PAST SIMPLE or PAST CONTINUOUS

PAST SIMPLE Verbs may be: REGULAR: I played tennis yesterday. IRREGULAR (second column of irregular verbs) She ate ice-cream in winter.

Past Simple form (REGULAR VERBS) To form the past simple of regular verbs we usually add -ED to the verb: BOIL --- BOILED FILL --- FILLED Spelling changes: If the verb ends in –E  we add –D LIVE --- LIVED USE --- USED If the verb ends in consonant + Y  we change Y into I TRY --- TRIED CRY --- CRIED One syllable verbs ending in vowel + consonant (except for W o Y)  we double the consonant PLAN --- PLANNED STOP --- STOPPED Two syllable verbs ending in vowel + consonant when the final syllable is stressed  we double the consonant PERMIT --- PERMITTED REFER --- REFERRED If the verb ends in –L  we double the consonant: TRAVEL --- TRAVELLED LABEL --- LABELLED Exceptions: WORSHIP --- WORSHIPPED KIDNAP --- KIDNAPPED

PAST SIMPLE: affirmative, negative or interrogative He painted the wall We woke up very early NEGATIVE: He didn’t paint the wall We didn’t wake up very early INTERROGATIVE: Did he paint the wall? Did we wake up very early?

was / were + –ING form PAST CONTINUOUS Form: He was playing golf They were studying

PAST CONTINUOUS: affirmative, negative or interrogative AFIRMATIVE: He was painting the wall We were waking up very early NEGATIVE: He wasn’t painting the wall We weren’t waking up very early INTERROGATIVE: Was he painting the wall? Were we waking up very early?

Spelling Rules for the Continuous [-ing] - Some verbs just need ‘ing’ adding to them: read – reading / stand – standing / jump - jumping - If a verb ends in a silent ‘e’, drop the final ‘e’ and add ‘ing’: leave – leaving / take – taking / receive - receiving - In a one syllable word, if the three last letters are consonant – vowel –consonant (cvc), double the last consonant before adding ‘ing’: sit – sitting / run – running / hit - hitting …however, Do not double the consonant in words that end in w, x, or y : sew – sewing / fix – fixing / enjoy - enjoying - In words of two or more syllables that end in a consonant-vowel-consonant combination, double the last consonant only if the last syllable is stressed: admit – admitting / regret – regretting / begin - beginning - If a verb ends in ‘ie’, change the ‘ie’ to y before adding ‘ing’ : die – dying / lie - lying

PAST SIMPLE OR PAST CONTINUOUS TO TALK ABOUT A FINISHED ACTION IN A TIME BEFORE NOW IN A SPECIFIC MOMENT. John Cabot sailed to America in 1498. EXPRESSIONS OF PAST SIMPLE: frequency: often, sometimes, always; a specific moment in time (point in time): last week, when I was a child, yesterday, six weeks ago. a non-sepcific moment in time: the other day, ages ago, a long time ago etc. Examples: Yesterday, I arrived in Geneva. She always played the piano when she was a child. TO EXPRESS A LONG OR UNFINISHED ACTION IN THE PAST: "I was going to spend the day at the beach but I've decided to go on an excursion instead.” TO DESCRIBE A LONG ACTION INTERRUPTED BY A SHORT ONE: “I was having a beautiful dream when the alarm clock rang.“ TO DESCRIBE THE CONTEXT IN WHICH AN ACTION HAPPENS: “It was getting dark. The prince was walking silently around the hall...”

Past Simple vs. Past Continuous Conjunctions: WHEN (used with Past Simple) WHILE (used with Past Continuous). Uses 1. A short action (Past Simple) interrupts a long action (Past Continuous) John was watching TV when his friend arrived. 2. Two long actions (Past Continuous) happen at the same time. I was doing the washing up while my brother was watching TV. 3. Two short actions (Past Simple) happen one after the other. - When I heard the explosion, I phoned the police.

Review Simple past = action or state finished in the past (yesterday, last…, … ago, etc.) Past continuous = was/were + verb+ing, an action that was in progress/not finished when another action happened (interrupted)

Practice: Do you have a good memory? Are you a good witness? Directions: Look at the following picture for one minute. Try to remember as many details as you can, but don’t write anything.

Only one minute… Ready, go ….

One minute…

What do you remember? How many people were there? Where were the people? What was hanging from the ceiling? What was the bank robber holding? What was the bank robber wearing? What color was his hair? What was covering the bank robber’s face? Was the bank robber right-handed or left-handed? What was the bank manager doing? What was the bank teller doing? Who was walking into the bank? What time was it? What was under the bank manager’s desk?

Activities Exercise 1 Exercise 2