1. Grammar
Past Tenses
Past simple and past continuous

2. Past continuous
talks about a temporary situation that existed at
or around a particular time in the past
• At the time of the robbery, they were
staying with my parents.
• My head was aching again, so I went
home.

3. • She was shaking with anger as she
left the hotel.
• When he realized I was looking at
him, he turned away.
• Erika dropped her bag while she was
getting into her car.

4. Past simple
talks about a permanent or long-term
situation that existed in the past.
• When I was a child I played the
violin, (not ...I was playing...).
• He worked hard all his life, (not ….
He was working...).

5. Who do you think these people are?
Where do you think they are?
Who do you think they are talking to?

6. I was walking along a path with two
friends. The sun was setting. Suddenly
the sky turned blood red. I paused,
feeling exhausted, and leaned on the
fence. There was blood and tongues of
fire above the blue-black fjord and the
city. My friends walked on, and I stood
there trembling with anxiety and I
sensed an infinite scream passing
through nature.

10. The text comes from an 1892 diary entry
from Norwegian artist Edvard Munch. It
describes a recurring vision that was said
to haunt the artist. It was also the
inspiration for his most famous painting
The Scream. On 2nd May 2012, a version
of the painting was sold by auction for
$120 million. This put it in the list of most
expensive paintings ever sold.
Source: http://lessonstream.org/2012/05/06/the-scream/

11. Examine the diary entry:
• How many past simple structures
can you identify in the text?
• How many past continuous
structures can you identify in the
text?

12. What are these?
• I paused, feeling exhausted
• I stood there trembling with
anxiety
• I sensed an infinite scream passing
through nature