Simple Past Vs Past Continuous Tense | Easy Forms, Uses, Rules, Examples and Practice

 

Learn the difference between Simple Past and Past Continuous with easy rules, clear examples, and simple explanations. This beginner-friendly guide helps students understand when to use each tense correctly in English sentences. Simple past and past continuous tense are frequently used in every conversation in English but they can be confusing to many none native English learners specifically the beginner. Don't worry this post will help you get through these two tenses with ease by explaining the following key points. 

Table of Content

1. Simple Past
2. Past Continuous
3. Simple Past Vs Past Continuous
4. Practice

Simple Past 

Uses: 

• action that happened and finished at a specific time in the past.
• multiple past action that happened one after another in a series.

Forms

• Positive : Sub + V-ed + .......past time expression.
• Negative : Sub + didn't + base verb....
• Yes/No : Did + sub + base verb......?
• Wh-Question : Wh-word + did + sub + base verb...?

Past time expressions

• yesterday,
• in 2000,
• when I was 2 years old
• Last : week, month, year...
• Ago : 2 hours ago, a week ago....

Example

• They visited Angkor Wat last year.
• They played soccer yesterday.
• He left a minute ago.
• She cried a lot when she was a baby.
• She didn't come to school yesterday.
• Did you watch TV last night?
• What did you do before you sent to bed last night?
• This morning I woke up at 5 then I went to the bathroom, washed my face, brushed my teeth, took a shower and had breakfast. 

Past Continuous

Use 

• Action that was happening at a specific time in the past.
• Multiple past actions that were happening at the same times

Forms

• Positive : Sub + was/were + Ving.......
• Negative: Sub + wasn't/weren't + Ving.....
• Yes/No : Was/were + sub + Ving....
• Wh- Question : Wh-word + was/were + sub + V-ing....?

Example

• This time yesterday, I was studying.
• She was sleeping at 10 last night.
• It was raining at 8 this morning. 
• They were playing soccer at 2 yesterday.
• I wasn't sleeping at 9 last night.
• My mom wasn't cooking at 6 this morning.
• They weren't playing soccer this time yesterday.
• What were you doing at 10 last night? 
• This time yesterday, the teacher was teaching, students were studying, janitor was cleaning.
• When I woke up this morning, the sun was shinning, birds were singing and my mom was preparing breakfast.

Simple Past Vs Past Continuous

Simple Past and Past continuous are frequently used together in a compound sentence and this can be a challenge for many learners since they have a hard time to pick between simple past and past continuous tense. But here are some easy tips to help you decide. 

Past Continuous

• action happens first (earlier action)
• action is longer

Simple Past

• action is shorter 
• Later action
• Interrupting action

Example

1. The rain came while they were playing soccer.
2. When the teacher is writing, he dropped his marker.
3. She was taking a shower when someone rang the bell.
4. The police arrived while they were playing cards.
5. Teacher was writing when his marker dropped. 

Practice

Please put the following verbs in the correct tense of Simple Past and Past Continuous.

1. She __________ (brush) her teeth when the alarm __________ (ring).
2. He __________ (sleep) when the phone __________ (ring).
3. We were eating (eat) dinner when he __________ (arrive) home.
4. While it __________ (snow), I __________ (play) outside.
5. It __________ (rain) while I __________ (wait) for the bus.
6. I __________ (find) a wallet while I __________ (cross) the street.
7. My mom __________ (come in) while I __________ (do) my homework.
8. She __________ (watch) TV while he __________ (paint) in his room.
9. Marker___________(drop) while the teacher _____________(write).
10. My mom ___________(cook) when someone ___________(knock) on the door. 

Interactive Practice

📘 Simple Past & Past Continuous Quiz ✏️