Appendix 1

Simple Past and Past Continuous

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 vacations and
contrast finished actions, mention the actions that were in progress in an specific moment,
and finally mention those actions that were happening simultaneously.
Past Simple

The past tenses are important 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

The structure for the past simple (affirmative) is:

 I      traveled       to Cancun last summer
You      traveled       to Cancun last summer
He      traveled       to Cancun last summer
She      traveled       to Cancun last summer
It      traveled       to Cancun last summer
You      traveled       to Cancun last summer
We      traveled       to Cancun last summer
They      traveled       to Cancun last summer

 The verb in past simple is the same for all the personal pronouns in the subject

 When a regular verb is used in the past simple (+) most of the time ed is added at the end of
the verb. For example: play…. played / stay… stayed

 For the regular verbs, there are some Spelling rules that we have to take into consideration.

Base
Spelling Rules Past
Forms
Work Worked
Add ed
Stay Played
Just add d if the verb finishes in e Like Liked
Change y to i after a consonant, add ed Study Studied
If a one- syllable verb ends in consonant-
vowel- consonant. Double the final Stop Stopped
consonant , add ed

 Many common verbs are irregular in the affirmative. For example: Speak spoke / run ran.

Negative

The structure for the past simple (negative) is:

 I      didn't      travel       to Cancun last summer
You      didn't      travel       to Cancun last summer
He      didn't      travel       to Cancun last summer
She      didn't      travel       to Cancun last summer
It      didn't      travel       to Cancun last summer
You      didn't      travel       to Cancun last summer
We      didn't      travel       to Cancun last summer
They      didn't      travel       to Cancun last summer

 In the negative form the verb (simple form) and auxiliary are the same for all the personal
pronouns in the subject.

Interrogative

The structure for the past simple (interrogative) is:

 Did      I      travel       to Cancun last summer?
Did      you      travel       to Cancun last summer?
Did      he      travel       to Cancun last summer?
Did      she      travel       to Cancun last summer?
Did      it      travel       to Cancun last summer?
Did      you      travel       to Cancun last summer?
Did      we      travel       to Cancun last summer?
Did      they      travel       to Cancun last summer?

 In the affirmative form once again the verb (simple form) and auxiliary are the same for all the
personal pronouns in the subject in the past simple.

 The questions in the past simple can be answered with short answers:

o Affirmative form:
Yes, (I, You, He, She, It, You, We, They) did

o Negative form:
No, (I, You, He, She, It, You, We, They) did not / didn't

o For example:
Yes, she did. / No, she didn't.
 The questions in the past simple can be answered with long answers:

o Affirmative form:
Yes, (I, You, He, She, It, You, We, They) traveled to Cancun

o Negative form:
No, (I, You, He, She, It, You, We, They) did not / didn't traveled to Cancun

o For example:
Yes, he traveled to Cancun. / No, she didn't travel to Cancun.

Wh-questions

Wh- questions are used in the past simple in order to ask for specific information. The
structure is:
  Place
Example: Where did (I, you, he, she, it, you, we, they) go?
              (I, you, he, she, it, you, we, they) went to Cancun.

 Specific thing, object

Example: What did (I, you, he, she, it, you, we, they) do?
              (I, you, he, she, it, you, we, they) ate Mexican food.

 Time
Example: When did (I, you, he, she, it, you, we, they) go?
              (I, you, he, she, it, you, we, they) went last summer.

 When referring to people

Example: Who did you go with?
              I went with my mother.

 Way, manner, form

Example: How did (I, you, he, she, it, you, we, they) travel?
              (I, you, he, she, it, you, we, they) traveled by plane.

 Reason, explanation
Example: Why did you travel by train?
              Because (I, you, he, she, it, you, we, they) go? didn't have enough money.

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

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

 Affirmative
 Negative
 Interrogative
 Wh-questions

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.

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
usually 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 I took the photo, the

kids were playing.
When is followed by a sentence
When
in past simple.
The kids were playing when
I took the photo.

While is followed by a sentence
in past continuous.
While
While is also used when two
actions are happening
simultaneously.
While I was having dinner, my
father arrived.
My father arrived while I was
having dinner.
While I was watching TV my
mother was cooking.
I was watching TV while my
mother was cooking.
Exercise 1

Put the verbs into the correct tense (Simple Past or Past Progressive).

