Simple past vs past continuous

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COMO ENTENDER AS DIFERENÇAS ENTRE O SIMPLE PAST E O PAST CONTINUOUS

A principal diferença entre o simple past e o past continuous está em uso. O passado simples
dos verbos em inglês indica acções passadas que já foram encerradas. Mas, quando utilizamos
o past continuous? Este tempo verbal é utilizado para falar de acções que estavam em
progresso em um ponto concreto do passado.

Na frase ‘When I came home, my brother was playing football’ (Quando cheguei em casa, meu
irmão estava jogando futebol), é possível ver a diferença entre ambas as formas verbais.

VERBOS REGULARES E IRREGULARES NO SIMPLE PAST E PAST CONTINUOUS

Simple past

A construção do simple past com os verbos regulares é bastante simples, já que basta

adicionar -ed  no final da verbo.

 We  looked for  the dog and we found it at the park. (Nós procuramos pelo cachorro e o
encontramos no parque.)

Se o verbo termina com -e, basta adicionar -d. 

 They  invited  some friends to the party. (Eles convidaram alguns amigos para a festa.)

E caso termine em consoante + y, este deve ser alterado pela terminação -ied.  Observe os
seguintes exemplos:

 She  studied  at the National University. (Ela estudou na Universidade Nacional.)

Os verbos irregulares não seguem a regra de adicionar a terminação –ed para formar o simple
past, mas é necessário memorizar o passado dos mesmos. Por exemplo:

Infinitivo Simple past

To blow  (Soprar) Blew

To break  (Quebrar) Broke

Past continuous

O past continuous segue a mesma regra tanto para os verbos regulares quanto para os
irregulares. É preciso usar o verbo to be no passado simples + o gerúndio do verbo com a
terminação -ing:

 She  was  still  watching  TV at midnight. (Ela ainda estava assistindo TV à meia-noite.)

  Alexa  arrived  while I  was doing  my exercises. (Alexa chegou enquanto eu estava
fazendo meus exercícios.)

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Exemplos do simple past e past continuous

O simple past e o past continuous são utilizados para descrever situações concretas no

passado:

 Descrever uma situação ou ação no past continuous que é interrompida por outra

no simple past. Por exemplo:  

 I  was studying  my english lesson when the telephone  rang. (Eu estava estudando
minha lição de inglês quando o telefone tocou.)

 Podemos utilizar o past continuous  para descrever o que estava ocorrendo em um

momento específico no passado.

 In 1994, we  were looking  for a new house. (Em 1994, estávamos procurando por uma
nova casa.)

 O past continuous   é utilizado para mencionar duas situações ou ações que ocorrem
de forma simultânea no passado.

 Sandra  was cooking  pasta while I  was chopping  some tomatoes.  (Sandra estava
cozinhando macarrão enquanto eu estava cortando tomates.)

 O past simple pode ser utilizado para falar de uma situação que se repetia no passado.

 She  walked  a lot when she  was  in college. (Ela caminhava muito enquanto estava na
universidade.)

Past continuous and past simple

Do you know how to use the past continuous and past simple? Test what you know with
interactive exercises and read the explanation to help you.
Look at these examples to see how the past continuous and past simple are used.
When I woke up this morning, it was snowing.
I was sleeping when you called me.
Try this exercise to test your grammar.
Grammar test 1

Read the explanation to learn more.

Grammar explanation
The past continuous and the past simple help us to show how two past actions or
situations are connected.

Past simple
The past simple shows us that an action was in the past, not in the present. Regular past
simple verbs have -ed at the end (e.g. called, played, arrived). Irregular verbs have a
different form, usually with a different vowel sound
(e.g. wake → woke, break → broke, feel → felt).
My parents called me yesterday.
I woke up early this morning.
Sam played basketball when he was at university.
We make the negative with didn't and the infinitive verb.
My parents didn't call me yesterday.
I didn't wake up early this morning.
We make the question form with did and then the subject and infinitive verb.
Did you wake up early this morning?
Did Sam play basketball when he was at university?

Past continuous
The past continuous shows us that the action was already in progress at a certain time in
the past.
What were you doing at 8 p.m. last night? I was studying.
This means that I started studying before 8 p.m. and I continued after 8 p.m.
The past continuous can also show that an activity was in progress for some time, not
just for a moment.
We were cleaning the house all morning.
We make the past continuous with was or were and the -ing form of the verb.
She couldn't come to the party. She was working.
Three years ago, we were living in my home town.
I tried to give him some advice, but he wasn't listening.
What were you doing this time last year?

