Past simple and Past Continuous

Completed states/ actions (happening in the past) I lived in Ho Chi Minh city when I
was a child.

States/ actions happening at a definite past time I lived in America in 1996.

Past
simple
Repeated or habitual states/ actions in the past I used to go to school very early.

A present supposition (unreal), a polite request Would you mind if I borrowed your
pen?
Actions in progress at a past time (The action had I was watching TV at 9 o’clock last
started but it had not finished at that time.) night.
Past
continuous To emphasize the duration or continuation of an action The kids were playing outdoors all
in progress at a past time Sunday afternoon.

Past
Positive Negative Questions
Simple
With “to I/He/She/It was happy. I/He/She/It wasn’t happy. Was I/he/she/it happy?
be” We/You/They were We/You/They weren’t  Yes, you were./ No, you weren’t.
happy. happy. Yes, he/she/it was./ No, he/she/it
wasn’t.

Were you/we/they happy?

 Yes, I was./No, I wasn’t.
 Yes, we/they were./ No, we/they
weren’t.
With other I/He/She/It/We/You/ I/He/She/It/We/You/They Did I/you/he/she/it/we/they arrive
verbs They arrived yesterday. didn’t arrive yesterday. yesterday?
 Yes, you/I/he/she/it/we/they did./
No, you/I/he/she/it/we/they didn’t.
I/He/She/It was I/He/She/It wasn’t Was I/he/she/it working?
working. working.  Yes, you were./No, you weren’t.
We/You/They were We/You/They weren’t  Yes, he/she/it was./No, he/she/it
Past working. working. wasn’t.
Continuous Were you/we/they working?
 Yes, I was./No, I wasn’t.
 Yes, we/they were./No, we/they
weren’t.

Regular verbs’ past simple forms (dạng quá khứ của động từ có quy tắc):
+ Most of the verbs: add -ed (invent  invented)
+ Verbs ending with –e: add –d (arrive  arrived)
+ Verbs ending with –y: change –y into –i then add –ed (study  studied)
+ Verbs ending with a stressed vowel and a consonant: double the consonant then add -ed (stop  stopped,
permit  permitted)
*cancel  canceled (AmE)/cancelled (BrE). travel  traveled (AmE)/travelled(BrE)
Some irregular verbs’ past simple forms:
say said sleep slept be was/were *There are three ways of
make made feel felt sit sat pronouncing the –ed (các cách
go went put put speak spoke phát âm đuôi –ed):
take took bring brought lie lay
begin began lead led 1) /id/ – If the final sound is /d/ or
come came
/t/ then -ed will be pronounced /id/
see saw keep kept read read
(started – ended)
know knew hold held grow grew
get got write wrote lose lost 2) /t/ – If the final sound is
give gave stand stood fall fell unvoiced like /p/ , /f/, /s/, /ch/, /sh/
find found hear heard send sent and /k/ then –ed will be
think thought let let build built pronounced /t/. (stopped – laughed
] tell told mean meant understand understood – kissed – watched – washed –
become became set set draw drew liked)
leave left meet met break broke
run ran spend spent 3) /d/ – If the final sound is voiced
then –ed will be pronounced /d/.
pay paid cut cut
(allowed – enjoyed – cleaned –
rise rose cried – imagined)
drive drove
drink drank buy bought
eat ate wear wore
forget forgot
choose chose
sell sold
sing sang
catch caught
ring rang

* Common past time expressions:

Yesterday/ Yesterday morning/ Yesterday evening/ Yesterday afternoon: I walked to work yesterday.

The day before yesterday/ The week before last week/ The night before last night: Redd bought a house the
day before yesterday.

Last night/ Last month/ Last week/ Last year/ Last time: Avril travelled to Halifax last month.

This morning/ This afternoon/ This evening: Kathleen called me this morning.

One week ago/ One hour ago/ One day ago/ One month ago/ One year ago: One week ago, Kenneth and his
wife had a baby.

In 1970/ In March/ On Sunday: In 1990, Darren finished university.

When + subject + past simple verb: Paul played basketball when he was a student.
* Common past continuous expressions: While/ As
While Dr. Smith was visiting her uncle, she fell off a cliff and died.

When it started to rain, I was walking along the beach.

As my mother was cooking, my father arrived.