1. While Tom (read) ______________ , Amely (watch) ______________ a documentary on TV.

2. Marvin (come) ______________home, (switch) ______________ on the computer
and (check______________ his emails.
3. The thief (sneak) ______________ into the house, (steal) ______________ the jewels
and (leave) ______________ without a trace.
4. Nobody (listen) ______________ while the teacher (explain) ______________ the tenses.
5. While we (do) ______________ a sight-seeing tour, our friends (lie) ______________ on the
beach.
6. He (wake) ______________ up and (look) ______________ at his watch.
7. The receptionist (welcome) ______________ the guests and (ask) ______________ them to
fill in the form.
8. The car (break) ______________ down and we (have) ______________ to walk home.
9. The boys (swim) ______________ while the girls (sunbathe) ______________ .
10. My father (come) ______________in, (look) ______________ around and (tell)
______________ me to tidy up my room.
11. As long as one group (prepare) ______________ dinner, the others (collect)
______________ wood for their campfire.
12. While the parents (have) ______________ breakfast, their children (run) ______________
about.
13. Martha (turn) ______________ off the lights and (go) ______________ to bed.

Appendix 2
 Used to

How to Use “Used To” in English

We can use “used to” to talk about a past habit or state.

An example for a state: “He used to live in London” (but he doesn’t now)

An example for a habit: “He used to go on holiday to Scotland every year” (but he doesn’t now)
“Used to” is the same for all subjects, and you follow it with the infinitive without “to”:

“I / You / He / She / We / They used to smoke.”

To make the negative, use “didn’t” + use + to + verb. (Remove the final /d/ ending from “used”.)

“I / He didn’t use to smoke.”

To make the question, use “did” as the auxiliary, and take the final /d/ ending off “used”:

“Did you / she use to smoke?”

To talk about past habits in English, you can also use would + infinitive without “to”:
“We would go to Scotland every year when I was a child.”
“We would travel there by car overnight.”
However, you cannot use “would” in this way to talk about past states. For this, you must use “used
to”.

FORM

[used to + VERB]

Example:

 I used to go to the beach every day.

It is better not to use used to in questions or negative forms; however, this is sometimes done in
informal spoken English. It is better to ask questions and create negative sentences using simple
past.

USE 1 Habit in the Past

Used to expresses the idea that something was an old habit that stopped in the past. It indicates that
something was often repeated in the past, but it is not usually done now.

Examples:

 Jerry used to study English.
 Sam and Mary used to go to Mexico in the summer.
 I used to start work at 9 o'clock.
  Christine used to eat meat, but now she is a vegetarian.

USE 2 Past Facts and Generalizations

Used to can also be used to talk about past facts or generalizations which are no longer true.

Examples:

 I used to live in Paris.

 Sarah used to be fat, but now she is thin.
 George used to be the best student in class, but now Lena is the best.
 Oranges used to cost very little in Florida, but now they are quite expensive.

Used to vs. Simple Past

Both simple past and used to can be used to describe past habits, past facts and past
generalizations; however, used to is preferred when emphasizing these forms of past repetition in
positive sentences. On the other hand, when asking questions or making negative sentences, simple
past is preferred.

Examples:

 You used to play the piano.

 Did you play the piano when you were young?
 You did not play the piano when you were young.

ACTIVE / PASSIVE

Examples:

 Jerry used to pay the bills. Active

 The bills used to be paid by Jerry. Passive
 Make an affirmative sentence, negative sentence or question using ‘used to + infinitive’:

1. I / live in a flat when I was a child.

_______________________________________________________________
2. We / go to the beach every summer?
_______________________________________________________________
3. She / love eating chocolate, but now she hates it.
_______________________________________________________________
4. He / not / smoke.
_______________________________________________________________
5. I / play tennis when I was at school.
_______________________________________________________________
6. She / be able to speak French, but she has forgotten it all.
_______________________________________________________________
7. He / play golf every weekend?
_______________________________________________________________
8. They both / have short hair.
_______________________________________________________________
9. Julie / study Portuguese.
_______________________________________________________________
10. I / not / hate school.
_______________________________________________________________

