The simple past:

FORM: V + ed / Irregular verbs

Book p.175

When to use it?

1) The simple past is used to talk about a completed action in the past. It can also
be used for a series of completed actions. Duration is not important. The time
of the action can be in the recent past or the distant past.

E.g. - Christopher Columbus sailed to America in 1492.

- He studied art in Italy in 1976.

- I finished my work, walked to the beach, and found a nice place to swim.

- Did you add sugar, pour in the milk then mix everything?

- Were you an employee before you established your own company?

2) The simple past tense can also be used to describe past facts which are no
longer true.

E.g. - She was a child, but now she’s a woman.

- He didn’t like tomatoes when he was a kid.
- People paid a lot of money to make phone calls in the past.

When there is a specific time in the past- use the past simple

Signal words: Last week, when I was a child, yesterday, six weeks ago, the other day,
in 1999 (year), ages ago, a long time ago…
+ I skipped breakfast today.

_ Ray and Dave didn't go to the party last week.

? Did they start working on the project?

The past continuous tense:

FORM: V. be past + v.ing

Negative: wasn’t/ weren’t + v.ing

Question: Was/ Were + Subject +v.ing

When to use it?

The past continuous describes actions or events in a time before now, which started in
the past and are still going on at the time of speaking in the past. In other words, it
expresses an unfinished or incomplete action in the past.

1- To describe an unfinished action that was interrupted by another event or

action.

E.g. - I was having a beautiful dream when the alarm clock rang. (action- interruption)

- We were still driving in the desert at midnight. (Specific time- started before
midnight and was still going on at midgnight)

- Last night at 6, I was eating my dinner alone.

2- To describe parallel actions in the past.(were occurring at the same time)

 E.g. - I was studying while he was making dinner.
- Were you listening when the teacher was talking?
- Pam wasn’t driving when she was talking on the phone.

Past simple and continuous with (when)

E.g. - Paul was watching TV when she called.

- When Paul was watching TV, she called.

- She called when Paul was watching TV.
- When she called, Paul was watching TV.

Past simple and continuous with (while)

- While Paul was watching TV, she called.

- She called while Paul was watching TV.

* Past continuous: longer action in the past.

* Past simple: shorter action, might be an interruption.

Eg: The bookkeeper was presenting the annual financial reports when he saw a
mistake in the balance sheet.

* ‘When’ can be used before the past simple and past continuous.

* ‘While’ and ‘as’ can only be used before the past continuous.
* Remember: some verbs are non-continuous verbs. Use them in the past simple.