1. PAST SIMPLE or PAST CONTINUOUS

2. The Joy of Teaching
It was ten to twelve in a beautiful Autumn morning. The English teacher came into the classroom. He was wearing a black shirt and grey trousers. He was carrying his textbook, the registry notebook, his laptop, a big and heavy sound system. The pupils were chatting and making a lot of noise. He was used to it. He switched on the computer, turned on the projector, roll called 38 names and started to teach the differences between the Past Simple and the Past Continuous. He taught how to use the auxiliary “did” while some pupils were talking aloud about their weekend. He heard two girls gossiping. They were making fun of his chalk stained trousers. Then he wrote the spelling rules of –ing forms, but he saw some students were using their mobile phones. One of them was laughing at some dumb picture on the screen. Next, he gave the students some photocopies with exercises to be done during the class. Five minutes later, he realised no one was doing the exercises. All of the students were chatting, drawing on the photocopies, browsing the textbook or even exchanging stupid notes .
Then he shot them. Each and every one.
When the police and the ambulances arrived, he was calmly explaining the Past Continuous to a silent, peaceful class in a beautiful Autumn morning at IES ALBERO
The pupils weren’t listening. He was used to it.

3. The Simple Past
One morning I shot an elephant in my pyjamas. How he got into my pyjamas I'll never know. Groucho Marx
I never killed a man, but I read an obituary with a great deal of satisfaction.
I didn't attend the funeral, but I sent a nice letter saying that I approved of it.
Mark Twain

4. The Simple Past I visited my sister yesterday.
We use the simple past to indicate exactly when an action or event took place in the past.
I visited my sister yesterday.
We went out to dinner last night.

5. Use a finished action in the past
My parents met in They got married in I was born in 1996.
actions that follow each other in a story
Mary walked into the room and stopped.
a past situation or habit
When I was a child, we lived in a small house by the sea.

6. Time expressions last night, last week, last year, last...
two days ago, 25 years ago, a long time ago…
yesterday, yesterday morning…
In 1962, in September 1996, in the 19th century…
On Monday…
At last night…
When I was a child…

7. PAST SIMPLE Verbs can be:
REGULAR:
I played tennis yesterday. My sister studied in Harvard University. Our teacher lived in Australia.
IRREGULAR
She ate a salad last night. My mum bought a new car. I wore a mini skirt to the party.

8. If the base verb ends in:
do this:
And add
For example:
consonant + vowel + consonant
and a stressed syllable
double the final consonant
-ing
-ed
stop > stopping > stopped
begin > beginning
tap > tapping > tapped
But, for example:
open > opening > opened
(because no stress on last syllable of open)
consonant + -e
remove the -e
phone > phoning > phoned
dance > dancing > danced
make > making
rake > raking > raked
dye > dying > dyed
-ie
change the -ie to -y
lie > lying
die > dying
nothing -d
lie > lied
die > died

9. Forming the simple past tense (REGULAR VERBS)
We add -ED al verbo:
BOIL BOILED WORK WORKED
FILL FILLED WATCH WATCHED
Some exceptions:
Verbs ending in E add –D
LIVE LIVED DANCE DANCED
DATE DATED BAKE BAKED
Verbs ending in consonant + Y: -ied
TRY TRIED
CRY CRIED
Verbs ending in CVC, double consonant.
TAP TAPPED (RAIN RAINED)
COMMIT COMMITTED

10. 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 Peter paint the wall?Yes, he did/No, he didn’t
Did we wake up very early? Yes, we did/No, we didn’t.

11. Wh- questions Wh- + did + Subject + Verb + Comp
Where did your parents go last Saturday?
Why did your boyfriend kiss that girl?
When did you arrive home last night?
How many exams did you do last week?
Who did you see at the party?
Who saw you at the party?

12. “I wasn't kissing her, I was whispering in her mouth.” Chico Marx
Past continuous
“I wasn't kissing her, I was whispering in her mouth.”
Chico Marx

13. The Past Progressive
The past progressive is used to talk about an activity that was in progress at a specific point of time in the past. The emphasis is on the duration of the activity in the past.
I was studying for an exam while my mother was cooking dinner.
We were walking in the park around 7 p.m. last night.

14. The Past Progressive I was taking a bath when the doorbell rang.
The past progressive is often used with the simple past to show that one action was in progress when another action occurred.
I was taking a bath when the doorbell rang.
They were eating dinner when the neighbors stopped by for a visit.

15. Form Subject + Was / were + verb + -ing They were driving to Paris.
We weren’t waiting for a long time.
What were they doing?
Our teacher was wearing a blue jacket.
My mum wasn’t sleeping when I arrived.
Why were you crying when I saw you…?

