Past Progressive II: Simple vs. Progressive12

Vocabulary

Fill in the blanks

1. Ted ______ to pass the math exam.

2. Two ______ stole the money in the bank.

3. Peter goes to school by _______ every day.

4. The _________ guy got lost in the city.

5. She _________ have a heart attack on her way home.

absent-mindedhappen to

thief train fail

Dialogue

You were late for the class yesterday.

What happened?

I got up late, and it was terrible that I failed

to catch the train when I arrived there.

I am sorry to hear that. How long did you

wait for the train?

I can’t remember. I was listening to music

while I was waiting for the train. Then, the

train came, probably a few minutes later.

Alice:

Irene:

Alice:

Irene:

Grammar

Simple Past Tense and Simple Past Tense

Simple Past Tense

The police came

when

when

Simple Past Tense

the car accident happened.

Past Progressive and Past Progressive

Past Progressive

He was listening to music

while

while

Past Progressive

he was studying.

Use…

Note

Example:

When Peter saw the heavy

snow, he went home.future

Nowsaw heavy snow

both two simple past clauses to show that one action happened after the other.

went home

past

Note: First Peter saw the heavy snow. Then, he went home.

Example:

While I was watching TV,

my brother was playing PSP. future

Now

both past progressive clauses to talk about two actions in progress at the same time in the past.

was watching

was playingpast

Practice

get excitedwin the game

future

Now

past

Practice

future

Now

past

drive a careat breakfast

Practice

see a doctorfeel sick

future

Now

past

Practice

future

Now

pastswim

read the Bible

Practice

be proud of herselfget a higher score

future

Now

past

TOEIC

Total: 800

Practice

future

Now

pastsleep

have a party

Reading

Mandy was an absent-minded student. She forgot

whether today was the final English test.

At 8:00 am, Mandy was still sleeping. Mandy

woke up while the phone was ringing. Then, she

answered the phone from her classmate, and her

classmate told Mandy that today was the day for the

final test.

Mandy cried out loud when she got this terrible

news. Of course, Mandy failed to take the test and

got 0 point.

Grammar

Simple Past Tense and Past Progressive

Past Progressive

I was listening to the radio

when

when

Simple Past Tense

the phone rang.

Simple Past Tense and Past Progressive

Simple Past Tense

The phone rang

while

while

Past Progressive

I was listening to the radio.

Use “when” to introduce the simple past tense action.

Use “while” to introduce the past progressive action.

Note

Example:

1. The light changed while he was crossing the street.

2. When the light changed, he was crossing the street.

future

Nowthe light changed

We use a simple past sentence with a past

progressive sentence to show one action that

was interrupted by the other.

past

walking across the street

Practice

when

He speeded.

The light turned red.

Winnie listened to the radio.

Winnie heard about the traffic accident.

while

Practice

when

The earthquake happened.

Hundreds of people ran out of the department store.

The door bell rang.

Jeff read the morning newspaper.

while

Practice

My friend, George, saw me from outside of the restaurant.

William and I had dinner.

while

Evaluation

when

Evaluation

while

Evaluation

while

Evaluation

when

Come back

home, daddy!

Your Turn!

What were you doing when the 921 earthquake happened?

Did anything happen while you were having dinner yesterday?

Did the train or bus leave when you arrived at the station today?

Was it raining while you were shopping last time?

Did you see anything interesting happen

when you logged on Facebook last time?

What did you do when we finished

the class last time?

Summary

Learning Objectives

Vocabulary and phrases

We use two past progressive clauses with while to talk

about two actions in progress at the same time in the past.

We use one past progressive sentence with one simple

past sentence to talk about an action that was interrupted by

the other action.

We use two past simple clauses with when to show one

action happened after the other.

train, terrible, station hear, catch, wait, fail, happen, heavy,

snow, absent-minded, test, forget, thief

Summary