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The present perfect continuous tense is commonly used with the time expressions since and for.

It has been raining since yesterday.

I have been working in this company for 3 years.

My sister has been preparing for the civil services exam for six months.

Simple past tense
The simple past tense is commonly used with time expressions referring to the past. Examples are: yesterday, last year, ago, in 2006 etc.

The adverbs never, always, seldom, often, frequently, occasionally, once, twice, thrice etc., can also be used with the simple past tense.

He never invited me to his parties.

I met him once.

She seldom stepped out of her home.

She frequently changed jobs.

Past continuous tense
The past continuous tense is used to talk about actions and situations that were in progress at a particular point of time in the past. When we use the past continuous tense we usually also state when that particular activity was in progress. For this purpose, we use a time expression or a time clause.

The children were doing their homework when their dad returned home from work.

The light went off when I was reading.

The past perfect tense
The past perfect tense is not normally used alone. It is used to denote the earlier of two past actions. We use the simple past tense for the latter action.

He had finished his studies before he joined the army.

They had signed the agreement before I knew about it.

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Tenses and the time adverbs used with them

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The present perfect continuous tense is commonly used with the time expressions since and for. It has been raining since yesterday. I have been working in this company for 3 years. My sister has been preparing for the civil services exam for six months.

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Past Continuous Tense vs. Past Simple: The Mysterious Stalker (Suspense Thriller Short - ESL Video)

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Here's an explanation and some activities to practice the combination of the two time tenses

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Look at these examples to see how the past continuous and past simple are used.

When I woke up this morning, it was snowing.
I was sleeping when you called me.

Try this exercise to test your grammar.

Grammar test 1

Past continuous and past simple: Grammar test 1

Read the explanation to learn more.

Grammar explanation

The past continuous and the past simple help us to show how two past actions or situations are connected.

Past simple

The past simple shows us that an action was in the past, not in the present. Regular past simple verbs have - ed at the end (e.g. called, played, arrived). Irregular verbs have a different form, usually with a different vowel sound (e.g. wake → woke, break → broke, feel → felt).

My parents called me yesterday.
I woke up early this morning.
Sam played basketball when he was at university.

We make the negative with didn't and the infinitive verb.

My parents didn't call me yesterday.
I didn't wake up early this morning.

We make the question form with did and then the subject and infinitive verb.

Did you wake up early this morning?
Did Sam play basketball when he was at university?

Past continuous

The past continuous shows us that the action was already in progress at a certain time in the past.

What were you doing at 8 p.m. last night? I was studying.

This means that I started studying before 8 p.m. and I continued after 8 p.m.

The past continuous can also show that an activity was in progress for some time, not just for a moment.

We were cleaning the house all morning.

We make the past continuous with was or were and the - ing form of the verb.

She couldn't come to the party. She was working.
Three years ago, we were living in my home town.
I tried to give him some advice, but he wasn't listening.
What were you doing this time last year?

Past continuous and past simple

When we use these two tenses together, it shows us that the past simple action happened in the middle of the past continuous action, while it was in progress.

While I was studying, I suddenly felt sleepy.

We often use these tenses to show an action interrupting another action.

I broke my leg when I was skiing.
As I was going to work, I saw an old friend.
We were watching television when the power went off.

Can you see a difference in the meaning of these two sentences?

When the guests arrived, Jane was cooking dinner.
When the guests arrived, Jane cooked dinner.

In the first one, Jane started cooking dinner before the guests arrived. We know that because it uses the past continuous. In the second sentence, the guests arrived first and then Jane started cooking.

Do this exercise to test your grammar again.

Grammar test 2

Past continuous and past simple: Grammar test 2

Language level

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Look at these examples to see how the past continuous and past simple are used. When I woke up this morning, it was snowing. I was sleeping when you called me. Try this exercise to test your grammar. Grammar test 1 Past continuous and past simple: Grammar test 1 Read the explanation to learn more.

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A visual summary of the forms and uses of this time tense

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Past continuous tense | English Grammar | EF

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Functions of the Past continuous The past continuous describes actions or events in a time before now, which began in the past and is still going on at the time of speaking. In other words, it expresses an unfinished or incomplete action in the past. It is used:

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Definition of the simple past tense

The simple past tense, sometimes called the preterite, is used to talk about a completed action in a time before now. The simple past is the basic form of past tense in English. The time of the action can be in the recent past or the distant past and action duration is not important.

Examples

John Cabot sailed to America in 1498.

My father died last year.

He lived in Fiji in 1976.

We crossed the Channel yesterday.

You always use the simple past when you say when something happened, so it is associated with certain past time expressions

frequency: often, sometimes, always
I sometimeswalked home at lunchtime.
I oftenbrought my lunch to school.

a definite point in time: last week, when I was a child, yesterday, six weeks ago
Wesaw a good film last week.
Yesterday, I arrived in Geneva.
Shefinished her work atseven o'clock
Iwent to the theatre last night

an indefinite point in time: the other day, ages ago, a long time ago
Peoplelived in caves a long time ago.
Sheplayed the piano when she was a child.

Note: the word ago is a useful way of expressing the distance into the past. It is placed after the period of time: a week ago, three years ago, a minute ago.

Be Careful: The simple past in English may look like a tense in your own language, but the meaning may be different.

Forming the Simple Past Tense

Patterns of simple past tense for regular verbs

To Walk

Simple past tense of to be, to have, to do

Notes on affirmative, negative, & interrogative forms

Affirmative

The affirmative of the simple past tense is simple.

Negative and interrogative

For the negative and interrogative simple past form of "to do" as an ordinary verb, use the auxiliary "did", e.g. We didn't do our homework last night.
The negative of"have" in the simple past is usually formed using the auxiliary "did", but sometimes by simply adding not or the contraction "n't".

The interrogative form of "have" in the simple past normally uses the auxiliary "did".

Examples

They weren't in Rio last summer.

We didn't have any money.

We didn't have time to visit the Eiffel Tower.

We didn't do our exercises this morning.

Were they in Iceland last January?

Did you have a bicycle when you were young?

Did you do much climbing in Switzerland?

Note: For the negative and interrogative form of all verbs in the simple past, always use the auxiliary

Simple past, irregular verbs

Some verbs are irregular in the simple past. Here are the most common ones.

to go

to give

to come

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Simple past tense | English Grammar | EF

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Definition of the simple past tense The simple past tense, sometimes called the preterite, is used to talk about a completed action in a time before now. The simple past is the basic form of past tense in English. The time of the action can be in the recent past or the distant past and action duration is not important.

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http://www.ef.com/english-resources/english-grammar/simple-past-tense/

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A visual summary of the forms and uses of this time tense