Using two past tenses
One long
action
and
One short
action
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Task 1: Look at the words in red here: |
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I was walking on the beach when you phoned me. |
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I was working in the garden when the parcel came. |
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I was doing a crossword when you knocked on the door. |
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Now answer these questions and click here when you have an answer.
- Which actions began first?
- Which actions take a long time?
- Which actions take a short time?
Walking,
Working and Doing all started first.
Walking, Working and Doing all take a long time.
Phone, Came and Knocked are all quick, short actions.
Now watch a short video to help you understand
Now try a test.
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Task 2: The grammar |
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The long action starts first and is in the present progressive. We make the tense like this:
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the subject |
the past of the verb to be |
the -ing form of the verb |
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I |
was |
walking |
The short action is in the past simple (and is simple!):
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the subject |
the past form of the verb |
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I |
arrived |
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Task 3:
What word do we use to join the sentences together? |
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The word we used here is when. Like this:
I was walking on the beach
when you phoned me.
I was working in the garden when
the parcel came.
I was doing a crossword when
you knocked on the door.
We can also say:
When you phoned me,
I was walking on the beach.
When the parcel
came,
I was working in the garden.
When
you knocked on the door, I was doing a crossword.
and we can say:
You phoned
me
when I was walking on the beach.
The parcel came when
I was working in the garden.
You knocked on the door when
I was doing a crossword.
We put the
new or the
most important information at the
end.
Now take a test to make sure you understand.
Two short actions
With two short actions, we use the simple past for both.
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I answered when you phoned me. |
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I paid when the parcel came. |
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I opened the door when you knocked. |
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When two short actions are close together, we use the simple past for both of them. That's easy
Two long actions
With two long actions, we use the past progressive for both.
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I was listening when you were talking to me. |
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I was washing the car while he was reading the paper. |
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She was watching the television while you were washing up. |
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Task 4:
What word do we use to join the sentences together? |
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We can use when and we can use while for two long actions:
For example:
I was listening
while you were
talking
or
I was listening
when you were talking.
I was washing the car while he
was reading the paper
or
I was washing the car when he
was reading the paper.
She was watching television
when you were washing up
or
She was watching television
while you were
washing up.
We can also put while and when at the beginning and we can put one part of the sentence first or second.
We can have, for example:
I was listening
while you were
talking
I was listening
when you were talking.
While you were talking, I was listening.
He was reading the paper
while
I was washing the car.
When
I was washing the car, he
was reading the paper.
etc.
We put the
new or the
most important information at the
end.
This is the end of this lesson.
Now do the last test to
make sure you understand.
Thank you for doing the lesson!