Past continuous and past simple

When we use these two tenses together, it shows us that the past simple action happened
in the middle of the past continuous action, while it was in progress.
While I was studying, I suddenly felt sleepy.
We often use these tenses to show an action interrupting another action.
I broke my leg when I was skiing.
As I was going to work, I saw an old friend.
We were watching television when the power went off.
Can you see a difference in the meaning of these two sentences?
When the guests arrived, Jane was cooking dinner.
When the guests arrived, Jane cooked dinner.
In the first one, Jane started cooking dinner before the guests arrived. We know that
because it uses the past continuous. In the second sentence, the guests arrived first and
then Jane started cooking.
Do this exercise to test your grammar again.

When to use the Past

Simple or the Past
Continuous
by Adriana Stein
 Updated November 10, 2022

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Past simple and past continuous are two tenses used to express actions in the
past. What differentiates them is the status of the action they describe. 
The past simple refers to an action that finished in the past, while the past
continuous refers to an action that was in progress at the time of speaking.
In this article, you’ll learn how and when to use these two tenses.
Past simple in English
Past simple is a verb tense used to talk about things that happened
and finished in the past.
You form the past simple of regular verbs by adding “-ed” to their infinitive form: 

 turn → turned

 cook → cooked

 learn → learned

As for irregular verbs, you will have to learn their past simple form by heart. But
don’t worry, you’ll learn them quickly with little practise.
When to use the past simple
We use the past simple to talk about an action that happened and concluded in
the past. It’s not necessary to specify the time the action refers to. 
Check the following examples:

 Tom wrote a letter to Jim asking for an explanation.

 I heard a sudden noise, and I ran to check what caused it.

The actions expressed in the sentences happened in the past and are now
finished. 
In the first example, Tom completed the action of writing his letter. In the second
one, the noise was on for a brief moment, and so I started running until I
reached the noise’s origin and understood its origin.
 Note that the actions happened in an unspecified time in the past, but it is
perfectly fine to specify it if you wish. 

 Tom wrote a letter yesterday, or last week, or 10 minutes ago. 

The meaning of the sentence stays the same. What matters is that the action of
writing the letter started and finished in the past.
Past continuous
Past continuous is a verb tense used to talk about actions that were in
progress at the time of speaking.
You form it by combining the past simple of the verb “to be” (was/were) with the
gerund (“-ing” form) of the verb expressing the action:

 I saw that you were running to catch the bus last night.

 Tom was writing a letter to Sarah a moment ago.

When to use the past continuous
We use the past continuous to talk about an action that was still ongoing at the
time of speaking. It’s used for actions that last a certain amount of time, not
something you do at once.
Since the action described by past continuous is in progress at a specific time,
you need to specify the time, or the sentence ends up making no sense. 
Check the examples to see what I mean:

 Sarah was waiting for the bus last night.

 Sarah was waiting for the bus. 

The second sentence doesn’t really make sense, because it gives no context.

 I was drinking tea when the burglar entered my home.

 I was drinking tea.

Just like the example above, we can’t really understand the meaning of the
second sentence without extra information. 
If you don’t specify the time, it’s impossible to understand the meaning of a
sentence with the past continuous. 
However, there is one exception: you can avoid specifying the time if you are
answering a question that already stated it:
 I couldn’t call you yesterday, what happened? I was working overtime.

It is implicit that the responder was working yesterday when the person asking

couldn’t reach them.
Combining past simple and past continuous
We use these two tenses together when we want to talk about an event that
happened during the action expressed by the past continuous. 
This construction emphasises the sentence in past simple and uses the past
continuous as a way to provide more information. You’ll mostly see
these tenses combined in stories. 
Here are a couple of examples:

 She was running when she heard the explosion.

Here the act of hearing the explosion happens while the subject is running. Both
events are in the past, but “running” was in progress, and “hearing” happened
while “running” was in progress.
In this sentence, the main action is hearing the explosion, while running is used
to provide context. 

 They were eating breakfast quickly because they had to leave soon.

The emphasis in this sentence is on the fact that the subjects must leave soon.
It tells us they are in a rush, while eating breakfast is simply used as a way to
give more details about the scene.
You can tell the sentences with the past simple are the main ones, because the
phrases would stop making sense if you removed them. 

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