We use the simple past tense to talk about finished events in the past. It is commonly used with definite past time expressions like yesterday, last year, last week etc.

The past continuous tense is used to say that an action or situation was going on at a particular point of time in the past.

Exercise

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

1. Meera …………………….. (wait) for me when I ……………… (reach) home.

2. ‘What  …………………. (you / do) at this time yesterday?’ ‘I ………………….. (work) on my project.’

3. ‘……………….. (you / watch) the tennis match on TV last night?’ ‘No, I ……………….. (go) to bed early.’

4. ……………… (you / drive) fast when your car ……………… (hit) the motorist?

5. He always …………………. (take) my photos when I …………………. (not look)

6. I ……………….. (be) in a difficult situation. I ……………….. (not know) what I was supposed to do.

7. When I ……………….. (see) Rahul the other day he ………………. (tell) me that he …………………… (try) to find a job.

8. Yesterday when I ………………….. (walk) down the street, I ……………… (hear) footsteps behind me. I ……………… (realize) that somebody ………………… (follow) me. I was …………….. (scare) and I ……………… to run. (begin)

9. When I was young, I ……………….. to become a scientist. (want)

10. I ……………. (drop) a glass when I ………………. (serve) drinks to my guests. Fortunately, it ……………….. (not break)

Answers

1. was waiting, reached

2. were you doing, was working

3. Did you watch, went

4. Were you driving, hit

5. took, was not looking

6. was, did not know

7. saw, told, was trying

8. I was walking, heard, realized, was following, scared, began

9. was, wanted

10. dropped, was serving, did not break