Past Continuous vs Past Simple

Past Continuous (Past Progressive)
1. Actions still in progress in the past.
  1. Example: Someone was chasing her!
2. Background events
  1. Example: On a cold, dark night, Elissa was working at the office.
3. Forms
  1. Statements
    1. Subject + was/were + verb (-ing)...
  2. Yes/No Questions
    1. Was/Were + subject + verb (-ing) +...?
  3. Open Questions
    1. Wh-/How + was/were + subject + verb (-ing) +...?
Past Simple
1. Completed or repeated actions.
  1. Example: She quickly ran into the cemetery.
2. Past SImple + Past Simple
  1. Example: She quickly ran into the cemetery and hid there.
Past Continuous + Past Simple or Pas Simple + Past Continuous
1. Shorter action (Past Simple) happened while longer action (Past Continuous) was still in progress.
  1. Example: As she was leaving her office, she realised the streets were now empty.
2. Interruption
  1. Example: While she was walking, she heard some footsteps behind her. She turned around to look.

Resource summary

	Created by Luis David Mendoza over 6 years ago