Past Simple
I, he, she, it was / wasn't
We, you, they were / weren't
Was I, he, she, it …? Were you, we, they…?
All the verbs use the auxiliary "did" for negative and interrogative forms and take "ed" in the affirmative form.
I, you, he, she, it, we they lived/worked/played...
(if the infinitive ends with an "e" you only had "d" : live-d)
I didn’t live… (didn't = did not)
Did you live…? Yes, I did / no, I didn’t.
There are a lot of irregular verbs in the affirmative form.
Examples
I worked yesterday but I didn't work on Saturday. I went to the city center and met with my friends. We played video games at the Game Store and then ate pizza. Did we eat ice cream? No, we didn't.
Past Continuous
"Be" in past simple + verb+-ing
I, he, she, it was (not)... working
you, we, they were (not)... working
Was I, he, she, it (not)... working?
Are you/we/they (not)... working?
Examples
- What were you and your sister (they) doing at 10 this morning?
- I was watching T.V and my sister (she)was having a shower.
The Past Simple is used for past completed actions:
- I played basket ball last Wednesday. (action completed)
- I got/didn't get home at 10 p.m. (action completed)
The Past Continuous is used for past actions in progress:
- I was watching T.V. (action in progress)
- He wasn't working on a project. (action in progress)
The past continuous describes what was happening at a precise moment in the past (at a certain time or when something happened (past simple).
- I was watching T.V. at 10 p.m. and my sister was having a shower,
- I wasn't watching T.V. when you got home.
- They were working on a project when the company went bankrupt.
