Past Continuous and Past Simple

Past continuous and past simple | LearnEnglish https://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/grammar/a1-a2...
Grammar (/grammar) > A1-A2 grammar (/grammar/a1-a2-grammar)

> Past continuous and past simple
Past continuous and past simple
Do you know how to use the past continuous and past simple? Test what you know
with interactive exercises and read the explanation to help you.
Look at these examples to see how the past continuous and past simple are used.
When I woke up this morning, it was snowing.

I was sleeping when you called me.
Try this exercise to test your grammar.
Grammar test 1
1 / 12 23/10/14, 14:03
Read the explanation to learn more.
Grammar explanation
The past continuous and the past simple help us to show how two past actions or
situations are connected.
Past simple
The past simple shows us that an action was in the past, not in the present. Regular
past simple verbs have -ed at the end (e.g. called, played, arrived). Irregular verbs
have a different form, usually with a different vowel sound (e.g. wake → woke,
break → broke, feel → felt).
My parents called me yesterday.

I woke up early this morning.
Sam played basketball when he was at university.
We make the negative with didn't and the infinitive verb.
My parents didn't call me yesterday.

I didn't wake up early this morning.
We make the question form with did and then the subject and infinitive verb.
Did you wake up early this morning?

Did Sam play basketball when he was at university?
Past continuous
The past continuous shows us that the action was already in progress at a certain
2 / 12 23/10/14, 14:03
time in the past.
What were you doing at 8 p.m. last night? I was studying.
This means that I started studying before 8 p.m. and I continued after 8 p.m.
The past continuous can also show that an activity was in progress for some time,
not just for a moment.
We were cleaning the house all morning.
We make the past continuous with was or were and the -ing form of the verb.
She couldn't come to the party. She was working.

Three years ago, we were living in my home town.
I tried to give him some advice, but he wasn't listening.
What were you doing this time last year?
Past continuous and past simple

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.
While I was studying, I suddenly felt sleepy.
We often use these tenses to show an action interrupting another action.
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.
3 / 12 23/10/14, 14:03
Can you see a difference in the meaning of these two sentences?
When the guests arrived, Jane was cooking dinner.

When the guests arrived, Jane cooked dinner.
In the first one, Jane started cooking dinner before the guests arrived. We know that
because it uses the past continuous. In the second sentence, the guests arrived
first and then Jane started cooking.
Do this exercise to test your grammar again.
Grammar test 2
Try another grammar lesson(/grammar/a1-a2-grammar)
Language level
A1 - Elementary (/taxonomy/term/1510)
A2 - Pre-intermediate (/taxonomy/term/1496)
Average: 4.2 (117 votes)
Submitted by OmarHaddad on Sun, 08/10/2023 - 18:37

Permalink (/comment/193500#comment-193500)
Thank you very much for these practices.

Log in (/user/login?destination=/grammar/a1-a2-grammar/past-continuous-past-simple%23comment-form) or
register (/user/register?destination=/grammar/a1-a2-grammar/past-continuous-past-simple%23comment-
form) to post comments
Submitted
form) to post commentsby hasoyin on Wed, 04/10/2023 - 19:09
4 / 12 23/10/14, 14:03
thanks
Submitted by Asala Mohammed on Mon, 25/09/2023 - 11:01

Dear teachers,
In the example (When I woke up this morning, it was snowing) can I talk
about the future using the present simple? I mean can I say (When I wake
up this morning, it'll be snowing).
Secondly, in the example (I tried to give him some advice, but he wasn't
listening) why did you say some advice? why didn't you say some
advices?.
kind regards
Asala Mohammed
Submitted by Jonathan R on Mon, 25/09/2023 - 14:34

Hi Asala Mohammed,
Yes, right! Your example is correct.
It says "some advice" because "advice" is an uncountable noun. We

can't add "s" because it's not countable.
I hope that helps.
Jonathan
LearnEnglish team
Log in (/user/login?destination=/grammar/a1-a2-grammar/past-continuous-past-simple%23comment-form)
or register (/user/register?destination=/grammar/a1-a2-grammar/past-continuous-past-
simple%23comment-form) to post comments
5 / 12 23/10/14, 14:03
Submitted by oyo on Mon, 18/09/2023 - 14:40

awesome it was intresting

Submitted by Lisa REILLY on Sun, 17/09/2023 - 07:21

Hello
I had a student that was telling me about his trip to New York and he kept
saying "We were taking the boat everyday at 1 o'clock" and it sounded
wrong but I don't know why. I said it was better to use the simple past "We
got the boat everyday..." He said that he thought he could use it as it was
a habitual habit. Please can somebody help explain this? Thanks
Submitted by Kirk Moore on Sun, 17/09/2023 - 14:35

