PASADO SIMPLE

We use the past simple to talk about actions and states which we see as completed in
the past.

- We use it to talk about a specific point in time.

· She came back last Friday.
· I saw her in the street.
· They didn't agree to the deal.

- We use it to talk about a period of time.

· She lived in Tokyo for seven years.
· They were in London from Monday to Thursday of last week.
· When I was living in New York, I went to all the art exhibitions I could.

- We often find the past simple used with time expressions such as
these:

· Yesterday
· three weeks ago
· last year
· in 2002
· from March to June
· for a long time
· for 6 weeks
· in the 1980s
· in the last century
· in the past
PASADO CONTINUO
-We use the Past Continuous tense to express actions in the past
that continued for some time. It’s not important when they started or
finished.

E.g. Last night at 6 pm I was eating dinner (I was in the process of eating dinner) = Past
continuous.
Last night at 6 pm I ate dinner (I started eating dinner at 6 pm) = Past simple

- Usedwithout a time expression it can indicate gradual

development.

E.g. It was getting darker.

The wind was rising.

- We use the Past Continuous to indicate that a longer action in

the past was interrupted by a shorter action that started or
finished. The interruption is usually in the Past Simple.
WHEN
E.g. He was watching TV when she called.
Was he watching TV when she called?
He wasn’t watching TV when she called.
When the phone rang, she was writing a letter.
While we were having the picnic, it started to rain.
What were you doing when the earthquake started?
The men were working in the fields when the Native Americans attacked the fort.

We use the past continuous to talk about past events which went on for a period of
time.

- We use it to emphasize the continuing process of an activity or

the period of that activity.
· Were you expecting any visitors?
· I was just making some coffee.
· In the 1990s few people were using mobile phones.

- We use it to describe a "background action" when something

else happened.
· She was talking to me on the phone and it suddenly went run out of battery.
· They were still waiting for the plane when I spoke to them.
· We were just talking about it before you arrived.

WHILE
Interrupted Action in the Past

We use the Past Simple with the Past Continuous when one action interrupts another
action in the past. Remember that we put WHILE before the action that began first (in
the Past Continuous).

 While we were having the picnic, it started to rain.

 While John was sleeping last night, someone stole his car.
 While I was writing the email, the computer suddenly went off.