PAST SIMPLE & PAST CONTINUOUS - 3 MAVO - RBC

• Engels
• Middelbare school
• vmbo t
• Leerjaar 3

PAST SIPMLE 

& 

PAST CONTINUOUS

What do you know about past tenses?

Take a look at the sentences...

We went on holiday last summer.

When I came home, my dad was making dinner.

This time yesterday, we were watching a movie.

When do we use a past simple (went, came)?

When do we use a past continuous (was making, were watching)?

Past Simple

Form: 

- inf. + (e)d

- 2nd form

Use: 

- when something happened and ended in the past

Past Continuous

Form: 

- was/ were + inf. + ing 

Use: 

- activity that was going on at a particular moment in the past

- an interrupted activity in the past

At 8 o'clock last night, I ... (do) the dishes.

1. did
2. was doing
3. am doing
4. do

We ... (move) to London in 2012.

1. are moving
2. move
3. moved
4. were moving

I ... (have) a shower when suddenly the phone ... (ring).

1. had, rang
2. had, ringed
3. was having, ringed
4. was having, rang

Turn into a question:
We moved to London in 2012.

Turn into a negative sentence:
My brother went on holiday last year.

Conclusion...

Negative sentences and questions in the Past Simple are made like this:

did(n't) + inf.

Did we move to London in 2012?

My brother didn't go on holiday last year.

Turn into a question:
You were doing the dishes.

Turn into a negative sentence:
I was having a shower.

Conclusion...

Negative sentences and questions in the Past Continuous are made like this:

was/ were (n't) + inf. + ing

Were you doing the dishes?

I wasn't having a shower.

Make up a question in a past tense, including a time expression.

Are the past tenses clear to you?