Full sentences must end with “.” or “?”. If punctuation is the only issue, you’ll get a gentle hint. Times normalize to “8:00 pm”.
| Affirmative: S + V2/ed → She went, They played |
| Negative: S + did not + base → He didn’t call |
| Yes/No Q: Did + S + base? → Did you see…? |
| WH-Q: WH + did + S + base → Where did she go? |
Use for finished actions in the past, sequences, time markers (yesterday, in 2019).
| Affirmative: S + was/were + V-ing → I was reading |
| Negative: S + wasn’t/weren’t + V-ing → They weren’t working |
| Yes/No Q: Was/Were + S + V-ing? → Was she sleeping? |
| WH-Q: WH + was/were + S + V-ing → What were you doing? |
Use for background/ongoing action at a past time, around an interruption.
| When + simple past (short action) interrupts past continuous: I was walking when it started to rain. |
| While + past continuous (two long actions): While she was cooking, I was setting the table. |
| go→went, have→had, see→saw, be→was/were |
| stop→stopped; carry→carried; play→played |
| know, believe, love, need, want, understand… |
| I knew the answer (not *I was knowing*) |
| Finished point in the past → simple past |
| Background/in progress → past continuous |