Past simple and past continuous

• Engels
• Middelbare school
• vwo
• Leerjaar 1

Past simple and past continuous

What do you remember about the past simple?
give an example!

Past simple

• We use the past simple to talk about things that happened and finished in the past.
• I walked the dog this morning.
• I went to the supermarket yesterday.

Which sentence is correct?

1. We ate dinner when my dad came home
2. We were eating dinner when my dad came home.
3. We were eating dinner when my dad comes home.
4. We ate dinner when my dad was coming home

Which sentence is correct?

1. I wore my favorite shoes when I fell into the mud.
2. I was wearing my favorite shoes when I was falling in the mud.
3. I wore my favorite shoes when I was falling into the mud.
4. I was wearing my favorite shoes when I fell into the mud.

Which sentence is correct?

1. When Jim knocked on the door, I was watching TV.
2. When Jim knocked on the door, I watched TV.
3. When Jim was knocking on the door, I watched TV.
4. When Jim knocks on the door, I was watching TV.

Past continuous

• Used to talk about actions happening at a particular time in the past. 
• Was/were + verb + ing
• I was doing my homework while my dad was doing the laundry. 

Past simple and Past continuous

• Can be used in the same sentence when an action was already in progress when another action happened.
• I was walking down the street when it started to rain. 

Alibi game

Last night at around 3 AM a group of students snuck into the classroom and stole your test results, that you have worked so hard on. They are nowhere to be found. But luckily the detectives in this class are going to figure out who did it. 

The detectives

• go around the classroom in pairs
• ask the suspect questions
• (use the past simple and past continuous) 
• Write down which group they suspect the most

The suspects

• come up with an alibi where you all did something together last night
•  answer the detectives' questions 
  (use the past simple and past continuous)

the game

1.  The suspects have 3 minutes to come up with an alibi
2.  The detectives have 3 minutes to question each group. 
3.  After 3 minutes the detectives go to the next group.
4.  After the detectives have questioned each group they write down which group they suspect the most. 

for the rest of the lesson

• do the exercises on the worksheet
• you are allowed to work together with your neighbor if you like
• if you have any questions, ask me!