Question

II. Put the verbs into Past Simple or Past Continuous: 1. Boys (play) tennis in the stadium from 5 to 7 yesterday. 2. My brother (watch) TV while I (do) my homework. 3. I (come) to school, (have) 5 lessons and then (go) home. 4. Yesterday he (have) a shower when the phone (ring). 5. Jack (ride) a bike when it (start) to rain.​

Answer 1

• 1. The boys were playing tennis at the stadium yesterday from 5 to 7. 2. My brother was watching TV while I was doing my homework. 3. I came to school, took 5 lessons, and then went home. 4. Yesterday he took a shower when the phone rang. 5. Sit down, ride a bike when it starts to rain.​

Answer 2

1. Boys were playing tennis in the stadium from 5 to 7 yesterday. 2. My brother was watching TV while I was doing my homework. 3. I came to school, had 5 lessons, and then went home. 4. Yesterday he was having a shower when the phone rang. 5. Jack was riding a bike when it started to rain.

In the given sentences, we need to determine whether the actions described happened in the past simple or past continuous tense. The past simple tense is used to describe completed actions in the past, while the past continuous tense is used to describe ongoing or interrupted actions in the past.

1. "Boys (play) tennis in the stadium from 5 to 7 yesterday." Here, the action of playing tennis was ongoing in the past, so we use the past continuous tense: "Boys were playing tennis in the stadium from 5 to 7 yesterday."

2. "My brother (watch) TV while I (do) my homework." The action of watching TV is ongoing for the brother, while the action of doing homework is ongoing for "I." Therefore, we use the past continuous tense for both actions: "My brother was watching TV while I was doing my homework."

3. "I (come) to school, (have) 5 lessons, and then (go) home." The actions of coming to school, having 5 lessons, and going home are completed actions in the past, so we use the past simple tense: "I came to school, had 5 lessons, and then went home."

4. "Yesterday he (have) a shower when the phone (ring)." The action of having a shower was ongoing in the past, while the action of the phone ringing interrupted it. Therefore, we use the past continuous tense for the shower and the past simple tense for the phone ringing: "Yesterday he was having a shower when the phone rang."

5. "Jack (ride) a bike when it (start) to rain." The action of riding a bike was ongoing in the past, while the action of rain starting interrupted it. Therefore, we use the past continuous tense for riding a bike and the past simple tense for rain starting: "Jack was riding a bike when it started to rain."