English 3: UNIT 4

PAST SIMPLE

when is the past simple used?

The past simple is used for sentences in which the idea, act or state has already been completed. The act may have happened recently or a long time ago, the time of completion does not matter, the only important thing is that we are talking about something that no longer happens or exists in the present.

For example, the simple past is always used to refer to when something happened, so it is associated with certain temporal expressions that indicate:

Frequency: often, sometimes, always

I sometimes walked home at lunchtime.
I often brought my lunch to school.

A especific time: last week, when I was a child, yesterday, six weeks ago

We saw a good film last week.

Yesterday, I arrived in Cartagena.
She finished her work atseven o'clock.
I went to the theatre last night.

An undetermined time: the other day, ages ago, a long time ago People lived in caves a long time ago.

She played the piano when she was a child.

Formation of the simple past with regular verbs

Simple past of the verbs to be, to have, to do:

Practice:

PAST CONTINUOUS

The past continuous describes actions or events situated in a time prior to the present, whose beginning is in the past and which have not yet concluded at the moment of speaking. In other words, it expresses an incomplete or unfinished action in the past.

When is it used?

It is used to describe an incomplete action that was interrupted by another action or event, for example: