The past simple tense

Formation
Regular verbs form the past simple tense by adding the ending -ed to the base verb form
and it has the same form for all persons (Irregular verbs have different forms for the past
simple tense)
Eg. I worked We worked
You worked You worked
He/She/It worked They worked

Spelling
- If the word is monosyllabic word containing one vowel (a, e, i, o, u) followed by a
consonant, the last consonant is doubled before -ed
Eg. beg- begged
- When the verb ends in -y, before -ed, y changes to - i
Eg. cry - cried
- In British English verbs ending in -el double the final consonant -l
Eg. travel -travelled

Interrogative form
DID + S + V
Did I work?
Did You work?
Did we work?
Negative form
S + DID + NOT + V
I didnt work
You didnt work
We didnt work
Use
- For past habitual actions (sth that happened repeatedly in the past)
Eg. She went to cinema every Friday
- To express a finished action in the past at a definite time
Eg. He built the house in 1992
Make interrogative and negative
1. He won the first prize.
2. My mother went shopping
3. It cost a lot of money
4. We understood him well
5. The threw him in the pool
6. We were happy in their house
7. The bell rang twice
8. He read the newspaper
9. She saw him at the concert
10. She made a cake
11. They sang two songs
12. I taught him to drive
13. He wrote 5 letters
14. He told me the truth

Choose the correct form

1. I met / was meeting a friend while I did/ was doing the shopping
2. I paid/ was paying for my things when I heard/ was hearing someone call my name
3. I turned/ was turning round and saw /was seeing Paula
4. She wore/ was wearing a bright red coat
5. We decided/ were deciding to have a cup of coffee
6. While we had/ were having a drink, a waiter dropped/ was dropping a plate
7. We all got/ were getting a terrible shock
8. While the waiter picked/ was picking up the broken plates, he cut / was cutting his
finger
9. We left/ were leaving the caf and said/ were saying goodbye
10. I finished/ was finishing my shopping and went/ was going home.
 The past continuous (progressive) tense

Formation
Past simple of TO BE + VERB (+ing)
I was working
You were working
He/She/It was working
We were working
Interrogative form
WAS/WERE + S + V(+ing)
Was I working?
Were you working?
Was he working?
Negative form
S + WASNT/ WERENT + V(+ing)
I wasnt working
You werent working

Use
- For actions in progress in past
Eg. Elena was reading a book last night
- For past action which was in progress when another action took place
Eg. Elena was reading a book when I came in.
- For past simultaneous actions
Eg. Elena was reding while I was watching TV