Past Simple vs Past Continuous

PAST SIMPLE PAST CONTINUOUS

 Events in the past that are now finished  Actions in progress (in the past)
Two years ago, I travelled to Italy. I was watching TV at seven o´clock

 Situation in the past  Actions in progress at the same time

I lived in India for six years (I don´t live there Jane was doing her homework while her
anymore) brother was reading books

 A series of actions in the past  Interrupted actions in progress (in the past)
She got up, got dressed and had breakfast While I was listening to music, the phone rang

TIME WORDS TIME WORDS

- When - While
- Ago - As
- Last week/year/night - At the time
- Yesterday - At 3.00 pm yesterday
- In 2006

Se forma:
 Affirmative  Suj. + Verb -ed (regulares)
Los verbos irregulares la 2º columna de la
lista de verbos
Eg: I watched a film last night
Eg: She went to the gym yesterday
 Negative  Suj. + Didn´t + Verb (en
infinitivo)
Eg: I didn´t watch a film last night / She
didn´t go to the gym yesterday
 Interrogative  Did + Suj. + Verb …?
Eg: Did she go to the gym yesterday? / Did
you watch a film last night?
Se forma:
 Affirmative  Suj. + was/ were + verb (ing)
Eg: I was watching a film last night
Eg: We were studying yesterday morning
 Negative  Sujeto + wasn´t/ weren´t +
verb (ing)
Eg: I wasn´t watching a film last night / We
weren´t studying yesterday morning
 Interrogative  Was / Were + Sujeto +
Verb (ing)?
Eg: Was I watching a film last night? /Were we
studying yesterday morning?

Contraste Past Continuous / Past Simple

En el Past Simple la acción empezó y terminó mientras que el Past Continuous nos indica una
duración de la acción en un momento concreto del pasado.

Cuando los dos tiempos aparecen juntos, indica que una acción que se estaba haciendo (Past
Continuous) fue interrumpida por otra (Past Simple).

P. Continous + when+ Present Simple Eg: I was cooking when the phone rang
While + P. Continuous + P. Simple Eg: While I was cooking, the phone rang.