Grammar: Past Simple Versus Past Continuous

Past Simple (Preterite)
Subject + [verb + ed*]
          vs
Past Continuous (Past Progressive) 
Subject + was/were + [verb + ing]

Hello, I'm Laura! My nickname is Lolo. I'm a Canadian EFL teacher who loves to travel! Welcome to Lolo on the Gogo! Please feel free to email me at lolotravelgogo@gmail.com or comment below if you have any questions! Enjoy the lesson.

In this grammar lesson, you will learn about the differences between past simple and past continuous. Past simple (sometimes called the preterite) is used to describe a finished action that took place in the past. Past simple follows the formula subject + [verb + ed*]. *Except in the case of irregular verb forms. Past continuous (also called past progressive) is used to talk about (1) an activity in the past or (2) an activity in progress when another action took place. Past continuous is formed by was/were + [verb + ing].

Past Simple (Preterite)
Subject + [verb + ed*]
*Except in the case of irregular verb forms
 

Past simple describes an action the took place in the past. This could be in the recent or distant past. The duration of time which the action took could be short or long; it makes no difference, as long as the action is FINISHED and not ongoing. The action happened in the past and it is now over. 

For example, let's look at this sentence in the past simple. "I studied yesterday." When did I study? Yesterday. Is yesterday in the past, present or future? It's in the past. How long did I study for? It doesn't matter. Am I still studying now? No. The action occurred yesterday, in the past, and it is now finished. I am no longer studying. The activity of studying has ended. I am talking about an event that occurred in the past and is no longer happening.

Here are a few more example sentences using regular "ed" verbs in past simple. Each sentence contains a subject and the verb + ed.

She played basketball yesterday.

He called his mother.

They walked to school this week.

We talked and laughed.

I baked cookies this morning.

You studied English, didn't you?

Claire travelled to Morocco last year.

Usually, we will use the "ed" ending in the past simple, except in the case of irregular verbs. These are verbs that do not take the "ed" form in the past simple. These are words that simply must be memorized a few at a time. Try practicing 3-5 weekly. Below you will find some examples of irregular verbs in the past simple.

Irregular Verbs

Infinitive	Past  Simple	Past  Participle	Present  Participle
be	was/were	been	being
am	was	have been	being
is	was	has been	being
are	were	have been	being
beat	beat	beaten	beating
become	became	become	becoming
begin	began	begun	beginning
blow	blew	blown	blowing
break	broke	broken	breaking
bring	brought	brought	bringing
build	built	built	building
buy	bought	bought	buying
catch	caught	caught	catching
choose	chose	chosen	choosing
come	came	come	coming
cost	cost	cost	costing
cut	cut	cut	cutting
deal	dealt	dealt	dealing
do	did	done	doing
draw	drew	drawn	drawing
drink	drank	drunk	drinking
drive	drove	driven	driving
eat	ate	eaten	eating
fall	fell	fallen	falling
feed	fed	fed	feeding
feel	felt	felt	feeling
fight	fought	fought	fighting
find	found	found	finding
fly	flew	flown	flying
forget	forgot	forgotten	forgetting
get	got	got, gotten	getting
give	gave	given	giving
go	went	gone	going
grow	grew	grown	growing
hang	hung	hung	hanging
have	had	had	having
hear	heard	heard	hearing
hide	hid	hidden	hiding
hit	hit	hit	hitting
hold	held	held	holding
keep	kept	kept	keeping
know	knew	known	knowing
lay	laid	laid	laying
lead	led	led	leading
leave	left	left	leaving
lend	lent	lent	lending
let	let	let	letting
lie*	lay	lain	lying
light*	lit	lit	lighting
lose	lost	lost	losing
make	made	made	making
mean	meant	meant	meaning
meet	met	met	meeting
pay	paid	paid	paying
put	put	put	putting
read	read	read	reading
ride	rode	ridden	riding
ring	rang	rung	ringing
rise	rose	risen	rising
run	ran	run	running
say	said	said	saying
see	saw	seen	seeing
sell	sold	sold	selling
sent	sent	sent	sending
set	set	set	setting
shake	shook	shaken	shaking
steal	stole	stolen	stealing
shine	shone	shone	shining
shoot	shot	shot	shooting
show*	showed	shown	showing
shut	shut	shut	shutting
sing	sang	sung	singing
sit	sat	sat	sitting
sleep	slept	slept	sleeping
speak	spoke	spoken	speaking
stand	stood	stood	standing
swim	swam	swum	swimming
take	took	taken	taking
teach	taught	taught	teaching
tell	told	told	telling
think	thought	thought	thinking
throw	threw	thrown	throwing
understand	understood	understood	understanding
wake*	woke	woken	waking
wear	wore	worn	wearing
win	won	won	winning
write	wrote	written	writing

* +ed also possible

Past Continuous (Past Progressive)

Subject + was/were + [verb + ing]

Past Continuous uses the formula was/were + [verb + ing]. The "ing" form of a verb is its present participle. Even though past continuous is talking about the past, we use the present participle to signify that at the time, the event was still ongoing. It's like we're talking about the past as if it were the present so that we can contextualize what was already happening when something else started to happen. In this case, the past continuous is the past of the past or the thing that happened furthest back in the past of the story we are telling. I know it can be confusing, but don't worry! ;)

For example, let's look at the following sentence "I was studying yesterday when she called." The past continuous part of the sentence is "was studying" and the simple past is "she called". Which action happened first? The studying started first. The phone call interrupted the studying. The studying may have also continued after the phone call ended. There were two events: studying and the phone call. The first event is stated in past continuous because it was going on when the second event happened. This is an instance of use #3 of past continuous, but there are many other uses as well!

There are several different uses of past continuous.   

1. An action was in progress at a particular time in the past. The action had already started at this time but had not finished.

        I was studying at 6pm last night.

        What were you doing this afternoon?

        We weren't working last week.

2. An action was in progress at every moment during a period of time.

        You were studying all last night.

        What were you doing the whole afternoon?

        We weren't working at all last week.

3. With past simple. Past continuous refers to a longer or background action that was happening when a shorter action began. The shorter or interrupting action will be phrased with past simple.

        She was studying when I called.

        You were leaving when he got there.

        While we were taking our vacation from work, we spent time with our families.

4. An action in the past was temporary.

        You were living in Belize last year, weren’t you?

        I was earning my Bachelor's degree.

        She was studying French.

5. Past continuous is used with words such as always, forever, and every to talk about things that happened repeatedly.

        I was always painting when I lived in France.

        They were forever laughing and smiling.

        She was winning every argument, wasn't she?

Past continuous can be used in the affirmative of the negative. In the affirmative, we are saying that something happened. In the negative we are saying that it did not happen. An example of past continuous in the affirmative is: "I was studying yesterday." An example of past continuous in the negative is: "I wasn't studying yesterday."

Affirmative: was/were + present participle (verb + ing)

Negative: wasn’t/weren’t + present participle (verb + ing)

* * *

See Also:

Grammar: Present Simple Versus Present Continuous

Past Simple vs Present Perfect

Present Perfect vs Present Perfect Continuous

Classroom English

Tongue Twisters