Page 85 - New Grammar with a Smile 6

• Was she singing a song?
• Were they decorating the Christmas tree?
• Was she sleeping?

Comparison: Simple Past Tense and Past Continuous Tense

Simple past tense Past continuous tense

• describes an action that • describes an action that was in
happened in the past. For progress at a particular point of
example, time in the past. For example,
• I woke up early today. • At 8 p.m. last night, I was
studying Maths.

• Time expressions used are: • Time expressions used are: at 6 last
yesterday, last Sunday, last night, at 9 yesterday morning, at
Monday, last month, last the moment. For example,
year, often. For example, • I was watching TV at 6 p.m.

• My mother cooked a tasty yesterday.
dinner yesterday.

C. Fill in the blanks with the simple past tense or the past continuous tense of the

verbs in the brackets.

1. My brother (wait) for me at the airport when my plane
(land).

My brother was waiting for me at the airport when my plane landed.

2. Faisal (hurt) his finger while he

(hammer) a nail into the box.

3. The power (go) off while I (watch)
the film.

4. It (begin) to rain when we (play)

the finals.

5. I (come) across many interesting pictures when

I (surf) the Internet.

6. The boys (steal) mangoes when the watchman

(see) them.
7. It (begin) to rain when we (wait)

at the bus stop. 85