SUPERIOR INSTITUTE OF SCIENCES AND EDUCATION A

DISTANCE

DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL AND HUMAN SCIENCES

DEGREE IN POLITICAL SCIENCE AND INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

Name: Marta Sgauque

Past simple versus past continuous (Discuss the differences past simple versus
past continuous, the structures of each, the uses and the example

Teacher:

May 2023
Inde

Introduction.....................................................................................4

Past continuous and past simple.............................................................5

Formation........................................................................................5

Pronunciation of -ed............................................................................8

Discuss the differences past simple versus past continuous.............................8

Introduction................................................................................8

Past continuous we use the past continuous:.............................................9

Past continuous vs. past simple we can use the past simple and the past
continuous in the same sentence structure with different meanings:.................9

Using "when" and "while" to describe actions that happen at the same time....9

The Structures of Simple Past Tense.......................................................11

Formula and Structure of the Past Continuous Tense...................................11

Summary

The simple past tense shows that you are talking about something that has already
happened. Unlike the past continuous tense, which is used to talk about past
events that happened over a period of time, the simple past tense indicates that
the action occurred at a certain time and then was completed. The past continuous
tense, also known as the past progressive tense, describes on-going actions in the
past, such as I was writing my research paper all night. It uses the same
construction as the present continuous tense except with the past tense of the
verb to be. What separates the past continuous tense from the past perfect
continuous tense or even the simple past tense? Below, we take a deep dive into
the past continuous tense, go over all the rules and uses, and give plenty of past
continuous tense examples.
Introduction

This present work arises within the scope of English discipline, having as its theme,
addressing the simple past and the past continuous. Within the topic under
discussion we will talk about the structure of the simple paste, its form and its
examples and finally we will talk about the past continuous in which we need to
make clear about its form and its structure in this case giving its examples to show
the application of the past continued in the English language.
Past continuous and past simple

The simple past or past indefinite, sometimes called the preterit, is the basic form

of the past tense in Modern English. It is used principally to describe events in the
past, although it also has some other uses. Regular English verbs form the simple
past in -ed; however, there are a few hundred irregular verbs with different forms.

The term "simple" is used to distinguish the syntactical construction whose basic

form uses the plain past tense alone, from other past tense constructions which use
auxiliaries in combination with participles, such as the past perfect and past
progressive.

Formation

Regular verbs form the simple past end-ed; however there are a few
hundred irregular verbs with different forms. The spelling rules for forming the
past simple of regular verbs are as follows: verbs ending in -e add only –d to the
end (e.g. live – lived, not lived), verbs ending in -y change to -ied (e.g. study –
studied) and verbs ending in a group of a consonant + a vowel + a consonant double
the final consonant (e.g. stop – stopped). For details see English verbs § Past tense.

Most verbs have a single form of the simple past, independent of

the person or number of the subject (there is no addition of -s for the third person
singular as in the simple present). However, the copula verb be has two past tense
forms: was for the first and third persons singular, and were in other instances. The
form were can also be used in place of was in conditional clauses and the like; for
information on this, see English subjunctive. This is the only case in modern English
where a distinction in form is made between inversion, negations with not, and
emphatic forms of the simple past use the auxiliary did. For details of this
mechanism, see do-support. A full list of forms is given below, using the (regular)
verb help as an example:

 Basic simple past:

o I/you/he/she/it/we/they helped
 Expanded (emphatic) simple past:
o I/you/he/she/it/we/they did help
 Question form:
o Did I/you/he/she/it/we/they help?
 Negative:
o I/you/he/she/it/we/they did not (didn't) help
 Negative question:
o Did I/you/he/she/it/we/they not
help? / Didn't I/you/he/she/it/we/they help?
Base form
Affirmative (+) S + verb(ed) + c
Negative (-) S + did not ( didn't) + verb + C

Usage

The simple past is used for a single event (or sequence of such events) in the past,
and also for past habitual actions:

He took the money and ran.

