. I
(travel)___________ around the city by car with
two friends and we (visit) ________lots of
interesting places. In the evenings, we usually
(go)_______ to a café.
We (be) ________very lucky with the
weather. It (not / rain)___________ a lot. We(see)
________some beautiful rainbows.
I (have) ______ an amazing holiday!

14. (between brackets)
(simple past).
Yesterday ________ (be) my friend´s birthday. He
________ (invite) a lot of friends
from school. It ________ (be) very hot so we ________
(decide) to go to the swimming
pool. The swimming pool ________ (not/be) full so we
________ (swim) a lot.
Suddenly Joe ________ (fall) and ________ (hurt)
himself. We ________ (call) an
ambulance. He ________ (not/stay) in hospital but he
________ (have) a broken arm.

15. 1. I ________ in the park this morning. (be)
2. He ________ his friend in 2013. (visit)
3. The bird ________ high in the sky. (fly)
4. She ________ 14 last year. (not/be)
5. We ________ in the park this morning. (be)
6. The Olympic Games ________ last month. (not/finish)
7. ________ she ________ to David a week ago? (talk)
8. ________ you ________ to school this morning? (go)
9. ________ she alright after the accident last night? (be)
10. ________ they ________ the holiday to France? (plan)

16. 1. (+) She drove her car to the party last night
(-)
(?)
2. (+)
(-) They didn’t buy a new house in last year
(?)
3. (+)
(-)
(?) Was he a footballer?
4. (+) She cut her friend’s dress at the party last night
(-)
(?)
5. (+)
(-) They weren’t absent yesterday.
(?)

17. vs

18. Simple Past Past Continuous
Definition
express the idea that an action
started and finished at a
specific time in the past.
to talk about a past progress.
Therefore it needs specific time.
Form
Was, were (nomina)
V2 (verba)
was / were + Ving
Time Signal
Yesterday,
Last …. ,
…. ago
There are 2 specific time
1. Specific time using time
Example:
• She was reading at 7 pm last night
• They were playing football at this
time yesterday
2. Specific time using another
action (simple past) (when, while)
Example:
•She was cooking when her dad
arrived home
• We were doing homework while
their mother was cooking

19. 1. She was cooking when her dad arrived home
2. We were studying when someone came in to the room
3. They were watching TV when the accident happened
1. She was cooking while her dad was reading the newspaper
2. We arrived while they were preparing the meal
3. They were watching TV while my mom was washing the dishes

20. 1. I ___ (switch off ) the computer because it ___ (make) a strange noise.
2. My dad ___(listen) to classical music when I ___(arrive) home from
school.
3. We ___(play) video games when my mum ___(say) ‘Turn the volume
down!’
4. My cousin ___ (meet) his wife, Bianca, while he ___ (live) in Italy.
5. My little sister ___ (draw) a picture while I ___ (study) for my French
exam.
6. While they ___ (try) to fix the computer, all the lights ___ (go out).
7. When we ___ (leave) school yesterday, it ___ (pour) with rain.
8. When you ___ (see) Paul, he ___ (wear) a black jacket?
9. I ___ (try) to log on when the WiFi ___(stop) working.
10. While Dad ___(print) an article, the printer ___ (run out) of paper