Past Tense Contrast

• Engels
• Middelbare school
• havo
• Leerjaar 3

Bijvoeglijk naamwoord

Watch the following clips about the present simple and present continuous

Past simple

- for a sequence of events that happened one after another

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

Past continuous

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

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

Past perfect

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

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 ................(perparing) for the test.

01:31

I................(not go) 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 got to the main stage, Muse played my favourite song.
2. When we got to the main stage, Muse were playing my favourite song.
3. When we got the main stage, Muse had played my favourite song.