I visited them every day for a year.

It can also refer to a past state:

I knew how to fight even as a child.

For actions that were on-going at the time referred to, the past progressive is
generally used instead (e.g. I was cooking). The same can apply to states, if
temporary (e.g. the ball was lying on the sidewalk), but some statue verbs do not
generally use the progressive aspect at all, typically verbs of mental states (know,
believe, need), of emotional states (love, dislike, prefer), of possession (have,
own), of senses (hear) and some others (consist, exist, promise) – see Uses of
English verb forms § Progressive – and in these cases the simple past is used even
for a temporary state:

The dog was in its kennel.

I felt cold.

However, with verbs of sensing, it is common in such circumstances to use could

see in place of saw, could hear in place of heard, etc. For more on this, see can
see.
If one action interrupts another, then it is usual for the interrupted (on-going)
action to be expressed with the past progressive, and the action that interrupted it
to be in the simple past:

Your mother called while you were cooking.

The simple past is often close in meaning to the present perfect. The simple past is
used when the event happened at a particular time in the past, or during a period
which ended in the past (i.e. a period that does not last up until the present time).
This time frame may be explicitly stated, or implicit in the context (for example
the past tense is often used when describing a sequence of past events).

I was born in 1980.

We turned the oven off two minutes ago.

I came home at 6 o'clock.

When did they get married?

We wrote two letters this morning.

She placed the letter on the table, sighed, and left the house.

These examples can be contrasted with those given at Uses of English verb forms
§ Present perfect. Also, for past actions that occurred before the relevant past
time frame, the past perfect is used.

Various compound constructions exist for denoting past habitual action. The

sentence When I was young, I played football every Saturday might alternatively
be phrased using used to (... I used to play ...) or using would (... I would play...).

The simple past form also has some uses in which it does not refer to a past time.
These are generally in condition clauses and some other dependent
clauses referring to hypothetical circumstances, as well as certain expressions of
wish:

If he walked faster, he would get home earlier.

I wish I knew what his name was.

I would rather she wore a longer dress.

For more details see the sections on conditionals, dependent

clauses and expressions of wish in the article on uses of English verb forms.

For use of the simple past (and other past tense forms) in indirect speech, see Uses
of English verb forms § Indirect speech. An example:

He said he wanted to go on the slide.

Pronunciation of -ed

The regular verbs ending with -ed are pronounced as follows:

 Regular verb endings with voiced consonants+/d/, e.g. hugged /hʌɡd/.

 Regular verb endings with unvoiced consonants+/t/, e.g. stopped /stɒpt/.

 Regular verb endings with /t/ or /d/ + /ɪd/, e.g. needed /niːdɪd/.

Discuss the differences past simple versus past continuous

Introduction
Past simple

We use the past simple to describe:

 finished actions in the past:

o "I studied for an exam."
 finished actions over periods of time in the past:
o "I studied for four years."
 habits in the past:
o "I studied every night when I was at school."
 past facts:
o "I studied history at university."
Past continuous

we use the past continuous:

 to emphasise the continuous nature of a finished action in the past:

o "I was studying for an exam all night."
 to describe a continuous action that was in progress at a particular time:
o "At 11am, I was visiting my grandmother."

We do not use the past continuous for habits in the past: not "I was taking the bus
to school."

Past continuous vs. past simple

we can use the past simple and the past continuous in the same sentence
structure with different meanings:

 The past simple describes when the action started:

o "At 7am, I went to work."
This means that the journey to work began at 7am.
 The past continuous describes an action that was already in progress:
o "At 7am, I was going to work."
This means that the journey to work was already in progress at 7am;
it began before 7am.

Using "when" and "while" to describe actions that happen at the same time
"when" and past simple

We use "when" with the past simple to describe two actions where one action is the
result of another action, or happens immediately after:

 "I went downstairs when I heard the doorbell."

or
"When I heard the doorbell, I went downstairs."

