UNIT 3: PAST SIMPLE, PAST CONTINUOUS AND USED TO

PAST SIMPLE vs PAST CONTINUOUS

Form
Past Simple Past Continuous
Irregular verbs: see 2nd column of irregular verbs. Past form of “be” + V-ing
(I spoke) I/he/she/it was working
Regular verbs: verb + ed (I worked) You/we/they were working
Exceptions
When adding “ed”: When adding “ing”:
• when the final letter is e, only add d. • silent e is dropped (but: does not apply for -
ee)
Example: love - loved
Example: come - coming
• after a short, stressed vowel, the final but: agree - agreeing
consonant is doubled
• after a short, stressed vowel, the final
Example: admit - admitted
consonant is doubled
• final l is always doubled in British English (not Example: sit - sitting
in American English)
• final l is always doubled in British English (not
Example: travel - travelled
in American English)
• after a consonant, final y becomes i. (but: not Example: travel - travelling
after a vowel)
• final ie becomes y.
Example: worry - he worried
but: play - he played Example: lie - lying

Use

• After another or at the same time?

Do you want to express that the actions in the past happened one after another or at the same
time?

Past Simple Past Continuous

One after another At the same time
She came home, switched on the computer and Simon was playing on the computer while his
checked her e-mails. brother was watching TV.
 ▪ New action or already in progress?

If you want to express that a new action happened in the middle of another action, you need both
tenses: Simple Past the new action and Past Progressive for the action already in progress.

Past Simple Past Continuous

New action Already in progress
My mobile rang (while I was sitting in a meeting.) While I was sitting in a meeting, (my mobile
suddenly rang.)

• Only mentioning or emphasising progress?

Do you just want to mention that an action took place in the past (also used for short actions)? Or
do you want to put emphasis on the progress, e.g. that an action was taking place at a certain time?

Past Simple Past Continuous

Just mentioning Emphasis progress
Colin played football yesterday. Yesterday at six o'clock, Colin was playing
football.

USED TO
We use “used to” to talk about:
• Situations or states in the past which are not true now:
My mother used to be a teacher
• Repeated activities or habits in the past which do not happen now:
She used to have lunch every day in a bar until she learned cooking.
Important: We only use “used to” in the past.
If we want to talk about habits in the present, we use the present simple with an adverb like usually,
every day, etc.