Students had a quiz today about past continuous verb tense. We went through the answers to the quiz together in class. Students also re-read Tommy Prince and worked on some assignments related to this biography.

More Information about Past Simple and Past Continuous Verb Tenses:

Simple Past

1. Form

Base V + -ed (and various irregular verb forms)

The ending -ed is added to the base form of the verb. The good news is that there are no differences in endings like there are with other verbs tenses (except for the BE verb: we use was for the first and third person singular—I, he, she, it, singular count nouns, non‑count nouns— and were for the second person singular—you—and the first, second, and third person plural—we, plural you, they, plural count nouns).

Note that there are a lot of exceptions to forming the plural with -ed. These verbs are called irregular verbs.

2. Use

The simple past is used for a completed past action. It’s important to notice that with the simple past, we know when the action took place because of the time marker in the sentence. This is important so that you learn when to use the simple past vs. the present perfect.

3. Time Markers

• yesterday
• the day before yesterday
• last (last week/month/year/etc.)
• ago (two days ago, three weeks ago, etc.)
• when + another past clause

4. Examples

• My mother went grocery shopping yesterday.
• We played basketball after school last Thursday.
• I ate a lot when I was a child.

Past Progressive – Main Use

1. Form

was/were + ‑ing V

The past progressive is formed by taking the past BE verb and an action verb + ‑ING. We use was for the first and third person singular (I, he, she, it, singular count nouns, non-count nouns) and were for the second person singular (you) and the first, second, and third person plural (we, plural you, they, plural count nouns).

2. Use

The main function of the past progressive is to show a continuing (long) action getting interrupted by a short past action. Using the words long and short helps students understand this use.

3. Time Marker

The time marker when is common for this case.

4. Examples

• I was studying when my friend called me.
• We were playing soccer when it started to rain.
• They were singing in the auditorium when the alarm rang.

Don’t forget that you can start the sentence with either the independent clause OR the dependent clause with no difference in meaning. Also, a comma must be used when a dependent clause begins a sentence.

• She was reading when the doorbell rang. (independent clause starts the sentence)
• When the doorbell rang, she was reading. (dependent clause starts the sentence, comma is used, no difference in meaning between the first and second example)

5. Trick

Memorize common “short” action verbs so that you’ll easily recognize when the past progressive is needed. Short action verbs include: started, began, called, arrived, rang, came, landed, hit, and went out (as in the power went out or the lights went out).