1)-the simple past is formed in regular verbs, by adding ed to the infinitive: Infinitive: work simple past: worked Or adding

just d when the infinitive ends in e: Infinitive: love simple past: loved The same form is used for all persons: he worked, it worked, I worked, they worked, and we worked. For the irrigular verbs, the form varies from one verb to another: To eat=ate; to leave=left; to see=saw; to speak=spoke. => So the simple past form of each irrigular verb must be learnt.

The negative of regular and irrigular verbs is formed with did not (didnt) and the infinitive: did you not/didnt you work. The intrrogative is formed with did+subject+infinitif: did you work. Negative iterrogative: did you not/did you work.

2) - uses of simple past: A)-It is used for past events completed at a definite time 1- for a past action when the time is given.e.g: -I met him yesterday. Pasteur died in 1895. 2- When the time is asked about.e.g: -When did you meet her? 3-when the action clearly took place at a definite time even though the time is not mentioned.e.g: -the train was ten minutes late. how did you get here? B)-the simple past is also used for a past habit: (to report reported actions that no longer occur).e.g: -he always carried an umbrella. -I never drank wine.

1) the form: The past continuous tense is formed by the past tense of the verb to be+ the present participle(ing): we take the verb work as an example. affirmative -I was working negative -I was not working interrogative -was I working?

-You were working -He/she/it was working -we were working -you were working -they were working

-you were not working -he/she/it was not working -we were not working -you were not working -they were not working

-were you working? -was he/she/it working? -were we working? -were you working? -were they working?

* negative interrogative: was he not/wasnt he working? Were we not/werent we working? etc

2) - uses of the past continuous: A) - It is used for past actions which lasted for some time but time limits are not known and are not important.e.g: -I was waiting for the train. B) - it is used without time expression to indicate gradual developpement.e.g: -It was getting darker -the wind was rising. C) - it is used with a point in time and it expresses an action which began before that time and probably continued after it.e.g: - At eight he was having breakfast. (means that he started breafast before eight). D) - it is also used in descriptions.e.g: - A wood fire was burning on the heart, and a cat was sleeping in front of it. - A girl was plying the piano and (was) singing softly to herself. *it can also be used with always.e.g: -He was always ringing me up (everyday). -he was always working (he was working all the time).