INSTITUTO SUPERIOR DE CIÊNCIAS E EDUCAÇÃO A DISTÂNCIA

Faculdade de Ciências de Educação

Curso de Licenciatura em Ensino de Português
Trabalho de Inglês

Past Simple Versus Past Continuous

Castelo Eduardo Abula Ausse-Codigo: 96230186

Mandimba, Maio de 2023

INSTITUTO SUPERIOR DE CIÊNCIAS E EDUCAÇÃO A DISTÂNCIA
Faculdade de Ciências de Educação
Curso de Licenciatura em Ensino de Português
Trabalho de Inglês

Past Simple Versus Past Continuous

O presente trabalho é da disciplina

de Trabalho de Inglês, a ser
submetido na Unisced para fins
avaliativos. Orientado por:
Tutor:

Castelo Eduardo Abula Ausse-Codigo: 96230186

Mandimba, Maio de 2023

Índice

Content Pag.

1. Introduction ............................................................................................................................. 3

1.1. Objectives: ........................................................................................................................ 3

1.1.1. Objective General ......................................................................................................... 3

1.1.2. Objective specific ......................................................................................................... 3

1.2. Metodologies .................................................................................................................... 3

2. Past Simple........................................................................................................................... 4

2.1. Irregular Past Tense Verbs ............................................................................................... 4

2.1.1. Irregular Past Tense Verbs And Question Formation In The Past Tense Questions In

2.2. Past continuous................................................................................................................. 6

2.2.1. Past continuous affirmative .......................................................................................... 6

2.2.2. Past continuous negative .............................................................................................. 6

2.2.3. Past continuous questions ............................................................................................. 6

2.2.4. Past continuous short answers ...................................................................................... 6

2.2.5. USE Atmosphere .......................................................................................................... 7

2.2.6. USE Repetition and Irritation with "Always" .............................................................. 7

2.2.7. Remember Non-Continuous Verbs / Mixed Verbs ...................................................... 8

2.2.8. Adverb Placement......................................................................................................... 8

2.2.9. Active / Passive ............................................................................................................ 8

3. Conclusion ............................................................................................................................... 9

4. bibliographic .......................................................................................................................... 10
 1. Introduction

The presente work is of the discipline of English, and aims to approach about Past Simple Versus
Past Continuous. The past simple and past continuous are two verb tenses that speak of closed past
situations, that is, that happened in the past. The work comprises the following objectives:

1.1.Objectives:

1.1.1. Objective General

 Describe about Past Simple versus Past Continuous.

1.1.2. Objective specific

 Discuss the differences Past Simple versus Past Continuous;

 The structures of each;
 The uses;
 The exemples.

1.2. Metodologies

For the materialization of this work, the bibliographic method was used, in which according to Gil
(2002), in the bibliographical research, books are used, scientific articles from which the concepts
for illustration of the work will be subtracted.

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 2. Past Simple

2.1.Irregular Past Tense Verbs

To Fazenda, (2022), Some English verbs have irregular past tense forms. For example, the past
tense form of eat is ate. This is the past tense of is conjugation of eat: I ate

You ate He ate She ate We ate They ate

Tim, Rita, and Karin ran the marathon yesterday. (from the verb “run”) The past tense forms of
these verbs are irregular.

 Bring – brought break - broke buy – bought catch – caught come – came do – did
 Drink – drank drive - drove fly - flew get – got go – went (Fazenda, 2022).

2.1.1. Irregular Past Tense Verbs And Question Formation In The Past Tense Questions
In The Past Tense

For Fazenda, (2022), Questions about the past use a question word, the past tense of do (did), the
subject, and the main verb.
The answer uses the past tense of the main verb.
When and What time ask for information about time.
Question Word + Did + Subject + Main Verb
 When did Julianne see a movie? Julianne saw a movie Saturday afternoon.
Question Word + Did + Subject + Main Verb
 What time did Lisa get up? Lisa got up at 7:30 this morning?
 Where asks for information about a place.
Question Word + Did + Subject + Main Verb
 Where did Bill meet his best friend? Bill met his best friend at school.
 What asks for information about things.

Question Word + Did + Subject + Main Verb

 What did Joe eat for lunch? Joe ate a hamburger.

 Who asks about people.

