PAST SIMPLE VS PAST CONTINUOUS

1. Complete this table:

Infinitive Past Simple Gerund (-ing)

dance
stop
swim
fly
catch
write
die
travel
chat
understand

2. Write questions in the past continuous and then, write true answers for you.

a. What | you | do | at | 8.pm | last night?

_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
b. When | you | finish | your homework?
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
c. A | heavy snow | last year?
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
d. Your family | celebrate | a party | at 6 o’clock | last month?
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
e. You | on holidays | last summer?
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
f. What | your mum | do | yesterday | in the morning?
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________

3. Complete with Past Simple or Past Continuous

a. We waved at him, but he __________________________

b. He _______________________________ (sit) on a chair and watching TV.
c. When I was young, I _______________________________ (want) to be a pilot.
d. ____________________________________ (you |see) Jane last night?
e. She ___________________________ (wear) her new jacket when I saw her.
 PAST SIMPLE VS PAST CONTINUOUS

f. Mr. Brown ____________________________ (have) a shower when I knocked the door.

g. I turned off the radio. Nobody ___________________________________ (listen) to it.
h. Paul ______________________________ (go) to Madrid last week.
i. The boys ____________________________ (play) football yesterday in the afternoon.
j. While my mum ________________________________ (wash) the dishes, the telephone
_________________________________ (ring).
k. While my dad _________________________________ (clean) the kitchen, I
______________________________________ (tidy) my room.
l. The baby _______________________________ (cry) when Tom _________________________
(arrive).
m. The lights ________________________ (go) out when the teacher ________________________
(explain) the lesson.
n. I ______________________________ (not work) last summer. I ___________________________
(be) unemployed.
o. _____________________________________ (she |arrive) on time? Yes, she did. The show
______________________________________ (start) when she entered the room.
p. I _____________________________ (meet) my friend when I __________________________ (run)
4. Complete with Past Simple or Past Continuous

a. I used my time well while I (wait) ________________________ for my plane – I wrote some emails.
b. I (not/work) __________________________________ when my boss walked in my office.
c. I saw a car crash when I ______________________________________(wait) for the taxi.
d. Tom (have) _______________________________ long hair and a beard when he was at university.
e. It started snowing while I ____________________________________________ (drive) to work.
f. What _____________________________________ (you/do) this time last year?
g. I (not/call) ________________________________________you at 9 o'clock as arranged because I
was having a meeting.
h. I (still/sleep) __________________________________________ when my wife left for work this
morning.
i. Why did you bring your umbrella? (it/rain) ___________________________________ when you
left home?
j. She met her husband while she _____________________________________(work) in Berlin.
k. It ________________________________________(not/rain) when I left for work this morning.
l. The children _____________________________(jump) on the sofa when I arrived home.
m. I _________________________________(play) tennis all yesterday morning. That's why I feel so
tired today.
n. I ___________________________________(break) my ankle when I fell off my bike.
o. What ___________________________________________(do/ you) when I called you last night?
p. I ________________________________(have) a shower. That's why I couldn't answer the phone.
q. I ____________________________________(not/listen) when he started talking about the project.
r. We ________________________ (have) an argument yesterday when he dropped his cigarette on
the floor.
s. We _____________________________(leave) the pub because we were tired.
t. On Sunday morning, the wind _____________________________ (blow) softly so Peter decided to
go windsurfing.
PAST SIMPLE VS PAST CONTINUOUS