مدونة التربية و التعليم في الجزائر – دروس، فروض، نتائج امتحانات مدونة التربية والتعليم في الجزائر | تحضير الدروس، فروض واختبارات، نتائج البكالوريا وBEM، مسابقات التوظيف، والتوجيه المدرسي للطلاب وأولياء الأمور.
Introduction
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Two important past tenses in English are the Past Simple and the Past Continuous. In the BEM exam, you need to know when to use each one. This lesson explains the difference, how to form each tense, and when to use them together in one sentence.
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مقدمة: هناك زمنان مهمان في اللغة الإنجليزية للتعبير عن الماضي: Past Simple (الماضي البسيط) و Past Continuous (الماضي المستمر). في امتحان BEM، يجب أن تعرف متى تستخدم كل منهما. هذا الدرس يشرح الفرق وكيفية تكوين كل زمن.
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Learning Objectives
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- Form the Past Simple and Past Continuous tenses correctly
- Understand when to use each tense
- Use Past Simple and Past Continuous together in the same sentence (interrupted action)
- Apply these tenses in BEM-style exercises
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Part 1: Past Simple — Review
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Usage: A completed action in the past. The action is finished.
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Formation:
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- Regular verbs: Verb + -ed (work → worked, play → played)
- Irregular verbs: Special form (go → went, eat → ate, see → saw)
- Negative: did not (didn’t) + base verb
- Question: Did + subject + base verb?
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Examples
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Affirmative: I visited my grandmother yesterday. / She went to the market.
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Negative: I didn’t visit my grandmother yesterday. / She didn’t go to the market.
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Question: Did you visit your grandmother? / Did she go to the market?
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Part 2: Past Continuous — Review
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Usage: An action that was in progress at a specific time in the past.
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Formation:
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- Subject + was/were + verb-ing
- I/He/She/It was + verb-ing
- You/We/They were + verb-ing
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Examples
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Affirmative: I was watching TV at 8 PM last night. / They were playing football at 5 o’clock.
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Negative: I wasn’t watching TV. / They weren’t playing football.
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Question: Were you watching TV? / Was she studying?
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Part 3: The Key Difference — When to Use Each
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| Tense | When to Use | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Past Simple | A completed action — the action is finished. | I ate breakfast at 7 AM. (The action is finished.) |
| Past Continuous | An action in progress at a specific time. | I was eating breakfast at 7 AM. (The action was happening at that time.) |
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Part 4: Using Both Together (Interrupted Action)
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The most common BEM question: When a long action (Past Continuous) is interrupted by a short action (Past Simple).
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Pattern: Past Continuous (long action) + when/while + Past Simple (short action)
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Examples:
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- I was watching TV when my mother called me.
- She was doing her homework when the power went out.
- They were playing football when it started to rain.
- He was sleeping when the alarm clock rang.
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Key pattern: The Past Continuous (was/were + verb-ing) = the long action. The Past Simple = the short action that interrupts it.
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Part 5: Comparison Table — Past Simple vs Past Continuous
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| Feature | Past Simple | Past Continuous |
|---|---|---|
| Formation | V2 (past form) / did + V1 | was/were + V-ing |
| Focus | Completed action (finished) | Action in progress (ongoing) |
| Time | At a specific time in the past | Around a specific time / duration |
| Keywords | yesterday, last night, ago, in 2020 | at 5 PM, while, when, all morning |
| Example | I walked to school yesterday. | I was walking to school at 7:30 AM. |
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Part 6: Practice Exercises
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Exercise 1: Choose the correct tense (Past Simple or Past Continuous)
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- I ___________ (watch) TV when the phone ___________ (ring).
- She ___________ (study) all evening yesterday.
- They ___________ (play) football at 4 PM yesterday.
- He ___________ (eat) dinner when I ___________ (arrive).
- We ___________ (visit) our grandparents last Friday.
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Exercise 2: Put the verbs in brackets into the correct tense
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- While I ___________ (walk) to school, I ___________ (see) an accident.
- She ___________ (cook) dinner when the guests ___________ (arrive).
- They ___________ (not / sleep) when the storm ___________ (start).
- What ___________ you ___________ (do) at 8 PM last night?
- He ___________ (break) his leg while he ___________ (play) football.
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Exercise 3: Correct the mistakes
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- I was go to school when I see my friend. → I was going to school when I saw my friend.
- She was cook dinner when the phone ringed. → She was cooking dinner when the phone rang.
- They were play football yesterday at 5 PM. → They were playing football yesterday at 5 PM.
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Exercise 4: BEM Exam Question — Complete the paragraph
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Yesterday, I ___________ (have) a great day. At 9 AM, I ___________ (take) a test. While I ___________ (write) the answers, the teacher ___________ (smile) at me. When I ___________ (finish) the test, I ___________ (feel) very happy.
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Answer Key
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Exercise 1: 1. was watching / rang, 2. studied, 3. were playing, 4. was eating / arrived, 5. visited
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Exercise 2: 1. was walking / saw, 2. was cooking / arrived, 3. weren’t sleeping / started, 4. were…doing, 5. broke / was playing
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Exercise 3: 1. I was going … I saw; 2. was cooking … rang; 3. were playing (correct!)
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Exercise 4: had, took, was writing, smiled, finished, felt
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Pronunciation Tips
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- Was/were — /wɒz/ /wɜː/ — “wez” and “wur”
- When — /wen/ — the “wh” sounds like “w”
- While — /waɪl/ — long “i” sound, like “why-ul”
- -ed endings: /t/ (walked), /d/ (played), /ɪd/ (wanted)
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Summary
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| Rule | Details |
|---|---|
| Past Simple | For completed actions in the past. Form: V2 or did + V1. |
| Past Continuous | For actions in progress at a specific past time. Form: was/were + V-ing. |
| Together | Past Continuous (long action) + when + Past Simple (short interruption). |
◆ دروس مشابهة
- Already, Yet, Just, Ever, Never with Present Perfect — 4th Year Middle School
- The Passive Voice (Simple Present and Simple Past) — 4th Year Middle School