Hello Lisa,
The overall time frame for what your student was telling you about was
a trip to New York. Presumably, that trip is over and finished, i.e. it
began in the past and it also ended in the past, so generally speaking
the best form to talk about things that happened during the trip is the
past simple.
If he was telling a story and setting up the context for another event
(e.g. 'We were taking the boat one day when a storm blew in and the
boat had to turn around'), then a continuous form would make sense,
but it doesn't sound as if that's what he was doing.
Although it is possible to use the past continuous to speak about past

habits in(/user/register?destination=/grammar/a1-a2-grammar/past-continuous-past-
or register specific contexts, generally, the past simple (or perhaps a
simple%23comment-form) to post comments
6 / 12 23/10/14, 14:03
'used to' form) is probably best.
You might find our Talking about the past (/grammar/english-grammar-

reference/talking-about-past) page useful, as it covers these and other
verb forms in more detail. But please do let us know if you have any
other questions.
All the best,

Kirk
LearnEnglish team
Submitted by akbarumar88 on Tue, 29/08/2023 - 16:33

Well Done
Submitted by Ahmed Imam on Sat, 17/06/2023 - 17:29

Hello Team. Could you help me decide on the correct tense in the
following sentence? I think both of them are OK, right?
- I didn't answer the phone when it (rang - was ringing) because I was
having a shower.
Thank you.
Submitted by Peter M. on Sun, 18/06/2023 - 07:44

Hello Ahmed Imam,

or register (/user/register?destination=/grammar/a1-a2-grammar/past-continuous-past-
Yes, both as possible
simple%23comment-form) here.
to post Generally, we use the simple to describe an
comments
7 / 12 23/10/14, 14:03
action which is complete (finished) and which we see as a single thing,

so I think the simple is best here. You might use the continuous if for
some reason it was important to emphasise the ongoing nature of the
ringing. For example, if someone was annoyed about the fact the phone
was ringing all afternoon then you might use the past progressive (The
phone was ringing all afternoon. It was so annoying!).
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
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Past Continuous and Past Simple

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Past continuous and past simple | LearnEnglish https://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/grammar/a1-a2...

Grammar (/grammar) > A1-A2 grammar (/grammar/a1-a2-grammar)

Past continuous and past simple

When I woke up this morning, it was snowing.

Try this exercise to test your grammar.

Read the explanation to learn more.

My parents called me yesterday.

We make the negative with didn't and the infinitive verb.

My parents didn't call me yesterday.

Did you wake up early this morning?

time in the past.

What were you doing at 8 p.m. last night? I was studying.

We were cleaning the house all morning.

She couldn't come to the party. She was working.

Past continuous and past simple

While I was studying, I suddenly felt sleepy.

We often use these tenses to show an action interrupting another action.

I broke my leg when I was skiing.

Can you see a difference in the meaning of these two sentences?

When the guests arrived, Jane was cooking dinner.

Do this exercise to test your grammar again.

Try another grammar lesson(/grammar/a1-a2-grammar)

Average: 4.2 (117 votes)

Submitted by OmarHaddad on Sun, 08/10/2023 - 18:37

Thank you very much for these practices.

Submitted by Asala Mohammed on Mon, 25/09/2023 - 11:01

Submitted by Jonathan R on Mon, 25/09/2023 - 14:34

Yes, right! Your example is correct.

It says "some advice" because "advice" is an uncountable noun. We

I hope that helps.

Submitted by oyo on Mon, 18/09/2023 - 14:40

awesome it was intresting

Submitted by Lisa REILLY on Sun, 17/09/2023 - 07:21

Submitted by Kirk Moore on Sun, 17/09/2023 - 14:35

Although it is possible to use the past continuous to speak about past

'used to' form) is probably best.

You might find our Talking about the past (/grammar/english-grammar-

All the best,

Submitted by akbarumar88 on Tue, 29/08/2023 - 16:33

Submitted by Ahmed Imam on Sat, 17/06/2023 - 17:29

Submitted by Peter M. on Sun, 18/06/2023 - 07:44

Hello Ahmed Imam,

action which is complete (finished) and which we see as a single thing,

The LearnEnglish Team

Do you need to improve your

LearnEnglish Teens for children aged 13 to 17

TeachingEnglish for teachers and teacher educators

Sign up for our newsletter (/subscribe-to-our-newsletter?promo_id=nl01&

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House rules (/house-rules)

Live classes IELTS Personal Self-study

Group and one- preparation tutoring Learn English in

Online Courses (/online-courses) Grammar (/grammar)

IELTS preparation (/online-courses/ielts-online- B1-B2 grammar (/grammar/b1-b2-grammar)

Business English (/business-english)

Speaking (/skills/speaking) Podcasts for professionals (/business-english

English for emails (/business-english/english-

You're Hired (/business-english/youre-hired)

General English (/general-english) English levels (/english-levels)

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