Past Simple vs.

Past Continuous

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The following is a mini-tutorial on the PAST SIMPLE VS. PAST CONTINUOUS. Once you have completed the tutorial, you are ready to do the practice exercises. We use the PAST SIMPLE to talk about things which happened at a specified time in the past. It is important to note that the action is finished. For example: We visited Egypt last summer She didnt attend the gallery opening last night He took piano lessons when he was a child Where did you stay when you were in London? I left the company several years ago We also use the past simple when we talk about a series of completed actions: I opened the package, read the directions, and installed the software He went to the airport, checked two bags, and boarded the plane to talk about actions that took place over time in the past: We lived in Argentina for 5 years I spoke to him for 10 minutes or so to describe habits in the past: I played tennis when I was a child She went to drama school There are certain words which may signal the use of the past simple: last (night, weekend, year, etc.), ago, in (a month, a year, etc.), yesterday, when (followed by a phrase) You should be aware of the following spelling changes when using regular verbs in the past simple: If the word ends in a consonant + y, change the y to i and add ed: fry fried cry cried try tried If the word ends in e, add d: live liked love loved hate hated If the word is short and has a consonant-vowel-consonant pattern, double the final consonant and add ed: stop stopped prefer preferred travel travelled

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Past Simple vs. Past Continuous

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We use the PAST CONTINUOUS to talk about something that was happening at a specific time in the past: What were you doing at 9:00 last night? At 9:00 last night, I was watching TV that was happening during a period of time in the past: I was working over the summer holiday that was happening when something else occurred: I was eating dinner when the telephone rang She was talking to the boss when Sam interrupted that was happening at the same time another action was occurring: She was making dinner while he was serving drinks There are certain words which may signal the use of the present continuous: at 9:00, during, while, when You should be aware of the following spelling changes when using the past continuous: If the verb is short and has a consonant-vowel-consonant pattern, double the final consonant and add ing: put putting run running travel - travelling If the verb ends in consonant + e, drop the e and add ing: write writing close closing chase - chasing You are now ready to put into practice what you have learned in this tutorial. Go directly to the practice exercises.

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