1.2.2: Practice with Simple Past and Past Progressive

Before you continue, open the link for more explanation about Simple Past (Past Simple) and Past Progressive (Continuous).

https://www.englishpage.com/verbpage/pastcontinuous.html

Exercise 2.3: Fill-in-the-Blank

Insert the verbs in their correct form (either past progressive or simple past forms) into the following sentences.

For example, for the verb "walk":

‘Because it was dark, I ……….. home quickly.’

Answer: ‘Because it was dark, I walked home quickly.’

This used the verb in its simple past form.

1. When we ______________ (see) Jane, the children ______________(jump) on the bouncy castle.
2. I __________________(be) scared but excited when I ______________ (fly) to Spain.
3. When the letter ______________ (arrive), I______________ (cook) dinner for my wife.
4. I ______________ (want) to be a dancer when I ______________ (be) young.
5. How fast ______________ (you/drive), when you ______________(have) the accident?

Exercise 2.4: Matching

Match each one of these sentence beginnings:

1. Every morning last summer I jogged _____

2. When I saw you, _____

3. My brother was making funny faces _____

4. Kate enjoyed playing with the sand _____

With one of these sentence endings (make sure it has the right form of the verb!):

A) ...you were dancing.

B) ...while I was living in Brazil.

C) ...while her mom was reading a magazine.

D) ...when I cooked your dinner.

This work from We Love Teaching English is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution - Non-Commercial - No-Derivatives 4.0 International License. 

Exercise 2.5:Past Progressive or Simple Past

Select the response from the list that best completes the sentence. Two answers may be correct.

1. George (came / was coming) to this country in 2007.

2. He (attended / was attending) college classes every day.

3. He (took / was taking) a writing class while his brother  ( took / was taking) a grammar class.

4. He attended regularly, studied hard, and (did / was doing) very well.

5. At home, in Athens, he (lived / was living) with his parents.

6. When he first came to the U.S., he (lived / was living) with his uncle and his family for a while.

7. He (returned / was returning) home whenever he had the opportunity.

8. He finally (returned / was returning) home for good last month. 
for good (expression) = forever

9. George (received / was receiving) an engineering degree last June.

10. He (began / was beginning) working for an engineering firm a week after he returned home.

firm – a small company

Exercise 2.6: Interrupted Actions

Make one sentence using the following actions. One of the actions will require the past progressive, and the other one will require the simple past tense.  Use commas where necessary.

For example: pick potatoes in my garden     find a piece of glass

While I was picking potatoes in my garden yesterday, I found a piece of glass.

1. stop to buy a cup of coffee         drive to school

 

2. work in my office                      get a phone call from my wife

 

3.  drive to work                           get stuck in a traffic jam

 

4. break a glass                            help my wife in the kitchen

 

5. watch television                        fall asleep

Exercise 2.7: A Weekend Trip

Correct or Incorrect?

Select an option (correct or incorrect) as your response. If the sentence is incorrect, make corrections above or below the errors.

11. Two friends, and my brother and I went on a weekend trip after school finished in June.

Correct         Incorrect

12. We put everything in the back of my car and drived to the mountains to camp for a week.

Correct         Incorrect

13.When we arrived there, we setted up our campsite and prepared for lunch.

Correct         Incorrect

14. Suddenly, my brother said, "Dude, where you put the tent?"

Correct         Incorrect

15. I replied, "Uh…I thought you pack the tent."

Correct         Incorrect

Exercise 2.8: Error Correction

Camping Without a Tent

A. Read for errors and correct. Only the first sentence has no errors.

By accident, we left our tent at home. We have no idea how to get by without a tent at night. The first night, we were hanging a string between two trees and

throwed a blanket over it. However, the blanket falled in our faces, so we sleeping in the car. The next night, we tide the corners of the blanket down. The blanket

was stayed in place, but the mosquitoes eating us alive. As the campers next to us leaving, we ask to buy their old tent. They agree to sold it to us for very little

money. Our problem was solved. The same day, we catched fish and fryed them. We staying up late and have a good time until the camp fire went out. So we

called it a night, crawl into our tent and were falling peacefully asleep.

get by (phrasal verb) – survive with the minimum; live without something

ate us alive (expression) – bit or stung us several times

solve (V) – to find a way to fix or end a problem

the fire went out – was extinguished, the flame was gone

call it a night (expression) – end the late-evening or late-night activity
crawl (V) – move on hands and knees

Writing Practice: The Past Tenses

An achievement is the act of reaching a goal. Examples of achievements include:

• Completing a difficult class
• Earning a degree
• Getting a job
• Saving enough money to buy a house or car
• Raising a healthy family
• Learning to cook a special dish

Think of two more examples with your classmates...

When we achieve a goal, we feel proud. Write a list of three achievements that make you feel proud...

Choose one achievement and write a paragraph about it. Describe all of the steps that you took to achieve your goal. What was difficult about achieving your goal?  Use Simple Past and Past Progressive tenses. Other tenses may also be needed.

Grammar-Quizzes › Verb Phrases › Verbs › Past › Past vs. Past Progressive

Practices 3, 4 and 5 from Grammar Quizzes by Julie Sevastopoulos licensed for use under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 International.