Past Tense Contrast

• Engels
• Middelbare school
• havo
• Leerjaar 3

Watch the following clips about the present simple and present continuous

Past simple

- for a sequence of events that happened one after another:

"He shut the door, looked for his seat and sat down."

- for a single event that interrupted a longer event in the past.

"He called me while I was eating."

Past continuous

- to describe a scene (what was going on in the background) in the past. The events were in progress at the same time:

"The sun was shining and the birds were singing."

- for a longer event in the past (an event that took a while):

"My uncle was climbing that mountain."

Past perfect

- for an event that happened BEFORE antoher event in the past:

"I had brushed my teeth when I went to bed."

or:

"Before the movie started they had bought some popcorn."

00:15

While she was preparing lunch, the phone ............ (ring).

00:34

He ............ (walk) in, sat down and started to text his friend.

00:53

I'm just curious, who ............ you ............(talk) to when I saw you yesterday?

01:12

The teacher was giving important instructions, while the students ................(prepare) for the test.

01:31

I ............ (not go) to the cinema with you yesterday because I had already seen the film.

01:50

While he ............ (leave) his flat, he slipped on a banana peel and fell.

02:09

While they ............ (play) basketball, the crowd was cheering them on.

02:28

Luckily, I ............ (save) all my work on the computer before it crashed.

Discuss the difference in meaning 

1. When we arrived, the band played my favourite song.                 
   
2. When we arrived, the band were playing my favourite song.         
3. When we arrived, the band had played my favourite song.