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The contrast between Past Simple and Past Continuous:

the affirmative, negative and interrogative form

Presentation / Objective

The past sentences are very important. Due to the fact, that they allow us to describe actions or past events in history.

The past simple describes actions that happened in a specific moment in the past. On the other hand, the past continuous describes actions that were in progress in the past.

In this topic, you will learn the difference between the past simple and the past continuous in the affirmative, negative and interrogative form, and describe actions that took place in your life. At the same time, you will be able to talk and write about your last holiday and contrast finished actions, mention the actions that were in progress in an specific moment, and finally mention those actions that were happening simultaneously.

Objective

By the end of this topic you will:
Use the past simple and past continuous, to describe short stories about your last holiday, to give information in the past and to talk about actions that were in progress.

Content

Contrast the use between Past Simple and Past Continuous the affirmative, negative and interrogative form

Past Simple

The past tenses are essential because they describe actions that took place in our lives.

The past simple is used to talk about finished actions in the past.


Examples:
I traveled to Cancun last summer.
I visited the National Anthropology Museum.


  • Affirmative
  • Negative
  • Interrogative
  • Wh-questions


Past Continuous

The past continuous is used to describe an action in progress at a specific moment in the past, or to describe activities that were interrupted by a short action in the past.

Example
I was watching the game last Saturday at ten o’clock.


Affirmative

For the past continuous (affirmative) we use:

I was watching the game
You were watching the game
He was watching the game
She was watching the game
It was watching the game
You were watching the game
We were watching the game
They were watching the game

Were is used for the plural pronouns and was is used for the singular pronouns.

Negative

For the past continuous (negative) we use:

I was not watching the game
You were not watching the game
He was not watching the game
She was not watching the game
It was not watching the game
You were not watching the game
We were not watching the game
They were not watching the game

 

Interrogative.

For the past continuous (interrogative) we use:

was I watching the game?
were You watching the game?
was He watching the game?
was She watching the game?
was It watching the game?
were You watching the game?
were We watching the game?
were They watching the game?

The Questions in the past continuous can be answered with short answers.

  • Affirmative form
    Yes, (I, He, She, It) was
    Yes, (You, We, They) were
  • Negative form
    No, (I, He, She, It) was not / wasn't
    No, (You, We, They) were not / weren't

  • For example:
    Was he watching the game?
    Yes, he was
    No, he wasn't

    Were they watching the game?
    Yes, they were
    No, he were not
The Questions in the past continuous can be answered with complete answers.

  • Affirmative form
    Yes, (I, He, She, It) was watching the game
    Yes, (You, We, They) were watching the game
  • Negative form
    No, (I, He, She, It) was not / wasn't watching the game
    No, (You, We, They) were not / weren't watching the game

  • For example:
    Was he watching the game?
    Yes, he was watching the game
    No, he wasn't watching the game

    Were they watching the game?
    Yes, they were watching the game
    No, he were not watching the game

Wh-questions

Wh-questions are used in the past continuous in order to ask for specific information:

• Place

Example:   Where was (I, He, She, It) going?
  (I, He, She, It) was going to Chapultepec Park.
   
  Where were (You, We, They) going?
  (You, We, They) were going to Chapultepec Park.

• Specific thing, object

Example:   What was (I, He, She, It) doing?
  (I, He, She, It) was eating Mexican food.
   
  What were (You, We, They) doing?
   (You, We, They) were eating Mexican food.

• Time

Example:   When was (I, He, She, It) going?
   (I, He, She, It) was going in the morning.
   
  When were (You, We, They) going?
   (You, We, They) were going in the morning.

• Is only used when referring to people

Example:   Who was (I, He, She, It) going with?
   (I, He, She, It) was going with my mother.
   
  Who were (You, We, They) going with?
  (You, We, They) were going with my mother.

• Reason, explanation

Example:   Why was (I, He, She, It) flying by plane?
   (I, He, She, It) was going with my mother.
   
  Why were (You, We, They) flying by plane?
  Because, (You, We, They) were visiting Mexico City.


Past Simple or Past Continuous

We often use the past continuous and the past simple in the same sentence. The action in the past simple is short and usually unexpected. It interrupts the “longer” action which is generally in a past continuous form.
For example:

What were you doing when the plane landed?

I was looking in my bag for my passport when I heard a shout.

We jumped into a car that was waiting for the bus stop.

I was watching TV while my wife was sleeping.


When we have a sentence in past simple and another in past continuous, we often use when and while, but we have to take into consideration the following rules:

 
Rule
Examples
When When is followed by a sentence in past simple. When I took the photo, the kids were playing.

The kids were playing when I took the photo.
While While is followed by a sentence in past continuous. While I was having dinner, my father arrived.

My father arrived while I was having dinner.
While is also used when two actions are happening simultaneously. While I was watching TV my mother was cooking.

I was watching TV while my mother was cooking.

Reading

Activity 1

Something to remember

We enjoy sharing our travelling experiences; we talk about them with our family and friends.


Nowadays, this information can be read by people that we don’t even know since we post this information on the web.

Read how Natasha and Bruno’s family spend the last holidays in the blog "My last holidays".My last holiday".


Adam, R. (2007). Alpes [Photography].
Taken from https://goo.gl/LqrjzS

Listening

Activity 2

An Interesting city

Frank is from Germany and last summer he decided to travel alone and visit Mexico City. After two days, he was so excited that he decided to call his wife to let her know all the details about his trip.

Listen to the following conversation and choose the correct questions. You can listen to the audio several times. However, you will only have one opportunity to answer the exercise correctly.


Mexico City Tourism Board (2013). Turibus [Photography].
Taken from https://goo.gl/5lVirN

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Writing

Activity 3

My favourite photo

Photographs are documentary evidence of our life. They help us to remember important moments that will never happen again. Travelling gives us the perfect opportunity to take lots of photos, and like everybody, we always have a favourite.

Choose your favourite photo and write a 100-200 word description by answering the following questions:

  1. What's your favourite photo?
  2. Who took it? Where? When?
  3. What was happening when you took the picture?
  4. Where do you keep it?
  5. Why do you like it?

Read the following text and use it as an example for your activity.



Before doing your task, do not forget to check the checklist that will be used to evaluate your activity.

Speaking

Activity 4

What did you do on your last holidays?

We all enjoy talking about our past experiences with our friends and family describing-those moments that were important to us.

Think about the last time you went on a holiday. Read the following questions and answer them. Your answers may be affirmative or negative. Record the questions with their answers and compare your pronunciation with the audio provided.

  1. Where did you go?
  2. Who did you go with?
  3. What did you do?
  4. What did you have to eat and drink?
  5. What happened while you were eating and drinking?
  6. Did you meet anyone?
  7. Did you have a good time?

 

Before recording, check the rubrics that you will use to self-evaluate your recording.

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Self-assessment

Past simple or past continuous

Allan is talking to you. He is asking you some questions about homework and projects. Order the answers in the following dialogue using when or while.

Self-assessment

When or while

We have explored the use of when and while in the past simple and past continuous. Now you are ready to identify them in a sentence.

References

Basic references

• Oxenden C. & Latham-Koenig C. (1997). American English File. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press.
• Oxenden C. & Latham-Koenig C. (1997). American English File (2st ed.). Oxford, England: Oxford University Press.
• Bolton D. & Goodey N. (1997). English Grammar in Steps. London: Richmond Publishing

Complementary references

• AZAR, B. & HAGEN, S. (2009). Understanding and Using English Grammar (4th ed.). New York USA: Pearson Education.
• MURPHY, R. (2005). English Grammar in Use (3rd ed). Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press.