POSITIVE

F
O
R
M

GRAMMAR: PAST SIMPLE AND PAST CONTINUOUS TENSES Unit 2

PAST SIMPLE
PAST CONTINUOUS
NEGATIVE
QUESTIONS
SH. ANSWERS
POSITIVE
NEGATIVE
QUESTIONS

Regular
Verbs

Regular &
Irregular Verbs

I workED
You workED
Etc.
Irregular
Verbs
I went (GO)
He wrote
(WRITE)

I didnt work
You didnt work
Etc.
I didnt go
He didnt write
Etc.

Regular &
Irregular
Verbs
Did I work?
Did they work?
Etc
Did I go?
Did he write?
Etc.

Regular &
Irregular Verbs
Yes, I did
Yes, he did
Yes, they did
No, I didnt
No, he didnt
No, they didnt

To talk about finished actions or events in finished past

time.

I spent two weeks on the mountains last summer.

My dad left home two minutes ago
Where did you go to school when you were in primary?
When we lived in Manchester, my mum worked in a bank

&

We normally know when it happened (= past time

adverbial).

U
S
E

Sam didnt like the movie on Saturday.

The class started a few minutes ago.
We watch the film last night.

R
B
S

Sometimes there is no past time adverbial but the context

indicates that we are talking about a past action.

The Romans built very important roads across Europe, some

of which are still used today.
The Egyptians buried their pharaohs in huge pyramids made
of stone.

I was working
You were working
He was working
She was working
It was working
We were working
You were working
They were
working

I wasnt working
You werent working
He wasnt working
She wasnt working
It wasnt working
We werent working
You werent working
They werent
working

Was I working?
Were you
working?
Was he working?
Was it working?
Were we
working?
Were you
working?
Were they
working?

SH. ANSW

Yes, I was
Yes, he was
Yes, we
were

No, I wasnt
No, he
wasnt

To talk about an action or an event that was IN PROGRESS at a

certain time in the past (= to say that someone was in the middle
of doing something at a certain time. The action had already
started before this time, but it hadnt finished.)

What were you doing at 9 yesterday? We were eating dinner.

This time last week we were studying English too.

The past continuous does not tell us whether an action was

finished or not: Perhaps it was finished, perhaps not.

Tom was cooking the dinner at 8.30 last

However, when we use the past simple, the action is finished: Tom cooke
the dinner last night (= he began and finished it)

We often use the past continuous and the past simple together to
express that something happened in the middle of something else.

Tom burnt his hand while he was cooking the dinner.

When I arrived home, my family were having dinner.
To talk about the background of the main action (description of a
picture, narrative, etc.)
When I arrived at the park, the sun was shining, some children were
playing football, an old lady was sitting on a bench, etc.