My dog ate
my homework
Past Simple & Past Continuous lesson
Let’s get started
with a warm-up
3
Discuss the questions.
● What excuses do people often give when:
○ they are late?
excuse:
○ they miss a deadline at work? reason people give to explain why
they did something wrong or why
○ they don’t want to go to a party?
they don’t want to do something
○ they don’t want to help with
housework?
4
Think what excuse you would give in the situations below.
A. Your parents asked you to go grocery shopping but you didn’t do it.
B. You didn’t do your homework.
C. You got on a bus but didn’t pay for the ticket.
D. You lost some money.
E. You missed meeting with your friend.
F. You borrowed a friend’s laptop and broke it.
It’s grammar time!
6
Match the situations with the excuses.
A. Your partner asked you to go 1. I think someone stole them when I was sitting
grocery shopping but you didn’t in a restaurant.
do it. 2. When I was doing it, my dog ate the
B. You didn’t do your homework. notebook.
C. You got on a bus but didn’t pay 3. I thought it was free.
for the ticket. 4. My apologies! I left work late and was so
D. You lost some important tired I came straight home. Let’s order
documents your boss gave you. something for dinner and I’ll go tomorrow.
E. You missed an important 5. It was an accident. I dropped sauce on it while
meeting at work. I was cooking dinner.
F. You borrowed a friend’s laptop 6. I’m really sorry! I was talking to a client and
and broke it. completely forgot about it.
7
Let’s check the answers.
A. Your partner asked you to go 1. I think someone stole them when I was sitting
grocery shopping but you didn’t in a restaurant.
do it. 2. When I was doing it, my dog ate the
B. You didn’t do your homework. notebook.
C. You got on a bus but didn’t pay 3. I thought it was free.
for the ticket. 4. My apologies! I left work late and was so
D. You lost some important tired I came straight home. Let’s order
documents your boss gave you. something for dinner and I’ll go tomorrow.
E. You missed an important 5. It was an accident. I dropped sauce on it while
meeting at work. I was cooking dinner.
F. You borrowed a friend’s laptop 6. I’m really sorry! I was talking to a client and
and broke it. completely forgot about it.
8
Look at some of the excuses again and complete the table with verbs from
the sentences.
● I think someone stole them when I was sitting in a restaurant. Steal-stole-stolen - красти
● When I was doing it, my dog ate the notebook.
● I dropped sauce on it while I was cooking dinner.
● I was talking to a client and I completely forgot about it.
PAST CONTINUOUS PAST SIMPLE
was sitting stole
9
Let’s check the answers.
● I think someone stole them when I was sitting in a restaurant.
● When I was doing it, my dog ate the notebook.
● I dropped sauce on it while I was cooking dinner.
● I was talking to a client and I completely forgot about it.
PAST CONTINUOUS PAST SIMPLE
was sitting stole
was doing ate
was cooking dropped
was talking forgot
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_j5a4loCoAA
11
Look at the sentence below and decide which statements (1-4) are true for
Past Continuous and which for Past Simple.
I dropped sauce on it while I was cooking dinner.
Past Simple Past Continuous
1. The action started first.
2. The action came second.
3. The action was completed.
4. The action was in progress.
12
Let’s check the answers.
I dropped sauce on it while I was cooking dinner.
Past Simple Past Continuous
Past Continuous
1. The action started first.
Past Simple
2. The action came second.
Past Simple
3. The action was completed.
Past Continuous
4. The action was in progress.
Now, we’ll put
it into practice!
ESL Brains
part 1/2
16
Choose the correct verb forms.
A. I can’t go hiking. I was breaking/broke my leg when I played/was
playing football last week.
B. I’m not sure where the book is. I think I was dropping/dropped it when
I was running/ran to catch the train.
C. It was raining/rained last night so I was deciding/decided to stay home.
D. I was burning/burnt my hand last night while I was making/made
dinner. I think I should go to the doctor’s.
part 2/2
17
Choose the correct verb forms.
E. Sorry I didn’t pick up. I was sleeping/slept when you were
calling/called.
F. I would love to come to your party, but I can’t. I was walking/walked
down the street yesterday and I was tripping and falling/tripped and
fell. My ankle really hurts now.
G. It wasn’t my fault. I was breaking/broke the glass when I was
washing/washed it.
part 1/2
18
Let’s check the answers.
A. I can’t go hiking. I was breaking/broke my leg when I played/was
playing football last week.
B. I’m not sure where the book is. I think I was dropping/dropped it when
I was running/ran to catch the train.
C. It was raining/rained last night so I was deciding/decided to stay home.
D. I was burning/burnt my hand last night while I was making/made
dinner. I think I should go to the doctor’s.
part 2/2
19
Let’s check the answers.
E. Sorry I didn’t pick up. I was sleeping/slept when you were
calling/called.
F. I would love to come to your party, but I can’t. I was walking/walked
down the street yesterday and I was tripping and falling/tripped and
fell. My ankle really hurts now.
G. It wasn’t my fault. I was breaking/broke the glass when I was
washing/washed it.
https://www.baamboozle.com/game/1199865
Let’s talk!
ESL Brains
part 1/2
22
Look at the photos and answer the questions.
● What happened?
● Have any of the situations ever happened to you? What did you do or say?
● Should the people apologize? Why/Why not?
part 2/2
23
Look at the photos and answer the questions.
● What happened?
● Have any of the situations ever happened to you? What did you do or say?
● Should the people apologize? Why/Why not?
Let’s practise!
ESL Brains
part 1/2
25
Look at the photos again and create excuses for what happened. Use the verbs to
create sentences using Past Simple and Past Continuous.
A. wait, call
B. write,
feel really tired
part 2/2
26
Look at the photos again and create excuses for what happened. Use the verbs to
create sentences using Past Simple and Past Continuous.
C. paint, think
D. walk, trip over
part 1/2
27
Let’s see some possible answers.
When I was waiting for the cookies
A. wait, call to bake, a friend called.
B. write, When I was writing an email, I felt
feel really tired really tired.
part 2/2
28
Let’s see some possible answers.
When I was painting, I thought
C. paint, think
‘These colours will look great on
the wall!’.
When I was walking with the tray,
D. walk, trip over I tripped over a chair.
Let’s play!
ESL Brains
30
You will get different situations. Think of an excuse or an explanation you
can give for each of them using Past Simple and Past Continuous. Then,
tell your classmates and they will try to guess what the situation is. Don’t
use the words in the cards! Give extra help if necessary.
EXAMPL
E You broke a plate.
A: I’m really sorry. I was carrying it to the
kitchen and dropped it. It was an accident.
B: You dropped a cup.
A: No. We had spaghetti for dinner and I was
carrying it back to the kitchen to wash it.
B: You dropped a plate.
A: Yes! And I broke it.
THANKS!