 Exercises
1. Complete the questions and answers with the past simple form of the verbs in brackets:

A: Where (you/ get) __________ your new mobile?

B: I (buy) ________ it at the shop in Cambridge Road.
A: How much (it/ cost) ___________?
B: I (pay) _________ 80$ for it.

C: (you/ call)________ Ellie?

D: No, I (send) _________ her a text.
C: What (you/ say) __________ in it?
D: I (invite) __________ her to a concert.

E: When (Jo/ break) ___________ her mp3 player?

F: She (not break) it. She (leave) __________ it at her cousin’s house on Saturday.

G: When (Tom download) __________ all this music?

H: He (do) ___________ it yesterday. It (not take) __________ long.

2) Fill in the blanks with the past continuous form of the verbs:

1. Alice hurt herself while she ………… (skate).

2. (walk) _____ you _______ home from work when you met my neighbor?

3. Sally saw a friend while she …………… (ride) her bicycle along Park St.

4. (work) _____ he ________ as a builder when he had an accident?

5. Bob stepped on Jane’s feet while they …………… (dance) together.

6. I cut myself while I ……………… (shave).

7. (bake) _______ they ________ cookies when they burned themselves?

8. Tommy had a nightmare while he …………… (sleep) at a friend’s house.

3) Read the text and fill in the gaps with the correct form of the verbs:

Julie Brinton tells Mark at Motivate! About her experience with an online gym.

Mark: Why (join)_____ you _____it?

Julie: I (not/have)________ time to go to the gym last summer. A friend (tell)______ me about an online gym
and I (decide)________ to try it. First, I (answer)_______ questions about my height, weight and age. Then a
virtual trainer (choose)________ an exercise programme for me.
Mark: (get)____ you _____fit?
Julie: Yes, I did. But there (be)______ some problems.
Mark: What kinds of problems?
Julie: When I (do)________ exercises, it (be)_______often hard to see the screen. Then once when I
(lie)_______ on the floor, my cat (jump)_________ on my face!

4) Complete the text with the correct form of the verbs:

“What (want) ____ you ____ to be?” Why (always ask) _____ people _________ this question? My answer is
always: “I (not know)_____.” At age six, the answer (be) ______ easy for me – firefighter! Now, I (like)
______ the idea of being a web designer. I (always be) _______ happy to help friends with their computer
problems. And I’m very keen on (do)______ fun things with my computers. Yesterday, for example, I (surf)
______ the net when I (find)________ some brilliant design ideas. So I (scan)______ some old photos. Then I
(draw)_______ pictures on the photos with my digital pen and I (write) ______ words in a balloon from
someone’s mouth.

At the moment, I (design)________ a website for a friend. But my mum (come)______ into my room every ten
minutes and (say)_______ helpful things like, ‘Why (stay)_____ you ________ inside on a lovely day like
today?” So things (be)________ going very well.

5) Complete the sentences with the words in parentheses using the simple past or the past continuous:

1. Sally ……… (eat) dinner last night when someone …………(knock) on the door.

2. I began to study at seven last night. Fred ………… (come) at seven-thirty. I ……… (study) when Fred
………… (come).

3. While I …………… (study) last night, Fred ………….. (drop by) to visit me.

4. My roommate’s parents ……… (call) him last night while we …………… (watch) TV.

5. My mother called me around five. My husband came home a little after five. When he ………………
(come) home, I …………… (talk) to my mother on the phone.

6. Yesterday Tom and Janice ………… (go) to the zoo around one. They …………… (see) many kinds of
animals. They stayed at the zoo for two hours. While they …………………………… (walk) home, it
…………….…….. (begin) to rain, so they ………… (stop) at a small café and ………… (have) a cup of
coffee.

7. Yesterday afternoon I ………… (go) to visit the Parker family. When I ………… (get) there around two
o’clock, Mrs. Parker ………………….. (be) in the yard. She …………… (plant) flowers in her garden. Mr.
Parker…………… (be) in the garage. He ………………… (work) on their car. He …………… (change) the
oil.
 Keys
1. Complete the questions and answers with the past simple form of the verbs in brackets:

A: Where (you/ get) ____did you get______ your new mobile?

B: I (buy) ___bought_____ it at the shop in Cambridge Road.
A: How much (it/ cost) ___did it cost________?
B: I (pay) ___paid______ 80$ for it.

