Search results
Jul 28, 2024 · 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).
The past continuous describes a longer action or situation, and the past simple describes a shorter action or event. The short action in past simple often interrupts the longer action in past continuous. We use the past simple for completed actions that happened one after the other. Compare:
Practice the past simple and past continuous tenses with this interactive exercise. Choose the correct tense for each sentence and check your answers online or download the PDF.
Learn how to use the past continuous and the past simple to talk about events in the past. See the difference between the two tenses and examples of how to choose them depending on the context and the emphasis.
Past continuous and past simple. Level: intermediate. Past continuous and hypotheses. We can also use the past continuous to refer to the present or future in hypotheses (when we imagine something). See these pages:
Learn how to use the past simple and the past continuous to express main events and background events in a story. See examples, diagrams and exercises on Grammaring.
Learn how to use the past continuous to talk about things that were in progress in the past. See examples, exercises, and the difference between the simple past and past continuous.
