Past Simple and Past Continuous _Theory.pdf

Unit 5 Past simple (I did) A Study this example: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was an Austrian musician and composer. He lived from 1756 to 1791. He started composing at the age of five and wrote more than 600 pieces of music....

Unit 5 Past simple (I did) A Study this example: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was an Austrian musician and composer. He lived from 1756 to 1791. He started composing at the age of five and wrote more than 600 pieces of music. He was only 35 years old when he died. lived/started/wrote/was/died are all past simple B Very often the past simple ends in -ed (regular verbs): I work in a travel agency now. Before that I worked in a department store. They invited us to their party, but we decided not to go. The police stopped me on my way home last night. Laura passed her exam because she studied very hard. For spelling (stopped, studied etc.), see Appendix 6. But many verbs are irregular. The past simple does not end in -ed. For example: write → wrote Mozart wrote more than 600 pieces of music. see → saw We saw Alice in town a few days ago. go → went I went to the cinema three times last week. shut → shut It was cold, so I shut the window. For a list of irregular verbs, see Appendix 1. C In questions and negative sentences we use did/didn’t + infinitive (enjoy/see/go etc.): I enjoyed you enjoy? I enjoy she saw did she see? she didn’t see they went they go? they go I enjoyed the party a lot. Did you enjoy it? How many people did they invite to the wedding? I didn’t buy anything because I didn’t have any money. ‘Did you go out?’ ‘No, I didn’t.’ Sometimes do is the main verb in the sentence (did you do?, I didn’t do): What did you do at the weekend? (not What did you at the weekend?) I didn’t do anything. (not I didn’t anything) D The past of be (am/is/are) is was/were: I/he/she/it was/wasn’t was I/he/she/it? we/you/they were/weren’t were we/you/they? I was annoyed because they were late. Was the weather good when you were on holiday? They weren’t able to come because they were so busy. I wasn’t hungry, so I didn’t eat anything. Did you go out last night or were you too tired? 10 Past simple and past continuous ➜ Unit 6 Past simple and present perfect ➜ Units 12–14 Unit 6 Past continuous (I was doing) A Study this example situation: Yesterday Karen and Joe played tennis. They started at 10 o’clock and finished at 11.30. So, at 10.30 they were playing tennis. they were playing = they were in the middle of playing, they had not finished was/were + -ing is the past continuous: he/she/it was playing doing we/you/they were working etc. B I was doing something = I was in the middle of doing it at a certain time. The action or situation started before this time, but had not finished: I started doing I was doing I finished doing past past now This time last year I was living in Hong Kong. What were you doing at 10 o’clock last night? I waved to Helen, but she wasn’t looking. C Compare I was doing (past continuous) and I did (past simple): I was doing (= in the middle of an action) I did (= complete action) We were walking home when I met We walked home after the party last Dan. (in the middle of walking home) night. (= all the way, completely) Kate was watching TV when we Kate watched TV a lot when she was ill arrived. last year. D You can say that something happened (past simple) in the middle of something else (past continuous): Matt phoned while we were having dinner. It was raining when I got up. I saw you in the park yesterday. You were sitting on the grass and reading a book. I hurt my back while I was working in the garden. But we use the past simple to say that one thing happened after another: I was walking along the road when I saw Dan. So I stopped, and we talked for a while. Compare: When Karen arrived, we were having When Karen arrived, we had dinner. dinner. (= we had already started before (= Karen arrived, and then we had she arrived) dinner) E Some verbs (for example, know and want) are not normally used in continuous forms (is + -ing, was + -ing etc.). See Unit 4A for a list of these verbs. We were good friends. We knew each other well. (not we were knowing) I was enjoying the party, but Chris wanted to go home. (not was wanting) 12 Past simple (I did) ➜ Unit 5