Mastering Past Continuous vs. Past Simple: Grammar Guide
Past Continuous vs. Past Simple: Understanding the Difference
The past continuous and past simple tenses are essential for describing events in the past. Understanding when to use each one is crucial for clear and accurate communication.
Past Continuous
When to Use It?
- An action in the past that overlaps another action or a specific time. We use the past continuous to express a longer action. We use the past simple to express a short action that occurs in the middle of the longer action. We can join the two ideas with ‘when’ or ‘while’.
Examples:
- I was walking to the station when I met John. (I started walking before I met John, and maybe I continued afterwards.)
- At three o’clock, I was working. (I started before three o’clock and finished after three o’clock.)
- We can use the past continuous as the background of a story. (We often use the past simple for the actions).
Example:
- The birds were singing, the sun was shining, and in the cafes, people were laughing and chatting. Amy sat down and took out her phone.
- Temporary habits or habits that occur more often than expected in the past. We often use ‘always’, ‘constantly’, or ‘forever’ here. This is the same way we use the present continuous for habits, but the habit started and ended in the past. This does not happen now.
Examples:
- He was always leaving the tap running.
- She was constantly singing.
- Highlighting that something lasted for a while. This use is often optional, and we usually use it with time expressions like ‘all day’, ‘all afternoon’, or ‘for hours’.
Examples:
- I was working in the garden all day.
- He was reading all evening.
How Do We Form It?
Subject + was/were + verb-ing
Positive: She was playing video games all night.
Subject + wasn’t/weren’t + verb-ing
Negative: She wasn’t playing video games all night.
Was/were + subject + verb-ing ?
Questions: Was she playing video games all night?
Wh + was/wasn’t/were/weren’t + verb-ing ?
Why Questions: Why was she playing video games all night?
Past Simple
When Should We Use It?
- Actions, states, or habits completed in the past when we have a finished time word (yesterday, last week, at 2 o’clock, in 2003).
Examples:
I went to the cinema yesterday. We spent a lot of time in Japan in 2007.
- Actions, states, or habits completed in the past when we know from general knowledge that the time period has ended. This includes when the person we are talking about is dead.
Examples:
Leonardo painted the Mona Lisa.
The Vikings invaded Britain.
- For stories or lists of events from the past.
Examples:
I woke up, dressed up, and went to the party.
How Do We Form It?
The verb “TO BE”
Positive & Negative
I / he / she / it was / wasn’t cold
we / you / they were / weren’t on holidays
Questions
Was / wasn’t I / he / she / it sleepy ?
Were/ weren’t we / you / they at the cinema?
* “wh” questions with “ be” → why
where
when goes at the beginning.
how
who ex. Why was he angry?
Where were they yesterday?
Other verbs
“Did” instead of “do/does”
Regular verbs → by adding “-ed” Irregular verbs → 2nd column
play = played go = went
run = ran
Positive
I / he / she / it / we / you / they walked very fast.
Negative
I / he / she / it / we / you / they didn’t play soccer last year.
Questions
Did I / you / he / she / it / we / they play?
Where did I / you / he / she / it / we / they go?
