Past simple vs past continuous

• Engels
• Middelbare school
• mavo
• Leerjaar 3

Past simple & Past continuous

Two different past tenses:

- Past simple 

- Past continuous 

When to use the past simple

PAST SIMPLE

Past simple / past continuous

How to make the past simple & past continuous

Past simple	Past continuous
Regular: ww + (e)d	3 steps
bv: walk - walked, dance - danced	1. past tense of to be ( was of were )
Irregular: study these	2. verb
teach - taught, drive - drove, pay - paid	3. + ing
	He was danc ing , they were talk ing , I was sleep ing

Past Simple / Past Continuous?


I ... (enjoy) the sun last Sunday.

1. enjoyed
2. have enjoyed
3. had enjoyed
4. had been enjoying

Past simple / Past Continuous
He .... (listen) to music when his mother ...(call) him

1. listened / was calling
2. were listening / called
3. is listening / calls
4. was listening / called

Past simple / Past continuous
I ....( break) my mirror while I ...( park) my car.

1. breaked / was parking
2. broke / was parking
3. broke / were parking
4. break / am parking.

past simple / past continuous
While I ...( study) my sister suddenly ( knock) on the door.

1. was studying / knocked
2. were studying / knocked
3. studied / knocked
4. studied / was knocking.

Past Simple <> Past Continuous
My friend ___ (to ring) me while I was watching TV.

1. were ringing
2. rang
3. rung
4. was ringing

past simple / past continuous

He ... (to do) the dishes while I was having a bath.

1. did
2. was doing
3. is doing
4. had been doing

Past simple / Past continuous
We ...(have) dinner when the doorbell ...(ring).

Past Simple / Past Continuous
David ___ (send) me an email five minutes ago.

Past Simple / Past Continuous
What ___ Leo ___ (do) when you ___ him yesterday?

Past simple / Past continuous
I ... (cry) so much last Friday.

Give one sentence with a past simple & past continuous form

I understand when to use the past simple and the past continuous

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