Past simple and continious (0)

 
 
 
 
Past Simple and Continuous  
 
Table of Contents 
 
 
Past Simple  .......................................................................... 2 
The spelling of endings in the Past Simple ............................ 3 
When to use the Past Simple ................................................ 3 
Past Continuous .................................................................. 4 
When to use the Past Continuous......................................... 4 
Used to & would................................................................... 5 
Unfulfilled past events .......................................................... 5 
 
Past Simple 
 
Regular Past Simple forms end in -ed. 
 
 
 
I worked 
he danced 
we apologized 
Some verbs have an irregular past form. 
 
 
I  left  
 
 
he wrote 
The Past Simple is the same in all persons except in the past tense of be. 
  I/he/she/it was (in the singular ) 
  you/we/they 
were (in the plural ) 
To form a negative or a question in the Past Simple, use did and the verb in the original  
form: 
Negative 
I/you/he/she/it/we/they did not stop/didn’t stop. 
Question  Did I/you/he/she/it/we/they stop? 
Note !  stopped          stop. 
 If a sentence contains was or were, use them , not did to form negatives and questions . 
Negative I/he/she/it 
was not /wasn’t 
  you/we/they 
were not /weren’t 
Question  Was I/he/she/it? 
 
 
Were you/we/they? 
  
 
 
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The spelling of endings in the Past Simple 
 
Regular verbs have -ed in the Past Simple tense. 
  look  
 looked 
  call  
 called 
1. If the verb ends in -e, we just add -d. 
 hope  
hoped 
 save  
saved 
2. When a verb ends in a  consonant + -y, the -y  changes into -ied. 
 hurry  
hurried 
 copy  
copied 
3. If a one- syllable verb ends with one vowel and one consonant, we double the 
consonant. 
 
beg  
begged 
 plan  
planned 
We also double the consonant in words of more than one syllable, if the last syllable is 
stressed. 
 permit permitted 
 prefer  preferred 
In British English  l is usually doubled , even if the syllable is unstressed. 
 travel  
travelled 
  
When to use the Past Simple 
 
Past Simple generally refers to: 
•         Completed or finished actions  
 
   
I got up,  switched  off the radio , and sat down again. 
•          Habits  
  
  Every 
day 
I  went  to the park. 
•           States  
 
  
In those  days , I didn't like  reading . 
 
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Past Continuous 
 
The Past Continuous is the past tense of be + an -ing-form. 
  
  I/he/she/it 
was playing  
  
  you/we/they 
were playing 
Negative I/he/she/it 
was not playing/wasn’t playing 
           you/we/they 
were not playing/weren’t playing 
Question  Was I/he/she/it playing? 
 
   
Were you/we/they playing? 
  
 
When to use the Past Continuous 
 
Past Continuous (Progressive) generally refers to: 
•         Actions in progress (often interrupted by events) 
  
  I 
was drinking  my coffee at the time. 
  
   While  
I 
was opening the letter , the phone rang. 
•          Background description in narratives 
I entered the office and looked around . Most people were working  at their 
desks, but  Jane  was staring out the window  and pretending to write 
something  at the same time. 
•           Changing states 
The car was getting  worse all the time. One of the headlights was gradually 
falling off, and the  engine  was making  more and more funny noises. 
•         Repeated actions - criticism 
With a frequency adverb , this use is similar to the use of Present Continuous to express  
annoyance. 
When Jane was at school, she was always losing things. 
 Past Continuous is not used to describe general habitual actions, without the sense of 
criticism mentioned above . 
Past Simple is used for this meaning .  
 
  
When I lived in London, I walked  through  the park every day.  
 
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Used to & would 
 
Used to 
This often  contrasts with the present . The contrast may be stated or understood . 
I used to go  swimming  a lot (but I don’t now). 
The negative form is either: 
I didn't use to or I used not to ( rare  for some speakers) 
The form I didn’t used to may also be found. This is usually considered incorrect, unless  
we consider  used to as an unchanging semi- modal form. There is no present time 
reference possible. 
  
Would 
This is used to describe repeated actions, not states. It describes a habitual activity  
which was  typical  of a person . 
Every week he'd buy his mother  a bunch of flowers. 
Used to would also be possible here . Compare : 
I used to like cowboy  films . 
Would is not possible here . 
Would is more common in written language and often occurs in reminiscences. 
 
Unfulfilled past events  
 
 1. These describe events intended to take place , but which did not happen .  
I was going  to phone you, but I forgot. 
I was thinking  of  going  to  Italy  this year , but I  haven 't decided. 
I was about to do it, but I  started doing something else . 
Jack was to have taken part , but he  fell ill. 
2. The contrasting past event is often understood. 
  
How 
are 
you? 
I 
was going to phone you ... (but I didn't). 
3.  Polite forms 
  These are common with wonder. 
  
I 
was wondering if you wanted to  come to the  cinema . 
 
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