Past Simple

The past simple is formed by using the base form of the verb (e.g. work, play, eat)
and adding -ed for regular verbs (e.g. worked, played, ate) or using a different form
for irregular verbs (e.g. wake → woke, break → broke, feel → felt). For example:

 I worked as a teacher.
 He woke up early this morning.
 She broke her arm.

The past simple is used to talk about:

 Completed actions or events that happened at a specific time in the past. For
example:
1
o I visited Paris last year
1
o He graduated from college in 2019
1
o She saw a movie yesterday
 Past habits or repeated actions that are not true anymore. For example:
2
o I drank coffee every morning when I was in college
2
o She studied hard for her exams when she was a student
2
o They went to the gym twice a week before the pandemic
 Past states or situations that are not true anymore. For example:
1
o My parents lived in London for ten years
1
o He knew a lot about cars
1
o She liked this song when she was young

We make the negative with did not (didn’t) and the base form of the verb. For
example:

 I didn’t work as a teacher.

 He didn’t wake up early this morning.
 She didn’t break her arm.

We make the question form with did and then the subject and the base form of the
verb. For example:

 Did you work as a teacher?

 Did he wake up early this morning?
 Did she break her arm?

Past Continuous
The past continuous is formed by using the past tense of the verb to be (was or
were) and adding the -ing form of the verb (e.g. working, playing, eating). For
example:
  I was working on a project.
 He was playing soccer yesterday.
 She was eating a sandwich.

The past continuous is used to talk about:

 Actions or events that were in progress at a specific time in the past or for a
period of time in the past. For example:
1
o I was working on a project at 10 am yesterday
1
o He was playing soccer all afternoon
1
o She was eating a sandwich when I arrived
 Temporary or new situations that were not permanent or usual in the past. For
example:
o I was drinking too much coffee last month because I was so busy at
work2
2
o She was studying French for her trip to Paris last year
2
o They were going to the gym more often to get fit for their wedding
 Background information or description of the past situation. For example:
3
o It was raining and the wind was blowing hard
3
o She was wearing a red dress and high heels
3
o They were talking and laughing loudly

The past continuous can also be used with always or constantly to express
annoyance or criticism about something that happened too often or too much in the
past. For example:

 He was always leaving his clothes on the floor.

 She was constantly talking on the phone.
 They were always complaining about everything.

Past Simple and Past Continuous

We can use these two tenses together to show how two past actions or situations
are connected or related.

When we use these two tenses together, it shows us that the past simple action
happened in the middle of the past continuous action, while it was in progress.

We often use these tenses to show an action interrupting another action in the past.
For example:

 I broke my leg when I was skiing.

 As I was going to work, I saw an old friend.
 We were watching television when the power went off.
We can also use these two tenses together to show two actions happening at the
same time in the past, but one action is longer than the other.

We use while before the past continuous to show the longer action and when before
the past simple to show the shorter action. For example:

 While I was studying, my sister was playing video games.

 When he heard a noise, he looked out of the window.
 While they were waiting for the bus, they met their neighbors.

History
The past simple and the past continuous have different origins and histories in the
English language.
The past simple comes from the Old English preterite tense, which was formed by
adding different endings to the verb stem depending on the person and number (e.g.
ic sang “I sang”, þu sangest “you sang”, he sang “he sang”). The Old English preterite
tense was used to express completed actions or events in the past 4
The past continuous comes from the Middle English past progressive tense, which
was formed by using the past tense of the verb to be and the present participle of the
verb (e.g. I was singinge “I was singing”, he was singinge “he was singing”). The
Middle English past progressive tense was used to express ongoing actions or
events in the past5

The past simple and the past continuous have evolved and changed over time, but
they still retain some of their original meanings and uses in modern English.