Lesson
Grammar: Past simple or past continuous?
Tell stories clearly in Speaking Part 2: finished actions, background actions, and the moment something interrupted. Includes common irregular verbs.
Two past tenses
| Past simple | Past continuous | |
|---|---|---|
| Use it for | finished actions, one after another | an action in progress, the background to a story |
| Form | I walked / she went | I was walking / they were going |
Together in one sentence
The past continuous is the longer, background action. The past simple interrupts it.
While we were having dinner, the lights went out.
When usually comes before the short action, and while before the long action.
Irregular verbs you need for stories
go → went · see → saw · take → took · buy → bought · leave → left · find → found · tell → told · think → thought · feel → felt · fall → fell
Questions 1–5
Choose the correct form.
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I ___ my keys while I was walking home.
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At 8 o'clock last night, we ___ a film.
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She ___ her arm when she was playing basketball.
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While I ___ , my phone rang.
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Last summer we ___ to Cox's Bazar and ___ in the sea every day.
Questions 6–11
Write the verb in brackets in the past simple or past continuous.
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When I arrived, my friends (wait) outside the cinema.
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I (find) some money in the street yesterday.
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It (rain) when we left the house.
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My teacher (tell) us a funny story in class.
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We (not / see) the accident because we were looking the other way.
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He fell asleep while he (study).
Questions 12–14
Is each sentence correct or incorrect?
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I was knowing the answer, but I forgot it in the exam.
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While I was walking to college, I saw an old friend.
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Yesterday I buyed a new phone.