The action of going downstairs is the result of hearing the doorbell.

 "What did you do when the telephone rang?"

This question asks about your action as a result of hearing the telephone
ring.

"I left the house."
 The answer means that immediately after the telephone rang, you left the
house (suggesting that you did not answer the telephone).

"when" with past continuous and past simple

We use "when" with the past continuous and past simple:

 to describe an action that was in progress (using past continuous) when

another action happened (using past simple):
o "I was studying history at university when I learnt to play the
saxophone."

 to describe a continuous action that was already in progress (using past

continuous) and was interrupted by a shorter action (using past simple):
o "I was going downstairs when I heard the doorbell."
or
"When I heard the doorbell, I was going downstairs."
The action of going downstairs was already in progress and was
interrupted when the doorbell rang.

o "What were you doing when the telephone rang?"

This question asks about the action that was interrupted when the
telephone rang.
"I was leaving the house."
The answer means that before the telephone rang, you were already
in the process of leaving the house (suggesting that it is possible that
you did answer the telephone).

"while"

We use "while" with the past continuous to describe a continuous action that was in
progress at the same time as another action, using either the past simple or past
continuous:

 "She read the newspaper while I was doing the gardening."

or "While I was doing the gardening, she read the newspaper."

 "She was reading the newspaper while I was doing the gardening."

or "While I was doing the gardening, she was reading the newspaper."

 "What were you doing while the telephone rang?" This question asks about

your action at the same time as the telephone rang (suggesting that you
were doing something else instead of answering the telephone).
Simple Past Tense indicates an action which is completed at a definite time in the
past.

The Structures of Simple Past Tense

POSITIVE FORM (+):  

 Subject + V2 ( Second Form of Verb )

NEGATIVE FORM (-):

 Subject + did not + V1  ( First Form of Verb )

QUESTION FORM (?):

 Did + Subject + V1  ( First Form of Verb )

SHORT ANSWER FORM ( + / – ) :

 YES / NO + Subject + did / did not (didn’t)

POSITIVE (+) NEGATIVE (-) QUESTION (?)

I started I did not (didn’t) start Did I start

You started You did not (didn’t) start Did you start

He started He did not (didn’t) start Did he start

She started She did not (didn’t) start Did she start

It started It did not (didn’t) start Did it start

We started We did not (didn’t) start Did we start

You started You did not (didn’t) start Did you start

They started They did not (didn’t) start Did they start

Formula and Structure of the Past Continuous Tense

Conjugating a verb in the past continuous tense can be made easier if you know
and understand its formula and structure.

Here is the formula with which you can structure a sentence in the past continuous
tense.
Subject + was/were + present participle (verb+ing) + the rest of the sentence

Structure of the Past Continuous Tense

Positive Negative Interrogative Negative Interrogative

Subject + was/were Subject + was/were Was/were + subject + present Wasn’t/weren’t + subject +

+ present participle + not + present participle (verb+ing) + the rest present participle (verb+ing) + the
(verb+ing) + the rest participle (verb+ing) of the sentence rest of the sentence
of the sentence + the rest of the
sentence
(Or)

Was/were + subject + not +

present participle (verb+ing) +
the rest of the sentence

Examples: Examples: Examples: Examples:

 I was  I was not  Was I listening to the  Wasn’t I listening to the

listening to listening to news? news? / Was I not listening
the news. the news.  Were you doing it to the news?
 You were  You were not again?  Weren’t you doing it
doing it doing it  Was he driving a car? again? / Were you not
again. again. doing it again?
 Was it raining when you
 He was  He was not came?  Wasn’t he driving a
driving a car. driving a car. car? / Was he not driving a
 It was  It was not car?
raining when raining when  Wasn’t it raining when you
you came. you came. came? / Was it not
raining when you came?

Now, learn how to write a positive, negative, interrogative and negative interrogative
sentence by looking at the following table and examples given.