PAST SIMPLE or PAST CONTINUOUS PAST SIMPLE Verbs

PAST SIMPLE or PAST CONTINUOUS

PAST SIMPLE • Verbs may be: – REGULAR: I played tennis yesterday. – IRREGULAR (second column of irregular verbs) She ate ice-cream in winter.

Past Simple form (REGULAR VERBS) • To form the past simple of regular verbs we usually add -ED to the verb: BOIL --- BOILED • Spelling changes: – If the verb ends in –E LIVE --- LIVED FILL --- FILLED we add –D USE --- USED – If the verb ends in consonant + Y we change Y into I TRY --- TRIED CRY --- CRIED PLAN --- PLANNED STOP --- STOPPED PERMIT --- PERMITTED REFER --- REFERRED – One syllable verbs ending in vowel + consonant (except for W o Y) we double the consonant – Two syllable verbs ending in vowel + consonant when the final syllable is stressed we double the consonant – If the verb ends in –L TRAVEL --- TRAVELLED we double the consonant: LABEL --- LABELLED Exceptions: WORSHIP --- WORSHIPPED KIDNAP --- KIDNAPPED

PAST SIMPLE: affirmative, negative or interrogative • AFFIRMATIVE: – He painted the wall – We woke up very early • NEGATIVE: – He didn’t paint the wall – We didn’t wake up very early • INTERROGATIVE: – Did he paint the wall? – Did we wake up very early?

PAST CONTINUOUS Form: was / were + –ING form He was playing golf They were studying

PAST CONTINUOUS: affirmative, negative or interrogative • AFIRMATIVE: – He was painting the wall – We were waking up very early • NEGATIVE: – He wasn’t painting the wall – We weren’t waking up very early • INTERROGATIVE: – Was he painting the wall? – Were we waking up very early?

Spelling Rules for the Continuous [-ing] - Some verbs just need ‘ing’ adding to them: read – reading / stand – standing / jump - jumping - If a verb ends in a silent ‘e’, drop the final ‘e’ and add ‘ing’: leave – leaving / take – taking / receive - receiving - In a one syllable word, if the three last letters are consonant – vowel – consonant (cvc), double the last consonant before adding ‘ing’: sit – sitting / run – running / hit - hitting …however, Do not double the consonant in words that end in w, x, or y : sew – sewing / fix – fixing / enjoy - enjoying - In words of two or more syllables that end in a consonant-vowelconsonant combination, double the last consonant only if the last syllable is stressed: admit – admitting / regret – regretting / begin - beginning - If a verb ends in ‘ie’, change the ‘ie’ to y before adding ‘ing’ : die – dying / lie - lying

PAST SIMPLE OR PAST CONTINUOUS PAST SIMPLE PAST CONTINUOUS TO TALK ABOUT A FINISHED ACTION IN A TIME BEFORE NOW IN A SPECIFIC MOMENT. John Cabot sailed to America in 1498. TO EXPRESS A LONG OR UNFINISHED ACTION IN THE PAST: "I was going to spend the day at the beach but I've decided to go on an excursion instead. ” EXPRESSIONS OF PAST SIMPLE: TO DESCRIBE A LONG ACTION INTERRUPTED BY A SHORT ONE: “I was having a beautiful dream when the alarm clock rang. “ frequency: often, sometimes, always; a specific moment in time (point in time): last week, when I was a child, yesterday, six weeks ago. a non-sepcific moment in time: the other day, ages ago, a long time ago etc. Examples: • Yesterday, I arrived in Geneva. • She always played the piano when she was a child. TO DESCRIBE THE CONTEXT IN WHICH AN ACTION HAPPENS: “It was getting dark. The prince was walking silently around the hall. . . ”

Past Simple vs. Past Continuous • Conjunctions: – WHEN (used with Past Simple) – WHILE (used with Past Continuous). Uses 1. A short action (Past Simple) interrupts a long action (Past Continuous) – John was watching TV when his friend arrived. 2. Two long actions (Past Continuous) happen at the same time. - I was doing the washing up while my brother was watching TV. 3. Two short actions (Past Simple) happen one after the other. - When I heard the explosion, I phoned the police.

Review • Simple past = action or state finished in the past (yesterday, last…, … ago, etc. ) • Past continuous = was/were + verb+ing, an action that was in progress/not finished when another action happened (interrupted)

Practice: Do you have a good memory? Are you a good witness? • Directions: Look at the following picture for one minute. Try to remember as many details as you can, but don’t write anything.

Only one minute… • Ready, go ….

One minute…

What do you remember? 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. How many people were there? Where were the people? What was hanging from the ceiling? What was the bank robber holding? What was the bank robber wearing? What color was his hair? What was covering the bank robber’s face? Was the bank robber right-handed or left-handed? What was the bank manager doing? What was the bank teller doing? Who was walking into the bank? What time was it? What was under the bank manager’s desk?

Activities • Exercise 1 • Exercise 2