Transcript Past Continuous

Past Continuous
Grammar Guide
mgr Anna Waligórska – Kotfas
PWSZ Konin
Verb Form – Affirmatives
 We


form the PAST CONTINUOUS with
the past of the verb be (auxiliary)
and the present participle of the main
verb:
was / were + v-ing
I was riding my bike all day yesterday.
They were studying when she called.
Verb Form – Negatives

We form the negatives with the auxiliary
was
+
not + v-ing
were

We usually use the contracted forms wasn’t and
weren’t in speech and informal writing:
I wasn’t working all day yesterday.
They weren’t driving.
Verb Form – Questions
 We
form the questions with
was
(question word)
+ subject + v-ing
were
What were you doing at eight o’clock
yesterday evening?
Was she running?
Verb Form – Practice

Jennifer was playing tennis at 4.30
yesterday.

y/n?


wh-?
Verb Form – Practice

Jennifer was playing tennis at 4.30 yesterday.

Jennifer wasn’t playing tennis at 4.30
yesterday.
y/n? Was Jennifer playing tennis at 4.30 yesterday?

Yes, she was.

No, she wasn’t.
wh-? What was she playing at 4.30 yesterday?
What time was she playing tennis yesterday?
Verb Form – Practice

They were painting the room all day
yesterday.

y/n?


wh-?
Verb Form – Practice

They were painting the room all day
yesterday.

They weren’t painting the room all day
yesterday.
y/n? Were they painting the room all day
yesterday?

Yes, they were.

No, they weren’t.
wh-? What were they doing all day yesterday?
What were they painting all day yesterday?
Use: Action in progress
 The
past continuous describes an action in
progress at a point of time in the past, i.e.
the action began before this point of time
and continued after it:
We didn’t hear the intruder because we
were sleeping on the top floor that night.
At the time of our arrival the city was going
through a period of rapid expansion.
Use: Action in progress
 We
can use the past continuous for two
actions in progress at the same time:
Ron was making dinner while his
roommates were cleaning the apartment.
What were you doing while you were
waiting?
Use: Temporary action
 We
often use the past continuous to show
that a past action was temporary, or was
changing or developing:
During my training I was earning a lot less
than my wife.
It happened while I was living in
Eastbourne last year.
Use: Background information in
narrative

In a story, the actual events are in the past
simple, whereas the description and
background are often in the past continuous.
This provides a dramatic effect.
Little Red Riding Hood went out of the house to
visit grandma. The sun was shining, the birds
were singing, and the wind was whispering in
the trees. She entered the forest and suddenly
saw something which was moving in the trees…
Use: Interrupted action in the past

We use the past continuous to contrast an
ongoing action with a single event which
interrupts it. We use the past simple for the
single event:
P
A
S
T
I was watching TV when she called.
Use: while vs. when

We can join these two actions with when or while:
when + short action (simple past tense)
while + long action (past continuous tense)

There are four basic combinations:
I was walking past the car when it exploded.
When the car exploded I was walking past it.
The car exploded while I was walking past it.
While I was walking past the car it exploded.
Examples
While we were having the picnic, it started to
rain.
What were you doing when the earthquake
started?
I was listening to my iPod, so I didn't hear the
fire alarm.
Examples
You weren’t listening to me when I told you
to turn the oven off.
A: What were you doing when you broke your
leg?
B: I was snowboarding.
When the phone rang, she was writing a letter.
Examples
While John was sleeping last night, someone
stole his car.
Sammy was waiting for us when we got off the
plane.
While I was writing the email, the computer
suddenly went off.
Were you listening
while I was
talking?

It was just after midnight on November 8th
last year. Ian Sharpe was driving home from work.
The road was clear and he was driving carefully.
Suddenly, a young girl stepped out in front of him.
She was wearing a light coloured raincoat and a
red scarf. Ian tried to stop but it was too late. He
got out and looked under the car but, to his
surprise there was nothing there. While he was
looking under the car, he felt a cold wind on his
face and he shivered. Everything felt strange.
He was still looking under the car when a
police car pulled up. The police officers weren’t
surprised when Ian told them his story. ‘A girl was
killed in a car crash on this road in November
1965. Since then several people have seen her
ghost here.’
 At
seven o’clock John was sleeping.
 At quarter past eight John was jogging.
 At nine o’clock John was having breakfast.
 At half past eleven John was working.
 At four o’clock John was watching TV.
 At quarter past ten John was playing the
saxophone.
 What
was John doing at …
yesterday?
 What
were you doing at …
yesterday?
Bibliography
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Bourke K.: Verbs and Tenses: Intermediate. Test it, Fix
it. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006.
Leech G., Cruickshank B., Ivanic R.: An A-Z of English
Grammar & Usage. Harlow: Longman, 2004.
Murphy R.: English Grammar in Use. Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press, 2006.
Swan M.: Practical English Usage. Oxford: Oxford
University Press, 2005.
Thomas A. J., