Practice: Past Simple and Past Continuous Tenses; Prepositions in time expressions
Past Simple Tense expresses a past action that is now finished.
e.g. We played tennis last Sunday.
e.g. I worked in London from 1994 to 1999.
e.g. John left two minutes ago.
1. Complete the sentences with the correct past simple form of the verbs in brackets.
Last year I (go) _______ to England on holiday. It (be) ____ fantastic. I (visit) _____ lots of
interesting places. I (be) ______ with two friends of mine. In the mornings we (walk) _______ in
the streets of London. In the evenings we (go) _______ to pubs. The weather (be) ______
strangely fine. It (not/rain) _________ a lot. But we (see) _______ some beautiful rainbows.
Where (spend/you) ____________your last holiday?
Past Continuous Tense expresses a past activity that has duration.
e.g. I was running all morning.
e.g. You were making a lot of noise last night.
2. Complete the sentences with the correct past continuous form of the verbs in
brackets.
1. When I phoned my friends, they (play) ____________ monopoly.
2. Yesterday at six I (prepare) ______________dinner.
3. I (practice) ______________ the guitar when he came home.
4. We (not/cycle) _____________________ all day.
5. While Alan (work) _________________ in his room, his friends (swim)
_______________ in the pool.
6. What (you/do) _______________________ yesterday?
7. I (talk) _________________ with James when the telephone rang.
Past Simple or Past Continuous:
- The Past Simple expresses completed past actions. The Past Continuous expresses
activities in progress.
e.g. It rained every day of our holiday.
e.g. We went for a swim even though it was raining.
- A Past Simple action can interrupt a Past Continuous activity in progress.
e.g. When I phoned Simon he was having a shower.
e.g. I was doing my homework when Jane arrived.
- The Past Continuous describes the scene/the background, and the Past Simple reports the
event/tells the action.
e.g. The sun was shining when we left the museum.
e.g. We were driving when a car drove past us.
e.g. The thieves came in while he was sleeping.
3. Put the verbs in brackets into the past simple or the past continuous.
1. While I (drive) ___________, I (have) ______________ an accident.
2. Kate (have) ________________ dinner and then she (do) ________ her homework.
3. The thieves (hide) __________________ in the kitchen when the police (come) _______ in.
4. Sam (plan) _____________ a party and then he (phone) ___________________ his friends.
5. While we (clean) ______________ the house, we (break) ______________ some glasses.
6. Alan (look) ____________ out of the window when he (see) _____________ a UFO.
7. He (meet) _____________ a lot of friendly people while he (work) ____________ in
California.
8. When they (leave) _______________ the museum, the sun (shine) ________________.
9. She (sing) ________________ her last song when the power (go) __________ off.
10. The ceiling (fall) _________ down while the builders (work) ____________ on the house.
Prepositions in time expressions: Choose the correct preposition.
1. What would you like to do at /in / on the morning?
2. In England, it often snows in /on / at December.
3. The shop closes in /at / on midnight.
4. Where will you be at /in / on New Years Day?
5. I have a meeting on /at / in 9.00 a.m.
6. She went to university at /in / on the 1990s.
7. Ill give you a call at /on / in two weeks time.
8. My birthday is at /on / in June 20.
9. Do you eat special food at /on / in Christmas?
10. He starts working at/ on / in Wednesday.
