Past Continuous Tense, Simple Past Tense



THE PAST CONTINUOUS TENSE
Past continuous tense is used :
1.      To talk about an action which was in progress at a certain time in the past.
Pattern :
(+) S + was/were + V-ing + O/C + adv. of time
Ex :
o   Ali was reading a novel at about 7 p.m last night.
o   They were doing their homework together yesterday.

(-) S + was/were + not +V-ing + O/C + adv. of time
Ex :
o   I was not writing my poem last day.
o   The teachers were not teaching the students last week.
(?) was/were + S + V-ing + O/C + adv. of time + ?
Ex :
o   Were they doing their homework together yesterday ?
o   Was Ali reading a novel at about 7 p.m last night ?

2.      To talk about two actions that occurred at the same time. One action began earlier and was in progress when the other action occurred.

Situation :
o   the children had lunch, then their mother came home. After that, the cjildren probably still had lunch.
The sentence :
o   the children were having lunch when their mother came home.

While/when
Subject 1
Past continuous
Subject 2
Simple past
-          While
I
was sleeping,
the phone
rang.
-          When
Mr. Jono
was having a meeting,
a blast sound
was heard.


Subject 1
Past continuous
When
Subject 2
Simple past
-          We
Were listening to the CD
When
Someone
Knocked on the door
-          The teacher
Was explaining the lesson
When
The blackout
Happened
We can use when/while with the past continuous tense, but we can only use when before the simple past tense.
3.      To talk about two long actions that were in progress simultaneously.                        

  • Example :
While i was studying, my mother was cooking.                                                            
Meaning: Studying needs much time, cooking  also needs much time. They are considered as in the same length of time.
While
Subject 1
Past Continuous
Subject 2
Past Continous
-          While
Mrs. Joe
was cleaning the garden
Mr. Joe
was plowing his field
-          While
The children
were practicing singing
the teenagers
were preparing for drama





SIMPLE PAST TENSE
Simple past tense is used to shows that an activity or situation began and ended at a particular time in the past.
It is used :
o   To express a completed action in the past.
Ex : I went to bandung last  month.
o   To express a series of completed actions.
Ex : Nindy woke up,  made his bed and then had a bath.
o   To show duration in the past.
Ex : Jack called him for about one hour.
o   To show habits in the past.
Ex : she usually ran around the park when she was young.
o   To describe past facts or generalizations which are no longer true.
Ex : Mr. P-men was weak, but now he’s strong.
Simple past pattern
1.      Nominal (kalimat dengan predikat bukan kata kerja, kata kerjanya berupa To Be : was/were)

Pattern :
(+) S + was/were + C
Ex:  Randy was here a few minutes ago

(-) S + was/were + not + C
Ex: Sophie and Cassi were not lazy last night

(?) Was/were + S + C +?
Ex: Were they happy ?

2.      Verbal (kalimat dengan predikat berupa kata kerja lampau atau kata kerja
bentuk kedua)


Pattern :
(+) S + Verb2 + O/C
Ex: I called you yesterday

(-) S + did + not + verb1 + O/C
Ex: Nindy did not sing a song last week

(?) did + S + verb1 + O/C + ?
Ex: Did you send her letter this morning ?

Kind of verbs in the simple past tense :

a.      Regular Verbs (kata kerja beraturan)
That means that we can add -ed to the end of verbs.
Ex:
REGULAR VERBS
Verb base / verb1
Verb past / verb2
Clean
Cleaned
Join
joined
Play
played
Study
studied
Talk
talked
Lock
locked
Kick
Kicked
Jumped
Jump , etc.

                        There are some rules to make the verbs, look at the following rules :
Verbs end in . . .
How to make the simple past
Examples
-e
Add -d                
Smile -> smiled


Move -> moved
Consonant + -y
Change –y to –i, then add -ed
Deny -> denied


Study -> studied
Vowel + consonant (not –w or -y)
Double the consonant, then add -ed
Rob  -> robbed
Beg -> begged
Anything including -w
Add -ed
Knock -> knocked
Borrow -> borrowed


b.     Irregular Verbs (kata kerja tak beraturan)

That means that we can’t add –d/-ed to the end of the word. So, the irregular adverb is change in its shape.
Ex:
IRREGULAR VERBS
             Verb base / verb1
Verb past / verb2
Draw
Drew
Eat
Ate
                           Go
Went
Run
Ran
Speak
Spoke
Bring
Brought
Pay
Paid , etc.

But there are some adverbs that doesn’t change and it is included to irregular verbs. For example:
o   Read -> read
o   Cut -> cut
o   Hit -> hit
o   Let -> let
o   Etc.
The adverbs of time in the simple past tense are :
-          Just now
-          This morning
-          Yesterday
-          Last night
-          Last . . . ( week, Friday, month, year, etc. )
-          . . . ago ( a week, two months, some minutes, etc. )


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