This document provides information about and examples of using the past simple and past continuous tenses in English. It explains the formation of the past continuous using was/were + verb+ing and provides examples of its uses to describe ongoing situations in the past. It also compares the past simple and past continuous, noting that the past continuous is used for longer actions while the past simple is used for shorter actions. Examples are given of using while and when to indicate interrupted or parallel past actions.

1. Past simple vs past continuous

2. Past continuous
I
He
She
It
We
You
they
Was+ ing
Were+
ing
E-ing: come, coming
Y-ing: cry, crying
CVC: drop, dropping

3. Affirmative: SB+was/were-
ing+Complement
- I was studying for the exam
- You were talking to the teacher
Negative:SB+
wasn’t/weren’t+complement
-He wasn’t playing on the match
-They weren’t sitting at the bus stop
Question(inversion)was/were+SB+ing+
Comp?
Past continuous
examples

4. Uses
To describe a situation in the past: photo and image
 Some wallys were watching at the
skyline
 Some wallys were sitting on the
giant
 Some wallys were running from
the witch
 Some wallys were talking to a
warrior
 Some wallys were talking between
them
 The giant was looking through his
fingers
 The witch was scaring the wallys
 All the wallys were wearing the
same clothes
 Some wallys were walking around
the stage
 A wally was making positions on
the head of the giant

5. PAST SIMPLE
• Affirmative: sb + was/were + verb in past + complement
- he was exited for the action
- they were sad at the end of the film
• Negative: sb + wasn’t/weren’t + verb in past + complement
-She wasn’t nervous at the end of the exam
-They weren’t celebrate the party
• Question: Was/were + sb + verb in past + complement
-Was he happy from his marks?
- Were you cook last evening?

6. PAST SIMPLE VS PAST CONTINUOUS
• Continuous => long action
• Simple => short action
WHEN+past simple
WHILE + past continuous
Interrupted
action
Paralel action
She was sleeping when the alarm sounded
They were waiting the bus when someone saw they
He cooked the dinner while I was studying
They sang the new song while you were waiting the
bus