Exercise 1

Past simple and past continuous

Complete the sentences. Put the verbs in brackets into the past simple or the past continuous. Type the sentences.

1. While I (drive), I (have) an accident.
   
2. Kate (have) dinner and then she (do) her homework.
   
3. The thieves (hide) in the kitchen when the police (come) in.
   
4. Sam (plan) a party and then he (phone) his friends.
   
5. While we (clean) the house, we (break) some glasses.
   
6. Alan (look) out of the window when he (see) a UFO.

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Simple Past – Past Progressive

Form

Simple Past	Past Progressive
irregular verbs: see 2nd column of irregular verbs I spoke regular verbs: verb + ed I worked	past form of 'be' + ing form of verb I was speaking you were speaking he / she / it was speaking we were speaking they were speaking
Exceptions
Exceptions when adding 'ed' : when the final letter is e, only add d. Example: love - loved after a short, stressed vowel, the final consonant is doubled Example: admit - admitted final l is always doubled in British English (not in American English) Example: travel - travelled after a consonant, final y becomes i. (but: not after a vowel) Example: worry - he worried but: play - he played	Exceptions when adding 'ing' : silent e is dropped (but: does not apply for -ee) Example: come - coming but: agree - agreeing after a short, stressed vowel, the final consonant is doubled Example: sit - sitting final l is always doubled in British English (not in American English) Example: travel - travelling final ie becomes y. Example: lie - lying

Use

After another or at the same time?

Do you want to express that the actions in the past happened one after another or at the same time?

Simple Past	Past Progressive
after another She came home, switched on the computer and checked her e-mails.	at the same time Simon was playing on the computer while his brother was watching TV.

New action or already in progress?

If you want to express that a new action happened in the middle of another action, you need both tenses: Simple Past the new action and Past Progressive for the action already in progress.

Simple Past	Past Progressive
new action My mobile rang (when I was sitting in a meeting.)	action already in progress While I was sitting in a meeting, (my mobile suddenly rang.)

Only mentioning or emphasising progress?

Do you just want to mention that an action took place in the past (also used for short actions)? Or do you want to put emphasis on the progress, e.g. that an action was taking place at a certain time?

Simple Past	Past Progressive
just mentioning Colin played football yesterday.	emphasising progress Yesterday at six o'clock, Colin was playing football.

Certain Verbs

The following verbs are usually only used in Simple Past (not in the progressive form).

• state: be, cost, fit, mean, suit
  Example: We were on holiday.
• possession: belong, have
  Example: Sam had a cat.
• senses: feel, hear, see, smell, taste, touch
  Example: He felt the cold.
• feelings: hate, hope, like, love, prefer, regret, want, wish
  Example: Jane loved pizza.
• brain work: believe, know, think, understand
  Example: I did not understand him.
• introductory clauses for direct speech: answer, ask, reply, say
  Example: “I am watching TV,“ he said.

Signal words

Simple Past	Past Progressive
first then If-Satz Typ II (If I talked, …) For more: https://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/grammar-reference/past-continuous-and-past-simple	when while as long as

 Past Continuous / Progressive

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Do the exercises below on the past continuous 

!!! Before doing the exercises you may want to read the lesson on the past continuous.

Put the verbs into the correct form (past progressive).

1. When I phoned my friends, they (play) monopoly.
2. Yesterday at six I (prepare) dinner.
3. The kids (play) in the garden when it suddenly began to rain.
4. I (practice) the guitar when he came home.
5. We (not / cycle) all day.
6. While Alan (work) in his room, his friends (swim) in the pool.
7. I tried to tell them the truth but they (not / listen ) .
8. What (you / do) yesterday?
9. Most of the time we (sit) in the park.
10. I (listen) to the radio while my sister (watch) TV.
11. When I arrived, They (play) cards.
12. We (study) English yesterday at 4:00 pm .

Write correct sentences:

Yesterday at 6 pm your family were doing different things. Write positive sentences in past progressive.

1. My mother / read / a novel
2. My father / watch / a movie
3. My elder sister / writing / in her diary
4. My two brothers / listen / to the radio
5. My little sister and I / not / watch / a movie
6. We / talk / about school

Warning

Before submitting the test, check the following:

• Punctuation and capitalization
• Spelling
• Spaces (don't add any unnecessary spaces)

Such mistakes would cost you valuable points. Good luck! :)

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Past Continuous/Progressive Tense

We use the Past Continuous Tense to say that something was going on around a particular time in the past.

Forming present continuous

subject + am/is/are + V –ing.
I am studying.
Tom is working.
The children are playing.

Forming past continuous tense

subject + was/were +V -ing.
I was studying.
Tom was working.
The children were playing.

AFFIRMATIVE STATEMENTS			NEGATIVE STATEMENTS
Subject	Past Tense of Be	Base Form of Verb +Ing	Subject	Past Tense of Be + Not	Base Form of Verb +Ing
I He She It	was	working.	I He She It	was not (wasn't)	working.
We You They	were	working.	We You They	were not (weren't)	working.

Yes / No Questions

YES/NO QUESTIONS
Past Tense of Be	Subject	Base For of Verb + Ing	Short Answers Affirmative			Short Answers Negative
Was	I he she it	working?	Yes.	I he she it	was	No.	I he she it	was not (wasn't)
Were	we you they	working?		we you they	were		we you they	were not (weren't)

Example Sentences

I was studying chemistry last night.
In 1992 we were living in Cuba.
Today she’s wearing a blue dress, but yesterday she was wearing a black one.
Jimmy wasn’t working very hard.
The players were not playing well.
When the phone rang I was cleaning the windows.
I fell asleep while I was reading a book.
He was driving fast when the accident happened.

Were you watching television when I called you?
No, I wasn’t. I was listening to music.

Was it raining when you left the house?
No, it wasn’t. It was sleeting when I left the house.

Punctuation and Order

We can change the order of the two parts of a sentence containing a continuous action (main clause). When we begin with the main clause, we do not use a comma (,) between the two parts. When we begin with the time clause, we add a comma (,) between the two parts.

I was walking along the beach when it started to rain.
When it started to rain, I was walking along the beach.

Jonathan arrived while I was sleeping.
While I was sleeping, Jonathan arrived.

My father arrived as my mother was cooking.
As my mother was cooking, my father arrived.

It started to rain just as we were coming out of the building.
As we were coming out of the building, it started to rain.



TIME EXPRESSIONS COMMONLY USED WITH THE PAST CONT:

As we were playing, it started to rain.
While we were playing, it started to snow.
This time yesterday we were playing basketball.
All last night they were traveling through Anatolia.
We were having dinner between seven and eight yesterday evening.
It was raining at noon yesterday.
I was not visiting the museum at ten yesterday. I was visiting the castle then.


NOTE: While/as can be used with Simple Past tense.

As/while he shaved he thought about the coming interview.