186 UNIT 16
GRAMMAR
Past simple and past continuous
1
Books closed. Ask ‘When did the story happen?’ (
in the
past
) Draw the following on the board:
Jack
saw
a black bear (B)
Today
Ask ‘What was Jack doing when he saw the black bear?’
(
He was walking along a path
.) Add the first part of the
sentence:
He
saw
a black bear (B)
Today
Jack
was walking
along a path (A) when …
Elicit the tense of the verbs (
A past continuous, B past
simple
) and which happened first (
A
).
Books open. The students answer the questions.
Answers
1
saw
is past simple,
was
walking
is past continuous
2 Action A started first
3 Action B interrupted Action A
GRAMMAR REFERENCE AND PRACTICE ANSWER KEY TB PAGE 249
2
Ask the students to say whether we usually follow
while
with the past simple or past continuous (
past
continuous
).
Answers
While Jack was watching the bears, something large and
heavy hit him from behind.
2
was watching
started first.
3
hit
interrupted
was
watching
Then, while he was fighting it, the mother bear ran towards
him.
2
was fighting
started first
3
ran
interrupted
fighting
While the mountain lion was attacking Jack, the bear stood
on its two back legs.
2
was
attacking
started first
3
stood
interrupted
was
attacking
