A selection of English ESL past simple vs continuous tense printables

This is a worksheet I prepared last year for my elementary students as an introduction of these tenses. I hope you like it.

Past Simple vs. Past Continuous.

Another worksheet of the series jobs, designed for intermediate students. It contains a short text + 6 tasks + keys. The tasks are related to comprehension (2) + writing (1) + comparatives of equality (2) + past simple vs. past continuous (1). The keys are on the last page and the worksheet is completely editable / correctable. Hope it’s useful. Thanks for downloading and have a nice day!

Aren't Firefighters Cool - Comprehension & Grammar

This is an easy RC activity that helps students revise the use of the past simple and the past continuous. They complete the text with the missing words, do a matching exercise, and complete some sentences with the past simple and the past continuous of the verbs in brackets.

Past simple/Past continuous - Who is speaking?

This worksheet helps students to practice the use of simple past and past continuos. The students look at the pictures and make sentences combining the two tenses. They can use the clues. But you can also delete them and the students use their creativity.

Simple past - Past continuous

Writing Clinic´s Creative Writing Prompts are designed to provide ideas and to get students writing with ease. This worksheet comes with an ´ideas list´/writing prompts so students know what it expected of them. Students should first choose if they´re going to write about their upcoming summer holiday or their last summer holiday.

Writing Clinic - Creative Writing Prompts (11) - Summer Holiday

The students have to write sentences with Past continuous following the pictures. If you change the title, you can use them with Present Continuous as well. If you want to practice more, you can find more of my worksheets about the same subject here: 

https://en.islcollective.com/resources/printables/worksheets_doc_docx/what_are_they_doing/present-continuous-actions/7440





Past continuous -What were they doing when it started to rain? 

NBA theme in a worksheet  practicing the  correct usage of the past simple and the past continuous tense.Students should review the time words and correct formation of the tenses beforehand.  Key included. For basketball fans everywhere.

Past Tenses Review + KEY (NBA Theme)

Practice using the simple past tense by completing the  2 fairy tales.  Optional song for YL classes.  (see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UIcJjCF5rWw  for the video)



Story Time

A funny worksheet to practice the use of when and while with the past simple and the past continuous. The teacher should review the grammar rules before completion.

When & While - Past Simple & Past Continuous

This a passage where the students have to fill in the past simple or past continuous. In exercise B they find words/phrases from the text and write the names under the pictures. In the 3rd exercise, they mark the sentences true or false and finally they answer the questions. An answer key is included.

THE SLEEPOVER

This is a RC activity that also includes a writing task and a past tenses revision. Students read the story, answer the questions, write about a personal experience, and do an exercise about  past simple/past continuous. Key included.

Reading & Writing - Mobile Phone Call Rescue

past simple/past continuous comparison - gap fill

PAST SIMPLE AND PAST CONTINUOUS

Past simple vs continuous tense

Culture, intercultural communication, cross-cultural communication

Adjectives to describe feelings, emotions

Adjectives to describe personality and character

Adjectives: Gradable / Non-gradable adjectives

Articles: Definite or indefinite article (a, an or the)

BE + infinitive structures (e.g. he was to become famous)

Clauses of contrast (e.g.  although, while)

Clauses of purpose (e.g. in order to, so that, so as to)

Clauses of reason (e.g. because, because of, due to, as, since)

Cleft sentences (e.g. It's Joey we're looking for)

Comparison: Comparative adjectives and structures

Comparison: Superlative adjectives and structures

Conditional 2 (second conditional) - would

Conditionals: Conditional phrases (e.g. unless, provided that, as long as)

Conjunctions (aka connectives, e.g. and, but, or, so, then)

Contractions (shortened forms, e.g. don't, aren't, etc.)

Determiners (words that can come before nouns)

Formal and informal English (politeness or colloquial language)

Future perfect continuous (progressive) tense

Future perfect simple and continuous (progressive) tense

Future phrases (e.g. be about to, bound to, likely to, due to, set to + INF)

Homonyms (two words with the same pronunciation - homophones and homographs)

It as preparatory subject (e.g. it's raining, it's nice of you to)

Linking verbs (aka copulas, e.g. I am a student)

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how to accuse somebody of something in English

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how to ask for something, make requests in English

how to blame somebody for something in English

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how to deny or admit something in English

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how to express agreement /disagreement in English

how to express approval and disapproval  in English

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how to express likelihood, probability in English

how to express likes and dislikes in English

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how to express shock and disbelief in English

how to express sympathy and condolences in English

how to give permission, authorization in English

how to inform somebody about some news in English

how to interpret what was said in English

how to keep a conversation going in English

how to make guesses about something in English

how to make, accept and refuse offers in English

how to order or make a booking in English

how to persuade, convince people in English

how to praise people and express appreciation in English

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how to refuse and object to something in English

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how to rephrase, paraphrase what was said in English

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Nouns: Collective nouns (team, class, family, committee)

Nouns: Proper nouns (names of people, cities, companies)

Oxymorons (phrases with words of contradictory meaning, e.g. living dead)

Participles: Past participle (e.g. HAVING DONE)

Participles: Present participle (e.g. DOING)

Parts of Speech (aka word classes, e.g. nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs)

Past perfect continuous (progressive) tense

Phonetics (pronunciation, IPA, phonetic symbols)

Plural nouns: regular plurals with S ending

Prefixes (e.g. A, UN, IM, DIS, MIS, EN, etc. )

Prepositions vs adverbs (e.g. before me, saw him before.)

