Past Simple &

Past ContinuousWhen to use each tense & how to use them together

When do we use Past Simple?1. We use this tense for activities or situations that were completed at a definite time.

a) The time can be given in the sentence: I came home at 6 o'clock. When he was a child, he painted pictures.

 b) The time is asked about: When did they get married? When did you graduate university?

 c) The time is not given in the sentence, but it is clear from a

context that the action or situation was finished. He is 20 years old. He was born in Canada. Did you enjoy your holiday?

 2. We use it for repeated activities. We walked to school every day. - And did you ever go by bus?  3. The simple tense is used in stories to describe events that follow each other. Meg entered the office and looked around. She took off her coat and waited to speak to her boss.

When do we use Past Continuous (progressive)?1. To express the idea that an action in the past continuous started before the action expressed by the past simple tense and continued after it.

* When she saw me, I was looking at the trees Compare:

*When she saw me, I looked at the trees.  2. With a point in time to describe an action that started before that time and continued after it.

* At 8 o'clock Jane was studying Compare:

*At 8 o'clock Jane studied.

3. The continuous is used to describe a situation, while the simple is used to express actions in stories.

* The sun was shining. Jack and Jill were lying on the beach. Jack was reading a book and Jill was sleeping. All of a sudden, Jack raised his head. Jill woke up. Something happened. 4. The continuous tense describes an activity, which was not finished in contrast with the simple past, which describes a completed activity.

*I was reading a book yesterday. ( And today I am going to continue.)*I read the book yesterday.( I can lend it to you now.)

A Look at the PastLook at each picture and describe the situationusing both the Past Simple & the Past Continuous

What happened? What was she doing?”

Ex: “When I was walking, it started to rain.

Ex: He went to the emergency room because he was having stomach pain.

What was she doing? What happened to her?

Why is this woman sitting on the street? Why is she holding a new baby?

What did he do? Where are they?

What was this girl doing? Why does she look disappointed?

What was this couple doing? What happened?!

What were these two people doing? What was in the water near them?

What was this girl doing?

What happened to her bag?

What was this woman doing? What happened when she did this?

What were these women doing? What happened behind them?

What’s this driver doing?

This girl can multitask well! What’s she doing?

What was he doing? What happened to him?

What happened?What were they doing at the time?

What was the woman doing?What happened?