1. Past Tense
Past Simple
Past Progressive
Mark Foley & Diane Hall Longman Advanced Learner’s Grammar

2. Past Simple
•Add -ed to the base form
•Same form for all subject
•Watch - i/you/we/they/he/she/it
watched.
•Ending with a consonant & y
•Change y to i
•Copy - copied

3. Past Simple
•Some irregular verbs
•Be - was/were
•Go - went
•Sing - sang
•Question and negative, use
•Did [not] + infinitive
•Did you see any thing suspicious?
•No, I did not see anything.

4. Past Simple

5. Past Simple
1. Single completed action in the past
•Emma passed her exam last year
•We went to the theater on Friday

6. Past Simple
1. Single completed action in the past
•Emma passed her exam last year
•We went to the theater on Friday
2. Repeated actions
•Jill applied for the visa three time
before she got one.
•We tried to contact him all morning.

8. 3. Sequences of action
3.1. One action after another
3.1.1.Spiderman jumped off the roof,
chased a bad guy, and ran off into the
night.
3.2.One action causing a result
3.2.1. The investment was lost because
the stock market crashed.

10. 4. States in the past
4.1.We lived in the suburb but we did not
have a car.
4.2. Instant noodles were in short supply
during the flood.
• Stative Verbs
• Be, believe, consist of, depend on,
deserve, exist, hate, know, like, love,
mean, own, need, prefer, seem,
understand

11. Past Progressive
Was/were + present participle [Ving]

12. Past Progressive

13. Past Progressive
1. Action in progress at a point in the past
1.1.We were driving home.
1.2. A strange blue light was flashing on
the road ahead.

14. Past Progressive
1. Action in progress at a point in the past
1.1.We were driving home.
1.2. A strange blue light was flashing on
the road ahead.
2. Temporary action
2.1. During my internship, I was earning a
lot less than having a part-time job.
2.2. The country was going through a
tough time.

16. 3. Request, suggestion, question
3.1. We were wondering if you would like
to join us. [= Would you like to join us?]
3.2.Were you planning on going
somewhere else later? [= Do you have
any plans?]

17. Past Simple VS Progressive

18. Past Simple VS Progressive
•Ongoing action & single event that
interrupted
•While Laura was sitting in the garden, it
suddenly began to rain.
•As we were driving down the hill, a
strange object appeared in the sky.

19. Past Simple VS Progressive

20. Past Simple VS Progressive
•Past Simple
•Actions in a
story
•We arrived at
the beach.
•The aliens
landed quietly.

21. Past Simple VS Progressive
•Past Simple
•Actions in a
story
•We arrived at
the beach.
•The aliens
landed quietly.

22. Past Simple VS Progressive
•Past Simple •Past Progressive
•Actions in a •Describe
story background
•We arrived at •The sun was
the beach. shining.
•The aliens •The stars
landed quietly. were
twinkling.

23. Past Simple VS Progressive

24. Past Simple VS Progressive
•Past Simple
•quality
Permanent
•sociable a
Claire was
person.
•polite was a
Jack
person.

25. Past Simple VS Progressive
•Past Simple •Past Progressive
•quality
Permanent •quality
Temporary
•sociable a
Claire was •being sociable
Clark was
person. this afternoon.
•polite was a
Jack
person.
•polite in being
Jill was
the
meeting .

26. Past Simple VS Progressive

27. Past Simple VS Progressive
•Use Past Simple for repeated action in the
past
•A patient came to see the doctor every
week.

28. Past Simple VS Progressive
•Use Past Simple for repeated action in the
past
•A patient came to see the doctor every
week.
•Use Past Progressive for repeated action
over a limited period of time
•A patient was coming to see the doctor
every week for six months.