Past Tenses

Simple Past & Past Continuous

Learning Objectives:
Secondary One Normal Academic
1 period
a) To choose between past continuous
and simple past tense.
b) To form past continuous tense
correctly.
Read about the Redhill Murder
Mystery. Click to go to the next
page. Click on to complete the
worksheets provided.
 Redhill Murder Mystery
Last night, Mr Lim died at
his home in Redhill. Detective

Saddlier,
Kang was the first person to

Riggenbach and Samuda.

arrive at the scene after Mr
Lim died.
Mr Lim’s wife, Brenda, told
Detective Kang, “It was an
accident. My husband took a
shower at about 10 pm. After
his shower, he slipped on a
piece of soap and fell down.”

Who is the murderer?

Simple Past & Past Continuous Tense
 You use the Simple Past for an action that
started and finished in the past.

Eg. Detective Kang arrived at 10.30 pm.

Mrs Lim drank several cups of black coffee.

 You use the Past Continuous for an action that

was in progress at a specific time in the past.

Eg. Detective Kang was eating dinner at 10 pm.

Mr Lim was brushing his teeth at 10 pm.
 Simple Past Tense

Last night, Mr Lim died at his home in Redhill.

Detective Kang was the first person to arrive at
the scene after Mr Lim died.

Mr Lim’s wife, Brenda, told Detective Kang,

“It was an accident. My husband took a shower
at about 10 pm. After his shower, he slipped on
a piece of soap and fell down.”
 Past Continuous Tense
 You use the Past Continuous with the Simple
Past to show that one action began first and
was still in progress when the second action
happened.
Eg.Detective Kang was reading a newspaper when he heard
about the murder.

 You use the Past Continuous with the Past

Continuous to show 2 actions in progress at the
same time.
Eg. Mrs Lim was talking on the phone while her husband was
taking a shower.
 Redhill Mystery Worksheet A
Try to solve the mystery and make meaningful statements
about Mr Lim’s death by matching information from column A
with that in column B.

 Mrs Lim called the police  he became suspicious of

 While she was waiting for Mrs Lim’s story.
the police to arrive  Mrs Lim took him to the
 As soon as Detective Kang scene of the crime.
heard about the murder  as soon as her husband
 When Detective Kang died.
asked to see the body.  she drank a cup of freshly-
 While Detective Kang was brewed coffee.
searching the bathroom for  he rushed to Mr Lim’s
clues house.
 Redhill Mystery Worksheet A

This was what happened on the fateful day Mr Lim died.

Click on the question mark to solve the mystery.

 Mrs Lim called the police  he became suspicious of

 While she was waiting for Mrs Lim’s story.
the police to arrive  Mrs Lim took him to the
 As soon as Detective Kang scene of the crime.
heard about the murder  as soon as her husband
 When Detective Kang died.
asked to see the body.  she drank a cup of freshly-
 While Detective Kang was brewed coffee.
searching the bathroom for  he rushed to Mr Lim’s
clues house.
 Redhill Murder Mystery
Mrs Lim killed her
husband. She entered the
bathroom while her
husband was brushing his
teeth, and she hit him over
the head with the
bathroom scale. Then she
turned on the shower and
put soap on the floor. How
did Detective Kang know
this?
 Acknowledgements:

 Collaborative effort by Koh Shio Theng and Rukiah

Othman, 8th October 2002.

 Dr Myint Swe Khine, for his kind guidance.

 The Redhill Murder Mystery is adapted from

“Grammar Dimensions” Platinum Edition 2 by
Michelle Sadlier, Heidi Riggenbach and Virginia
Samuda, Thomson Learning 2000.