Past simple & past continuous

Past simple is often used for past events in a past time. Most stories are told using this tense and it is often used together with past continuous.

Past continuous or past progressive is one of the tenses we are going to study this year.

The following chart summarises the most important aspects you'll have to learn about both of them:

USES:

• Past simple is used to tell about past event or stories:
• We went to Ireland and there we met your sister.
• My parents spent a weekend in Coruña but they didn't go to the port.
• When did they release the film? Last Friday?
• Past continuous is often used to talk about what was happening at a specific time in the past (talking about memories...)
• We were watching the film at lunch time.
• Two past continuous tenses can be used to talk about long, simultaneous actions in the past:
• We were studying while the dogs were barking in the yard.
• Both tenses are used to talk about something that happened at one point (in the past simple) while a longer action was taking place (in the past continuous). In this use, the clause referring to the longer action, is often introduced by while or as; or, alternatively, the shorter action clauses is introduced by when:
• We weren't watching the film when my sister rang.
• They found the lost key as they were having a walk along the river.
• Myrtle broke here leg while she was exercising in the park.

EXERCISES:

past simple

• Revision of regular verbs -englisch-hilfen.de
• Revision of irregular verbs1 -englisch-hilfen.de
• Revision of irregular verbs2 -englisch-hilfen.de
• Revision of irregular verbs3 -englisch-hilfen.de
• Revision of irregular verbs4 -englisch-hilfen.de
• Past simple Boy -www.isabelperez.es 
• Questions in the past simple
• Past continuous and past simple exercise -British Council
• Complete with the right affirmative form of past tense-My English Pages
• Write affirmative sentences in past simple (Don't forget punctuation)
• Write these sentences in the negative
• Fill the gaps with past simple forms- Learn English Today
• Fill the gaps with past simple forms - To Learn English
• Present simple or past simple - To Learn English
• Sentences and questions in the past simple1-Englisch Hilfen
• Sentences and questions in the past simple2-Englisch Hilfen

past continuous

• Past continuous 1
• Past contunuous 2 - statements
• Past continuous 3 - statements
• Past continuous 4 - negative
• Past continuous 5 - questions
• Past continuous 6 questions
• Past continuous use

contrast:

• Past simple versus past continuous 1
• Past simple versus past continuous 2
• Past simple versus past continuous 3
• Past simple versus past continuous 4
• Past simple versus past continuous 5
• Past simple boy (from www.isabelperez.com)
• Lady past continuous (from www.isabelperez.com)
• Choose the right tense exercise (perfect-english-grammar.com)
• Revision exercise for unit 2 (past simple / past continuous / jobs / questions)
• Shakira's life (past simple exercise)