Prepositions: Double prepositions (e.g. out of)

Prepositions: Participle prepositions (e.g. pending, concerning)

Prepositions: Phrase prepositions (e.g. by means of)

Present perfect continuous (progressive) tense

Present perfect simple or present continuous tense

Present simple tense: S for third person singular verbs

Present simple vs continuous (progressive) tense

Pronouns: EACH OTHER, ONE ANOTHER (reciprocal pronouns)

Pronouns: Possessive pronouns (e.g. my, mine)

Pronouns: Reflexive pronouns (e.g. myself, yourself))

Pronouns: SOMEBODY, ANYBODY, EVERYBODY, NO ONE, NOTHING, etc.

Pronouns: THIS, THAT, THESE, THOSE (demonstratives)

Pronouns: YOU and THEY to talk about people in general

Quantifiers (e.g. some, many, much, any, few, little)

Questions: WH questions (open-ended questions)

Reported speech: reported questions (indirect questions)

There is / there are / there was / there were / there will be, etc.

Verbs: Transitive or intransitive verbs (words that can or cannot stand with objects)

Working with Paragraphs: ordering, titling

Role play, miming, drama activity or improv game

Pictionary (picture dictionary) or picture matching

Writing an opinion essay (persuasive essay)

Learners who are Pre-A1 have just begun learning English and will first learn how to:<ul><li>Say the letters in the alphabet and numbers</li><li>Say hello, talk about names and age</li><li>Name the colors and dates, express likes and dislikes</li></ul>

Absolute beginners who have begun to learn the letters and numbers

Learners taking the A1 Elementary exam should be able to:<ul><li>Introduce themselves and ask and answer questions about personal details such as where he/she lives, things he/she has, people he/she knows.</li><li>Communicate using very basic phrases as long as the other person talks slowly and clearly and is prepared to help.</li><li>Main grammar points to know: common adjectives & adverbs of frequency, going to, how much/how many, imperatives, I'd like, 's – possessive, common prepositions of place and time, present simple & continuous, there is/are</li></ul>

A very basic tourist level, which is enough for buying food and a bus ticket

Learners taking the A2 Pre-intermediate exam should be able to:<ul><li>Understand sentences and frequently used expressions (e.g. very basic personal and family information, shopping, local geography, employment).</li><li>Complete tasks that are routine and exchange information about familiar matters.</li><li>Describe matters of immediate need in simple terms.</li><li>Main grammar points to know: countable/uncountable nouns, adverbs of frequency, future will/going to, much/many, present perfect, past simple, past continuous, common phrasal verbs, common modals: can/should</li></ul>

A tourist who can do basic conversations about the past, present and future

Learners taking the B1 Intermediate exam should be able to:<ul><li>Understand points regarding family, work, school or leisure-related topics.</li><li>Deal with most travel situations in areas where the language is spoken.</li><li>Create simple texts on topics of personal interest.</li><li>Describe experiences, events, dreams, and ambitions, as well as opinions or plans in brief.</li><li>Main grammar points to know: question tags, intensifiers: too/enough, future tenses, past tenses, modals, conditionals, wh-questions in the past</li></ul>

Learners who can deal with both familiar and routine situations, in friendly and work contexts

Learners taking the B2 Upper-intermediate exam should be able to:<ul><li>Understand the main ideas of complex text on both concrete and abstract topics, including technical discussions in his/her field of specialization.</li><li>Interact with fluency and spontaneity that makes regular interaction with native speakers quite possible without difficulty for either party.</li><li>Produce clear, detailed text on a wide range of subjects and explain an opinion on a topical issue giving the advantages and disadvantages of various options.</li><li>Main grammar points to know: perfect tenses, mixed conditionals, modals in the present, phrasal verbs, reported speech, wish, relative clauses</li></ul>

The level where you can be a tour guide for your foreign friends and talk about a lot of topics, even abstract ones, with ease and fluency

Learners taking the C1 Advanced exam should be able to: Express ideas fluently and spontaneously without much obvious searching for expressions. Use language flexibly and effectively for social, academic and professional purposes. Understand a wide range of demanding, longer texts. Produce clear, well-structured, detailed text on complex subjects, using linking phrases (=words that connect ideas between sentences). Main grammar points to know: inversion, mixed conditionals, modals in the past, all passive forms, phrasal verbs (all patterns), wish/if only for regrets

Learners who can smoothly communicate in every walk of life, read long texts and write well

Learners taking the C2 Proficient exam should be able to:<ul><li>Understand almost everything read or heard with ease.</li><li>Summarize information from a variety of sources into a coherent presentation.</li><li>Express themselves using precise meaning in complex scenarios.</li><li>Can express him/herself spontaneously, very fluently and precisely, differentiating finer shades of meaning even in the most complex situations</li></ul>

Get here and you are ready to study in English at university

459 Past simple vs continuous tense English ESL worksheets pdf & doc