Look at these examples to see how the past continuous and past simple are used.
When I woke up this morning, it was snowing.
I was sleeping when you called me.
Try this exercise to test your grammar.
- Grammar test 1
Read the explanation to learn more.
Grammar explanation
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). Irregular verbs have a different form, usually with a different vowel sound (e.g. wake → woke, break → broke, feel → felt).
My parents called me yesterday.
I woke up early this morning.
Sam played basketball when he was at university.
We make the negative with didn't and the infinitive verb.
My parents didn't call me yesterday.
I didn't wake up early this morning.
We make the question form with did and then the subject and infinitive verb.
Did you wake up early this morning?
Did Sam play basketball when he was at university?
Past continuous
The past continuous shows us that the action was already in progress at a certain time in the past.
What were you doing at 8 p.m. last night? I was studying.
This means that I started studying before 8 p.m. and I continued after 8 p.m.
The past continuous can also show that an activity was in progress for some time, not just for a moment.
We were cleaning the house all morning.
We make the past continuous with was or were and the -ing form of the verb.
She couldn't come to the party. She was working.
Three years ago, we were living in my home town.
I tried to give him some advice, but he wasn't listening.
What were you doing this time last year?
Past continuous and past simple
When we use these two tenses together, it shows us that the past simple action happened in the middle of the past continuous action, while it was in progress.
While I was studying, I suddenly felt sleepy.
We often use these tenses to show an action interrupting another action.
I broke my leg when I was skiing.
As I was going to work, I saw an old friend.
We were watching television when the power went off.
Can you see a difference in the meaning of these two sentences?
When the guests arrived, Jane was cooking dinner.
When the guests arrived, Jane cooked dinner.
In the first one, Jane started cooking dinner before the guests arrived. We know that because it uses the past continuous. In the second sentence, the guests arrived first and then Jane started cooking.
Do this exercise to test your grammar again.
- Grammar test 2
Hello! I have a doubt about past simple and past continuous. The sentence is what _______ (they/do) at 10pm last night - it was very noisy. Even though past continuous seems more logical to me, is past simple possible as well?Could "what did they do at 10pm last night - it was noisy?" be understood as e.g. they broke the window at 10pm last night and that window breaking was noisy? Thanks in advance.
Hello as06,
In theory, yes, the past simple is possible for a situation like this. In other words, you can speak about them breaking the window (or doing whatever) at 10pm with the past simple. The thing is, though, that 'it was noisy' is generally going to be understood as a description of a situation, which makes a past continuous form more appropriate in all but some unusual cases.
If you changed 'it was noisy' to 'there was a loud noise', then the past simple form would work, though the past continuous form would also work. The form that the speaker uses shows how they are thinking about the situation.
Hope this helps you make sense of it.
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hi everybody, I have a question why the gerund of the verb develop is developing not developping, why we do not follow the rule of CVC which says when we have a consonant+vowel+consonant we have to double the last letter of the word. for example: stop---->stopping or begin----->beginning
Hi nouhaila,
Unfortunately, I can't give you a reason for this other than to say that English spelling is very inconsistent. One sound can be represented by several spelling combinations (tree, ceiling, thief and Peter all contain /i/, for example), and one combination of letters can be pronounced in several ways ('ough' is pronounced differently in through, though, bough, cough, enough and thorough, for example).
Unlike some languages such as German, English does not have a central authority for spelling and grammar rules. Instead, rules develop organically through use and this inevitably leads to exceptions and inconsistencies. The example you quote is one of these. I think it's best to think of rules like this as tendencies rather than fixed rules.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
It's because the stress is not in the last syllable. For example, beGIN es beginning
Hello Luis Castillo,
The stress is on the last syllable, as you say, but that's not a rule for when to double the consonant. I wish it were – things would be easier if we had a nice rule like that to follow! However, there are many words where there stress is not on the last syllable and yet we double the consonant.
TRAvel > travelling
FORmat > formatting
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello! Why do we use Past simple instead of Present Perfect in this sentence? "I woke up early this morning." The day has not finished yet, has it?
Thank you in advance!
Hello rina_rinast,
We think of 'wake up' as a single finished action and so the past simple is used. You could say 'I have been awake since...' as being awake is an ongoing state. However, 'wake up' is not ongoing.
It's similar to the verb 'start'. This is not an action which is ongoing, so the past simple is used:
"I started early this morning."
"I've been working since early this morning."
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello I have a question. What tense would you use for the following sentences, Past Simple or Past Continuous? Could you justfy your choice?
I ______________________ (ring) at about 3 o’clock yesterday, but you
______________________ (not pick) up the phone. – What ______________________ (you do) ?
Thank You in advance
Hello marcel16,
I'd suggest 'rang', 'didn't pick', and 'were you doing'. The actions of ringing someone and picking up the phone are fairly discrete actions, which are usually best expressed with the past simple. The past continuous works better for the question because it's asking about an activity in progress at that time.
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team