Past Continuous Verbs Form of Past Continuous Subject

Past Continuous Verbs

Form of Past Continuous Subject + was / were + verb+ing Subject + was / were + not + verb+ing Yes/ No Question: Was / Were + subject + + verb+ing ? Information Question: (WH) + Was / Were + subject + verb+ing ?

Simple Past Tense Actions, events, states that started and finished in the past (…ago, last …, yesterday… ) Yesterday, I went to Walmart. Ask: Is it finished? Yes = Simple past

Simple Past Examples What did you do yesterday? I went to the store. Where were you last Sunday morning? I was at church. When did you get to school? I got to school at 7: 30.

Past Continuous: Three Uses Past actions that were in progress at a particular time in the past; actions that were not yet finished at a past time Use 1: Reo’s Schedule 8 – 9: had breakfast 9 – 10: did his homework 10 – 11: read the newspaper 11 – 12: ate lunch 12 – 2: watched TV 2 – 5: took a nap At 8: 30, Reo was having breakfast. What was Reo doing at 9: 30?

Stand ask – use past continuous verbs: I was _______ing Where were you last Thursday at 8 p. m. ? What were you doing? I was at home. I was watching TV. What were you doing Friday at 5 p. m. ? Where were you? Who were you with? I was watching TV at home with my dogs. What were you doing Sunday morning at 7 a. m. ? I was sleeping What were you doing last year at this time? I was teaching in Korea.

Past Continuous, continued Two (or more) actions that were in progress in the past at the same time Use while Use 2: Sorry, I wasn’t listening to you while you were talking. While I was reading, he was writing.

Let’s play charades!

Past Continuous, continued Use 3: Describe and set the scene; tell what was happening or in progress when something else happened or interrupted a past in-progress action Use when

Form: Using past and past continuous together Use past continuous to say what was in progress Use simple past for the interrupting action I was crossing the street when the driver ran the red light.

Other examples: I was sleeping when the telephone rang and woke me up. He was driving too fast when he crashed the car.

More Examples: We were watching the news when the announcer made a special live report. I was trying to study when you called. Student examples:

A little practice 1. I (make) __________ a deposit at my bank when a man in a mask (pull) __________ out a gun and started to rob the bank. 2. I (drive) __________ to work when I (see) __________ my neighbor’s door open and someone in the house. 3. They (walk) on the sidewalk when a car (hit) __________ the person closest to the road.

Watch the video and tell me what’s happening.

What tense? 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. Alexsandr (sleep) well last night. Rain (sleep) when the fight started. When Nattaruja got up this morning, it (rain). It (rain) hard last night. Kazu fell when he (play) in the park. We (have) dinner when Zizu called. Joris (write) an email when Kim called him. Hokunani (paint) the walls yesterday. Reo (drive) to Los Angeles in his new car.

Review Simple past = action or state finished in the past (yesterday, last…, … ago, etc. ) Past continuous = was/were + verb+ing, an action that was in progress/not finished when another action happened (interrupted)

Remember –ing spelling rules? Verb ending in. . . (Most verbs) 1 vowel + 1 consonant + E Final –ie How to make the -ING form Add -ING Double the consonant, then add -ING Examples say - saying go - going walk - walking swim - swimming hit - hitting get - getting Remove E, then add –ING come - coming lose - losing live – living Change –ie to y, then add -ING die – dying tie -- tying

When do you use While? Use while for two actions in progress at the same time in the past: She was talking while he was driving. While he was sleeping, someone stole his car. (10 pm - 6 am) (1 am-1: 10 am) If action 1 started and finished during action 2, use simple past for action 1.

When do you use when? Use when talking about sequence of events (one action that was in progress that was interrupted by another event in the past): I was just leaving when you called. (first action in progress) (interrupting event)

Punctuation with When and While When and while at the front of a sentence, use a comma: When you called, I was watching TV. While he washing the clothes, I was doing the dishes. When and while in the middle of a sentence, no comma I was watching TV when you called. I was doing the dishes while he washing the clothes.

When do we use Past Continuous? Past actions that were not yet finished at a past time. 2 or more actions happening at the same time. (While) Tell what was happening when something else happened or interrupted it. (When)