16. If the base verb ends in:
do this:
And add
For example:
consonant + vowel + consonant
and a stressed syllable
double the final consonant
-ing
-ed
stop > stopping > stopped
begin > beginning
tap > tapping > tapped
But, for example:
open > opening > opened
(because no stress on last syllable of open)
consonant + -e
remove the -e
phone > phoning > phoned
dance > dancing > danced
make > making
rake > raking > raked
dye > dying > dyed
-ie
change the -ie to -y
lie > lying
die > dying
nothing -d
lie > lied
die > died

17. PAST CONTINUOUS: affirmative, negative or interrogative
AFIRMATIVA:
He was painting the wall
We were waking up very early
NEGATIVA:
He wasn’t painting the wall
We weren’t waking up very early
INTERROGATIVA:
Was he painting the wall?
Were we waking up very early?

18. Use
to express activities in progress before, and probably after, a particular time in the past
I was sleeping when you phoned me. It was 3 a.m!!!
for descriptions
Lynn looked beautiful.She was wearing a green dress. She was dressed to kill!
to express an interrupted past activity
When the phone rang, I was having a shower.
to express an incomplete activity
I was reading a book during the flight.

19. PAST SIMPLE AND PAST CONTINUOUS
WHEN + AN ACTION THAT INTERRUPTS ANOTHER LONGER ACTION
John was watching TV when his friend arrived.
When the teacher came into the classroom, everybody was dancing.
I was smoking when my mum entered my bedroom.
WHILE + LONGER ACTION IN THE PAST CONTINUOUS
While / as I was talking on the phone, the doorbell rang .
My friends arrived while my dad was sleeping a siesta. He shouted at them!

20. Past simple or continuous?
Sometimes both tenses are possible. The Past Simple focuses on past actions as complete facts.
The Past Continuous focuses on the duration of past activities

21. Compare : A: I didn’t see you at the party last night.
B: No. I stayed at home and watched the football match.
A: I didn’t see you at the party last night.
B: No, I was watching the football at home.
I lived in New York for two years. I met my girlfriend there. When I was living in Manhattan I found a job as a teacher.
My sister studied History in Cambridge University. She met most of her friends while she was studying there.

22. When you tell a story, important facts are expressed in the Past Simple, general situation and descriptions in the Past Continuous.
It was a beautiful day. The sun was shining and flags were flying high everywhere. Obama felt confident. He spoke to the people in the stadium. They were looking at him anxiously.
Peter saw Susan at the party. She was wearing a beautiful blue dress. Everybody was dancing and having a good time.

23. An old pirate was sitting in the bar. He was smoking
a pipe and drinking a glass of rum. He was wearing
an eye patch and he had a parrot on his shoulder
and a wooden leg. Instead of his right hand he had a
metal hook. A young sailor was chatting with the pirate
and he asked him about his adventures at sea.      ‘So, how did you lose your leg?’, the young man asked the pirate.     
‘Arrr! ,’ said the pirate, ‘You see, some sharks were circling the ship when I fell overboard. Luckily, my men pulled me back onto the ship before the sharks ate me completely, but one of the sharks got
my leg.’  

24. ‘And how about the hook on your hand. How did you lose your hand
    ‘And how about the hook on your hand? How did you lose your hand?’      ‘I was boarding a ship when another sailor cut off my hand with a sword.’      ‘That’s amazing! What a life full of adventures!’ said the young man. ‘And how about your eye? How did you lose that?’       ‘I was eating a grapefruit when the juice went into my eye.’       ‘But I don’t understand. How did you lose your eye from the grapefruit juice?’      ‘Arrr!’ said the pirate, ‘it was my first day with the new hook.’

25. A SPOOKY STORY It was just before midnight on October 31st
last year. Susan Lee was driving home after
visiting her sister. The road was clear and
she was driving carefully. Suddenly, out of nowhere,a young man stepped out in front of her. He was wearing a dark coloured raincoat and carrying a backpack. Susan stepped hard on the brake pedal but it was too late. She got out of the car but, to her surprise, there was nobody there. While she was looking under the car, she felt a cold wind on her face and a strange presence that sent shivers down her spine.

26. She was still looking under her car when a lorry stopped behind her
She was still looking under her car when a lorry stopped behind her. The lorry driver, a middle-aged man, walked up to her and asked her if she needed help to start her car so she told him what had happened. He didn’t seem surprised when Susan told him about the young man. 'In October 1978, there was a car accident on this road and a hitchhiker was fatally run over You're not the first to have seen his ghost here', he said in a mysterious tone.