C: (you/ call)___Did you call_____ Ellie?

D: No, I (send) ___sent______ her a text.
C: What (you/ say) _____did you say_____ in it?
D: I (invite) ____invited______ her to a concert.

E: When (Jo/ break) _____did Jo break______ her mp3 player?

F: She (not break) _____ didn’t break____it. She (leave) __left________ it at her cousin’s house on Saturday.

G: When (Tom download) ___did Tom download_______ all this music?

H: He (do) _______did____ it yesterday. It (not take) ___didn’t take_______ long.

2) Fill in the blanks with the past continuous form of the verbs:

1. Alice hurt herself while she …was skating……… (skate).

2. (walk) _Were____ you ___walking___ home from work when you met my neighbor?

3. Sally saw a friend while she ……was riding……… (ride) her bicycle along Park St.

4. (work) __Was___ he ___working_____ as a builder when he had an accident?

5. Bob stepped on Jane’s feet while they ……were dancing……… (dance) together.

6. I cut myself while I ……was shaving………… (shave).

7. (bake) ___Were____ they __baking______ cookies when they burned themselves?

8. Tommy had a nightmare while he ……was sleeping……… (sleep) at a friend’s house.

3) Read the text and fill in the gaps with the correct form of the verbs:

Julie Brinton tells Mark at Motivate! About her experience with an online gym.

Mark: Why (join)__did___ you _join____it?

Julie: I (not/have)___didn’t have_____ time to go to the gym last summer. A friend (tell)__told____ me about
an online gym and I (decide)___decided_____ to try it. First, I (answer)___answered____ questions about my
height, weight and age. Then a virtual trainer (choose)____chose____ an exercise programme for me.
Mark: (get)_Did___ you __get___fit?
Julie: Yes, I did. But there (be)___were___ some problems.
Mark: What kinds of problems?
Julie: When I (do)___was doing_____ exercises, it (be)___was____often hard to see the screen. Then once
when I (lie)__was lying_____ on the floor, my cat (jump)____jumped_____ on my face!

4) Complete the text with the correct form of the verbs:

“What (want) _do___ you __want__ to be?” Why (always ask) __do___ people _____always ask____ this
question? My answer is always: “I (not know)_don’t know____.” At age six, the answer (be) ___was___ easy
for me – firefighter! Now, I (like) __like____ the idea of being a web designer. I (always be) _am
always______ happy to help friends with their computer problems. And I’m very keen on (do)__doing____ fun
things with my computers. Yesterday, for example, I (surf) __was surfing____ the net when I
(find)____found____ some brilliant design ideas. So I (scan)__scanned____ some old photos. Then I
(draw)__drew_____ pictures on the photos with my digital pen and I (write) __wrote____ words in a balloon
from someone’s mouth.

At the moment, I (design)__am designing______ a website for a friend. But my mum (come)__comes____ into
my room every ten minutes and (say)____says___ helpful things like, ‘Why (stay)__are___ you
___staying_____ inside on a lovely day like today?” So things (be)___are_____ going very well.

5) Complete the sentences with the words in parentheses using the simple past or the past continuous:

1. Sally …was eating…… (eat) dinner last night when someone …knocked………(knock) on the door.

2. I began to study at seven last night. Fred ……came…… (come) at seven-thirty. I …was studying……
(study) when Fred …came……… (come).

3. While I ……was studying……… (study) last night, Fred ……dropped by…….. (drop by) to visit me.

4. My roommate’s parents …called…… (call) him last night while we ……were watching…… (watch) TV.

5. My mother called me around five. My husband came home a little after five. When he ……came…………
(come) home, I ……was talking……… (talk) to my mother on the phone.

6. Yesterday Tom and Janice ……went…… (go) to the zoo around one. They ……saw……… (see) many
kinds of animals. They stayed at the zoo for two hours. While they …………were walking…………………
(walk) home, it ………began…….…….. (begin) to rain, so they …stopped……… (stop) at a small café and …
had……… (have) a cup of coffee.

7. Yesterday afternoon I ……went…… (go) to visit the Parker family. When I ……got…… (get) there around
two o’clock, Mrs. Parker ………was………….. (be) in the yard. She ………was planting…… (plant) flowers
in her garden. Mr. Parker………was…… (be) in the garage. He ………was working………… (work) on their
car. He ………was changing…… (change) the oil.