PAS T SI MP L E AND

PAST CO NT INUO US RE VIE W

*Auxiliar verb: DO (DID / DIDN’T)
 SIMPLE PAST

Finished actions or situations in the past

One thing happened after another
S AY T H E S E N T E N C E I N T H E N E G AT I V E
A N D I N T E R R O G AT I V E F O R M
 CHECK IT OUT:
AFF: There was a man...  AFF: The dog chewed up my
NEG: There wasn’t a man... slippers.
INT: Was there a man...?  NEG: The dog didn’t chew up
my slippers.
AFF: The cat ate my breakfast.  INT: Did the dog chew up my
NEG: The cat didn’t eat my breakfast. slippers?
INT: Did the cat eat my breakfast?
 PAST CONTINUOUS

Talk about activities in progress at the moment

in the past
Describe scenes in a story, for example
Talk about an activity in progress when another
interrupted it
 CHECK IT OUT!

AFF: You were talking to Suzie.

NEG: You weren’t talking to Suzie.
INT: Were you talking to Suzie?
 WHILE / WHEN

They have similar meanings, but they emphasize

different parts of the sentence.

Examples:

I was studying when she called.

While I was studying, she called.
“WHILE” (emphasizes the duration) - usually followed
by past continuous.

“WHEN” at or during the time that something happens

We can use WHEN/WHILE to introduce the long action

 WHEN OR WHILE?

WHEN = to introduce the SHORT action

When I got a text message, I was having class.

 WHILE / WHEN = to introduce the LONG action

I got a text message while / when I was having class.