THE PAST CONTINUOUS TENSE FORM Was were verb

THE PAST CONTINUOUS TENSE

FORM Was / were + verb + -ing They were driving to Paris. I was writing my English homework all afternoon. We weren’t waiting for a long time. What were they doing? Was your friend listening to the teacher? No, he wasn’t. He was looking at his smatphone.

Use 1) to express activities in progress before, and probably after, a particular time in the past (that were not yet finished at a past time) At 7 o’clock this morning I was having my breakfast. Yesterday at this time I was writing my English homework. Two hours ago I was drinking coffee in my office.

2) for descriptions Jan looked beautiful. She was wearing a green dress. The man was busy. He was walking fast and in his right hand he was carrying a suitcase.

3) to express an interrupted past activity When the phone rang, I was having a shower. Tim was driving his car when a bird hit his windscreen.

4) to express an incomplete activity I was reading a book during the flight. She was learning Statistics yesterday.

5) to describe the background when narrating a story It was a lovely morning. Matthew got out of bed and opened his bedroom window. The sun was shining and some birds were singing in the trees.

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

When for an action that was in progress that was interrupted by another event in the past): Examples: I was just leaving when you called. He was doing his maths homework when I arrived. When my phone rang, the teacher was explaining the rules.

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.

Past Simple or Past Continuous § The past simple is used to talk about finished actions in the past. § The past continuous is used to describe an action n progress at a specific moment in the past. Compare: 1. What did you do yesterday? PAST SIMPLE 2. What were you doing at 18. 30 yesterday evening? PAST CONTINUOUS

youtube - past continuous Tutorial ONLINE EXERCISE 2