ISCED OPENED UNIVERSITY ECONOMY AND

FACULTY OF EDUCATIONAL SCIENCES

DEGREE COURSE IN TEACHING PORTUGUESE

Topic: PAST SIMPLE VERSUS PAST CONTINUOUS

Name: Ana Paula Eusébio Gote Studant Code : 11230476

Beira, May 2023

 ISCED OPENED UNIVERSITY ECONOMY AND

FACULTY OF EDUCATIONAL SCIENCES

DEGREE COURSE IN TEACHING PORTUGUESE

Topic: PAST SIMPLE VERSUS PAST CONTINUOUS

Camp Work To Be Submitted In The

Coordination Of Degree Course In
PORTUGUESE Of UnISCED

Tutor:

Name: Ana Paula Eusébio Gote Studant Code : 11230476

Beira, May 2023

contents

Introduction.................................................................................................................................4
Past simple...................................................................................................................................5
Past continuous............................................................................................................................5
Past continuous vs. past simple...................................................................................................5
conclusion....................................................................................................................................9
References.................................................................................................................................10
Introduction

The Past Simple is used to express past habits or actions started and ended in the past,
with a determined time. In order to determine the time in which these actions were
performed, we generally use words such as: yesterday, last night, last month, last year,
ago, etc. .
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).
conclusion

Done the work, we can conclude that The main difference between the simple past and
the past continuous is in use. The simple past tense of English verbs indicates past
actions that have already ended. But, when do we use the past continuous? This tense is
used to talk about actions that were in progress at a specific point in the past.
References
EASTWOOD, J. Oxford Practice Grammar. China: Oxford University Press, 2001.

CAMPOS, G. T. Gramática Língua Inglesa: Teoria e Prática. São Paulo. Rideel, 2006.