PAST SIMPLE VS.

PAST CONTINUOUS

WORKSHEETS, ACTIVITIE S & GA ME S Past Simple or Past Continuous?

A. Do you use the past simple or past continuous in these situations? Write the letter
in the correct box below.

a. You want to emphasize that an action took some time.

b. You want to talk about a state or situation that was true in the past.

c. You want to emphasize something happened again and again over time.

d. You want to emphasize change or growth over time.

e. You want to talk about a one-time completed action or event. The duration isn't important.

f. You want to talk about a relatively long action that was ongoing at a particular time.

g. You want to talk about a repeated, completed action or event. The duration isn't important.

h. You want to talk about a relatively long action that was interrupted by a shorter one.

i. You want to talk about a relatively short action or event that happened during a longer one.

j. You want to talk about a plan that would have been completed in the past but was changed.

Past simple Past continuous

B. Complete the sentences in the past simple or continuous using the verbs in brackets.

1. Oh man, my back ..................... (ache) all day.

2. I ..................... (take) a shower when the package arrived.

3. I ..................... (do) my homework after I ..................... (get) home from school.

4. Her chess game ..................... (get) better steadily.

5. Sorry I didn't answer the phone before. I was driving when you ..................... (call).

6. What ..................... you ..................... (do) on the night of the murder?

7. I often ..................... (stop) for tea in the morning before I ..................... (get) married.

8. I didn't have lunch, so I really ..................... (need) something to eat when I got home.

9. He ..................... always ..................... (talk) about his bowling scores, but no one cared.

10. We ..................... (plan) to buy you a cake for your birthday, but the bakery was closed.

C. Match the sentences above with the situations in Exercise A.

1. ........ 2. ........ 3. ........ 4. ........ 5. ........

6. ........ 7. ........ 8. ........ 9. ........ 10. ........

Teach-This.com © 2021 Permission granted to reproduce for classroom use.

 PAST SIMPLE VS. PAST CONTINUOUS

WORKSHEETS, ACTIVITIE S & GA ME S Past Simple or Past Continuous?

D. Match the timelines with the situations in Exercise A. The grey boxes show actions or
states that continued for some time. The vertical lines show times or shorter actions.
Then, write sentences that correspond to the timelines using the prompts. Add time
adverbs and other information where appropriate.
Situation
Example: past I / wear / costume the girl I like / notice me now
h
........

I was wearing a costume when the girl I like noticed me.

...................................................................................................................................

1. past Grace / go / football match now

........

...................................................................................................................................

2. past Milo / cook dinner the guests / arrive now

........

...................................................................................................................................

3. past Noah / text / friends now

........

...................................................................................................................................

4. past Jacob / take guitar lessons Jacob / quit now

........

...................................................................................................................................

5. past Hazel / give a presentation 11:00 now

........

...................................................................................................................................

6. past Lucy / want / pony / when / child now

........

...................................................................................................................................

7. past John / forget / keys now

........

...................................................................................................................................

8. past (My daughter) Claire / grow up / fast now

........

...................................................................................................................................

9. past Kate / plan / go / library her plan / change now

........

..................................................................................................................................

Teach-This.com © 2021 Permission granted to reproduce for classroom use.