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Question Word + Did + Subject + Main Verb

 Who did Bill meet at school? Bill met his best friend at school.
 Last is added to the question in order to ask about the most recent occasion that something
happened.

Question Word + Did + Subject + Last + Main Verb

 When did you last pay the rent? I paid the rent on the first of May.
 What time did you last see the doctor? I saw the doctor at 10:00 this morning. Where did
you last go on vacation? I went to Spain.

How many asks for a number.

How many hours did you sleep last night? I slept 9 hours last night.

How many cups of coffee did Harry drink this morning? Harry drank 5 cups of coffee this
morning. (Fazenda, 2022).

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 2.2.Past continuous

2.2.1. Past continuous affirmative

I/he/she/it + was + -ing

you/we/they + were + -ing
Example:
 I was dancing.
 They were watching TV.

2.2.2. Past continuous negative

I/he/she/it + wasn’t (was not) + -ing

you/we/they + were (were not) + -ing
Example:
 It wasn’t snowing.
 We weren’t feeling well.

2.2.3. Past continuous questions

Was + I/he/she/it + -ing … ?

Were + you/we/they + -ing … ?
Example:
 Was he working?
 Were you studying?

2.2.4. Past continuous short answers

 Yes, I/he/she/it was.

 Yes, you/we/they were.
 No, I/he/she/it wasn’t.
 No, you/we/they weren’t.

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 2.2.5. USE Atmosphere

Mackenzie (2002), In English, we often use a series of parallel actions to describe the atmosphere at
a particular time in the past.

Example:

When I walked into the office, several people were busily typing, some were talking on the
phones, the boss was yelling directions, and customers were waiting to be helped. One customer
was yelling at a secretary and waving his hands. Others were complaining to each other about the
bad service.

2.2.6. USE Repetition and Irritation with "Always"

The Past Continuous with words such as "always" or "constantly" expresses the idea that something
irritating or shocking often happened in the past. The concept is very similar to the expression "used
to" but with negative emotion. Remember to put the words "always" or "constantly" between "be"
and "verb+ing." (Mackenzie, 2002).

Examples:

 She was always coming to class late.

 He was constantly talking. He annoyed everyone.
 I didn't like them because they were always complaining.

While vs. When

Clauses are groups of words which have meaning, but are often not complete sentences. Some
clauses begin with the word "when" such as "when she called" or "when it bit me." Other clauses
begin with "while" such as "while she was sleeping" and "while he was surfing." When you talk
about things in the past, "when" is most often followed by the verb tense Simple Past, whereas
"while" is usually followed by Past Continuous. (Mackenzie, 2002).

"While" expresses the idea of "during that time." Study the examples below. They have similar
meanings, but they emphasize different parts of the sentence.

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Examples:

 I was studying when she called.

 While I was studying, she called.

2.2.7. Remember Non-Continuous Verbs / Mixed Verbs

For Mackenzie (2002), It is important to remember that Non-Continuous Verbs cannot be used in
any continuous tenses. Also, certain non-continuous meanings for Mixed Verbscannot be used in
continuous tenses. Instead of using Past Continuous with these verbs, you must use Simple Past.

Examples:

 Jane was being at my house when you arrived. Not Correct

 Jane was at my house when you arrived. Correct

2.2.8. Adverb Placement

The examples below show the placement for grammar adverbs such as: always, only, never, ever,
still, just, etc.

Examples:

 You were just studying when she called.

 Were you just studying when she called?

2.2.9. Active / Passive

Examples:

 The salesman was helping the customer when the thief came into the store. ACTIVE
 The customer was being helped by the salesman when the thief came into the store.
PASSIVE

More About Active / Passive Forms (Mackenzie, 2002).

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 3. Conclusion

Depending on the approach to the simple past and past continuous, we conclude that: the simple
past indicates punctual action in the past, and how much the past continuous indicates continuous
actions. In the phrase o was not at home when she arrived. We noticed two specific actions: was not
home and she arrived.

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 4. bibliographic

Fernando Augusto Fazenda, (2022): Manual de Tronco Comum dos cursos de licenciatura-Manual
de Inglês- Universidade Aberta ISCED. Beira – Moçambique.

Mackenzie (2002): English for Business Studies, Cambridge.

www.english-hilfen.com

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