PAST SIMPLE VS. PAST PROGRESIVE

PAST SIMPLE VS. PAST PROGRESIVE

PAST SIMPLE
    It is used to talk about an action that ended in a time before the current one. The duration is not relevant. The time in which the action is located may be the recent past or a distant past.

Use

We use the past tense to talk about:

• something that happened once in the past:

I met my wife in 1983.
We went to Spain for our holidays.
They got home very late last night.

• something that happened again and again in the past:

When I was a boy I walked a mile to school every day.
We swam a lot while we were on holiday.
They always enjoyed visiting their friends.

• something that was true for some time in the past:

I lived abroad for ten years.
He enjoyed being a student.
She played a lot of tennis when she was younger.

• we often use phrases with ago with the past tense:

I met my wife a long time ago.

Questions and negatives

• We use did to make questions with the past tense:

When did you meet your wife?
Where did you go for your holidays?
Did she play tennis when she was younger?
Did you live abroad?

But look at these questions:

Who discovered penicillin?
Who wrote Don Quijote?

• We use didn’t (did not) to make negatives with the past tense:

They didn’t go to Spain this year.
We didn’t get home until very late last night.
I didn’t see you yesterday. 

YOUR TURN!

Exercises:

 1) Put the verbs in past simple:

They speak English.	They  English.
They take lessons.	They  lessons.
I tell her everything.	I  her everything.
Fire burns.	Fire .
Cats catch mice.	Catch  mice
He drives a fast car.	He  a fast car.
The plane flies high.	The plane  high.
Squirrels hide nuts.	Squirrels  nuts
He hits me.	He  me.
He holds his hands together.	He  his hands together.

HERE YOU HAVE A VIDEO ABOUT PAST SIMPLE

PAST PROGRESSIVE

The past progressive puts emphasis on the course of an action in the past.

Form

	Positive	Negative	Question
I / he / she / it	I was talking.	I wasn't talking.	Was I talking?
you / we / they	You were talking.	You weren't talking.	Were you talking?

Exceptions in Spelling

Exceptions in spelling when adding ing	Example
final e is dropped (but: ee is not changed)	come – coming (but: agree – agreeing)
after a short, stressed vowel, the final consonant is doubled	sit – sitting
l as final consonant after a vowel is doubled (in British English)	travel – travelling
final ie becomes y	lie – lying

Use of Past Progressive

• puts emphasis on the course of an action in the past
  Example: He was playing football.
• two actions happening at the same time (in the past)
  Example: While she was preparing dinner, he was washing the dishes.
• action going on at a certain time in the past
  Example: When I was having breakfast, the phone suddenly rang.

Exercises What was Marian doing at a particular time? The fullstop is already at the end of the sentence. 6.50 - 7.00 clean her room Example: At 6.55 she was cleaning her room. 7.00 am - 7.15 am have a shower 12.00 pm - 12.45 pm eat lunch 7.15 am - 8.00 am have breakfast 6.30 pm - 7.00 pm cook dinner 8.00 am - 8.10 am get dressed 7.00 pm - 7.10 pm wash the dishes 8.10 am - 8.30 am drive to work 8.10 pm - 10.30 pm watch television 8.30 am - 12 pm work 10.30 pm - 6.50 am sleep 1. At 7.10 am  . 2. At 7.20 am  . 3. At 8.05 am  . 4. At 8.15 am  . 5. At 11.00 am  . 6. At 12.30 pm  . 7. At 6.45 pm  . 8. At 7.05 pm  . 9. At 9.00 pm  . 10. At 11.30 pm  . HERE YOU HAVE A VIDEO ABOUT PAST PROGRESSIVE NOW HERE YOU HAVE A VIDEO ABOUT PAST SIMPLE AND PAST PROGRESSIVE:

GOOD LUCK!♥