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Past
Simple
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Past Continuous
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used to talk about a
completed past event
Example: She dedicated her book to her
late father.
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used for actions in progress at a time in the
past
with time phrases: at that time, then,
in those days;
yesterday, the day before yesterday, at 9 o’clock)
Example:
The Gordons were living in Boston
then.
They were all watching TV at
8 o’clock.
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used to talk about a permanent or long-term situation that
existed in the past
Example: When Mary was a child she played the piano.
They lived in
the south of the country before the war.
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2. used for describing
the situation or the background to a story
Example:
He was working in the garden in the afternoon. Suddenly his neighbour
screamed loudly..
The sun was shining and the
birds were singing. Un expectedly there was an explosion.
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used usually with exact past time phrases
ago, last night/week/month/year, in 1995, in the
1990s, on Monday, once upon a time, yesterday, the day before yesterday, at 9
o’clock;
every day/week/month/year;
in the 20th century;
in the past;
always, never, seldom, sometimes, usually;
Example: They always had breakfast at 7.
They gave a
concert in the hall every week.
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3. used for
actions which are suddenly interrupted
(‘when’ is used in this case)
Example:
When he was crossing the street his phone rang.
When we were flying on the
plane she felt sick.
(Sometimes ‘when’ sentence is presented in Past Simple)
Compare:
Example:
When he came in, everybody was watching a film.
When Simon came home his
children had dinner. (His children started to have dinner when
Simon came home – so both actions happened at the same time.)
When
Simon came home his children were having dinner. (His
children started to have dinner before Simon came home and when he came his
children were in the middle of the meal.)
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used to talk about repeated actions or events in the past
Example: I visited France
four times in 2000.
She slept very
badly whenever she stayed with her uncle.
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used with verbs describing states
agree, belong to, cost, disagree, hate, love, like,
own, realize, regret, prefer, depend, know, remember, hear, consist, hope,
believe, refuse, suggest, suppose, inform, warn, advise, accept, etc.
Example: She hated walking in the rain.
Their family
consisted of 5 people.
The palace
belonged to the Royal family.
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4. used
for actions which we see as incomplete
Compare:
Example: I
watched a film about the life of people in hot countries. (I watched it all.)
I was watching a film
about the life of people in hot countries in the hotel. (I probably didn’t watch it all.)
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