Past simple and Past Continuous

• Engels
• Middelbare school
• vmbo t
• Leerjaar 3

Past Simple vs. Past Continuous

Past Simple: Something that has already taken place in the past and is completly finished. 

Past Continuous: Somthing that has happened in the past but went on for a longer period of time in the past.  

Signal words

Past Simple: yesterday, last... week/month/year, a minute ago, once upon a time, when I was younger, etc.

Past Continuous: while...., at the (same) time, when....

What do they look like?

Past Simple:  verb + -ed or irregular verb form

ex.: walk => walked;   or  go => went

Past Continuous: to be (was/were) + verb + ing

ex.:  was walking  or were walking

* there is no irregular verb form!  

NOT:  was/were wenting  but  YES: was/were going

Can you recognize the Past Simple and the Past Continuous?

Choose the correct tense

You want to emphasize that an action took some time.

1. past simple
2. past continuous

You want to talk about a state or situation that was true in the past.

1. past simple
2. past continuous

You want to emphasize that something happened again and again over time.

1. past simple
2. past continuous

You want to emphasize change or growth over time.

1. past simple
2. past continuous

You want to talk about a one-time completed action or event. The duration isn't
important.

1. past simple
2. past continuous

You want to talk about a relatively long action that was ongoing at a particular time.

1. past continuos
2. past simple

You want to talk about a repeated, completed action or event. The duration isn't
important.

1. past simple
2. past continuous

You want to talk about a relatively long action that was interrupted by a shorter
one.

1. past continuous
2. past simple

You want to talk about a relatively short action or event that happened during a
longer one.

1. past continuous
2. past simple

You want to talk about a plan that would have been completed in the past but was
changed.

1. past simple
2. past continuous

Let's try some sentences

Instructions:  Answer as quickly as you can.    You only have         5 seconds to answer!

1. Oh man, my back ...................... (ache) all day.

1. ached
2. is aching
3. was aching
4. were aching

2. I ...................... (take) a shower when the package arrived.

1. taked
2. took
3. were taking
4. was taking

3. I ...................... (do) my homework after I ...................... (get) home from school.

1. did, got
2. did, was getting
3. was doing, got
4. was doing, was getting

4. What ...................... you ...................... (do) on the night of the murder?

1. did, did
2. were, doing
3. did, do
4. were, did

5. I often ............. (stop) for tea in the morning before I ................. (get) married.

1. was stopping, getted
2. stopped, was getting
3. stopped, got
4. was stopping, got

Do you feel ready for the test?

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