Complete the sentence using the correct form of used to and one of the following verbs:
do sit play speak smoke buy have (x2)

1. He lived in Brazil until he was seven. He _______________ Portuguese, but he's forgotten a lot of
it now.
2. We _______________ smartphones, or even internet in our houses. To go online you had to go to
an internet café or library or something.
3. She _______________ but she's given up now. She's really healthy these days.
4. We _______________ together when we were children, but I don't see them much any more.
5. You used to live on the same road as me! _______________ sweets in that shop on the corner?
6. She _______________ any sport at all, but now she's in the basketball team and she loves it.
7. We always _______________ on the bridge with our legs hanging down, and throw sticks into the
river.
8. I didn't recognize him because of his new beard. He _______________ a beard! He looks
completely different now.
Appendix 3
Can-Could / Am-Is-Are...Was-Were Able to are mostly used in a similar way, however there are
some rules and differences.

1. To talk about an ability in the present, we use “can” or “be able to”

I can / am able to speak 2 languages.

He can / is able to swim.
My brother isn't able to drive a car

2. To talk about a general ability in the past, we use “could” or “was / were able to”.

I could / was able to run very fast.

I could / was able to jump so high.

3. However when we talk about a specific success in the past, we should only use “was / were
able to”.

Since the exam was difficult, only a few students could / were able to pass it. (managed to pass it)

Mozart ---- compose little pieces of music even when he was 5.

(General ability)

a) can   *b) could   *c) was able to   d) is able to

We ---- reach to the top of the hill before it got dark yesterday.
(Specific success in the past)

a) can   b) could   *c) were able to   d) aren't able to

Attention:

There is no difference between them when used in a negative sentence.

Because of the great financial difficulties, John couldn't / wasn't able to finish his university education.

4. We use “can” instead of “be able to” in passive forms.

This game --- (play) by 2 or more players.

*a) can be played

b) is able to be played
Complete the sentences with one of the options to express present and past ability or
possibility.
……………………….……….. find a job when you lived in Spain?
▪ Could you ▪ Were you able to
________________________________________________________________________________
_______
The shop is closed. We …………………......…… go there on Sunday.
▪ can’t ▪ aren’t able to
________________________________________________________________________________
_______
Ann feels much better. She …………………………...…… go out tomorrow, I hope.
▪ can ▪ will be able to
________________________________________________________________________________
_______
The police …………………...…………… catch the burglar because he’d set off the alarm.
▪ could ▪ were able to
________________________________________________________________________________
_______
I am sorry for my English. I …………………...……...……...…… speak without mistakes.
▪ could never ▪ have never been able to
________________________________________________________________________________
_______
Can you remember Jane? You ………...…………...…… see her at Brian’s party last Saturday. ▪
could ▪ were able to
________________________________________________________________________________
_______
Are you free tomorrow night? …………………………... meet at Mario’s pizzeria?
▪ Can we ▪ Are we able to
________________________________________________________________________________
_______
Mum is ill. I’m afraid she ………………...…...…… cook at the weekend.
▪ can’t ▪ won’t be able to
________________________________________________________________________________
_______
Fortunately, I can speak Spanish a little bit. I ……...……………...…… give them directions.
▪ could ▪ was able to
________________________________________________________________________________
_______
 Peter had nothing to do yesterday morning. He ……………...………… cut the grass before it started
to rain. ▪ could ▪ was able to

Complete the sentences to express present and past ability or possibility.

 ______________________ find a job when you lived in Spain?

The shop is closed. We    ______________________  go there on Sunday.

Ann feels much better. She     ______________________   go out tomorrow, I hope.

The police   ______________________ catch the burglar because he’d set off the alarm.

I am sorry for my English. I    ______________________  speak without mistakes.

Can you remember Jane? You   ______________________  see her at Brian’s party last Saturday.

Are you free tomorrow night?   ______________________  meet at Mario’s pizzeria?

Mum is ill. I’m afraid she   ______________________ cook next weekend.

Fortunately, I can speak Spanish a little bit. I    ______________________  give them directions.

Peter had nothing to do yesterday morning. He   ______________________ cut the grass before it

started to rain.