📅 Simple Past: Actions in the Past

The Simple Past is used to talk about things that happened at a specific time in the past and are finished now.

Examples:

• 📱 I called my friend yesterday.
• 🎄 She visited her grandmother last weekend.
• 🎉 They had a party on Saturday.

How to Form It:

• Subject (I/You/He/She/We/They) + past form of the verb.
• He walked to school.
• We played tennis.

When Do We Use It?

• 🕰 Completed actions in the past: Actions that started and ended in the past.
• I ate breakfast at 8 a.m.
• 🕱 Specific times: Actions that happened at a particular time.
• She went to the park yesterday.

🕳️ Past Continuous: Actions in Progress in the Past

The Past Continuous is used to describe actions that were happening at a certain time in the past or ongoing actions when something else happened.

Examples:

• ⌛ I was watching TV when the phone rang.
• 🚪 They were cooking dinner at 6 p.m.
• 💃 She was dancing when the music stopped.

How to Form It:

• Subject (I/You/He/She/It/We/They) + was/were + verb + -ing.
• I was reading a book.
• They were playing football.

When Do We Use It?

• 🕐 Actions in progress in the past: Something that was happening at a specific time.
• At 9 p.m., I was studying.
• ⏯️ Interrupted actions: An action that was happening when something else interrupted.
• I was walking home when it started to rain.

🔼 Comparing Simple Past & Past Continuous

• Simple Past: 🕰 Used for completed actions that are finished.
• He played football last week. (It is a completed action.)
• Past Continuous: ⌛ Used for ongoing actions that were in progress in the past.
• He was playing football when it started to rain. (It was happening when something else occurred.)

Examples Together:

• 🚒 I was driving to work when I saw an accident.
• 🍼 The baby was crying when I entered the room.

Tip:

• Use Simple Past for things that are finished.
• Use Past Continuous for things that were in progress at a specific moment or when something else interrupted them.