Do you know the difference between Past Simple and Past Continuous?
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Difference between Past Simple and Past Continuous
The PAST SIMPLE is formed by using the Past Simple form of a verb. This can be either:
1. A regular verb (+ED) WORK —-> WORKED
2. An irregular verb EAT —-> ATE
For negative sentences and questions, we need to use the auxiliary verb DID + the base form of the verb.
I DIDN’T / DID NOT EAT anything yesterday.
Where DID you GO on holiday last year?
This is an English tense we learn very early on and it’s quite a simple tense. It’s all about the Past. It’s talking about something that happened, started and finished. It is completely over in the past. When we talk with the Past Simple, we tend to be describing a specific event or certain time.
Example:
when I was at school
last year
when I went on holiday
last summer
So we are clearly putting our story or what we are saying at a specific point in the past. We are emphasizing the actions. We are talking about activities, about what we did.
Example:
Last year, I went to Portugal for my summer holiday.
It has to be Past Simple because it’s something that’s over. Last year is over.
In summary, we use the Past Simple with finished actions, states, or habits in the past when we have a finished time word (yesterday, last week, at 8 o’clock, in 2019), or we know from general knowledge that the time period has finished.
Examples:
I went to the cinema yesterday.
The Vikings invaded Britain.
The PAST CONTINUOUS is formed using the following structure:
WAS/WERE + VERB(ING) EAT —-> WAS EATING
I was eating my dinner at 8 pm last night.
For negative sentences and questions, we need to use the following structures:
WAS/WERE + NOT + VERB(+ING)
I was not eating dinner at 8 pm last night.
WAS/WERE + SUBJECT + VERB(+ING) ?
What were you doing at 8 pm last night?
We use the Past continuous for an action in the past which overlaps another action or a time. The action in the past continuous starts before and often continues after the other shorter action or time.
Example:
I was walking to the station when I met John. (I started walking before I met John, and maybe I continued afterwards)
In the same way, we can use the Past continuous for the background of a story. (We often use the past simple for the actions.) This is really a specific example of Use 1.
Example:
The birds were singing, the sun was shining and in the cafés, people were laughing and chatting. Amy sat down and took out her phone.
Temporary habits or habits that happen more often than we expect in the past. We often use ‘always’, ‘constantly’ or ‘forever’ here. This is the same as the way we use the present continuous for habits, but the habit started and finished in the past. This thing doesn’t happen now.
Example:
She was constantly singing.
Check the following sentences. Do you understand why we use these different tenses?
He went to a café. People were chatting and music was playing. He sat down and ordered a coffee.
I’ve hurt my leg. I fell off a ladder when I was painting my bedroom.
Exercises about Past Simple and Past Continuous
Exercise 1: Past Simple Tense
Exercise 2: Past Continuous Tense
Exercise 3: Past Simple and Past Continuous Tense
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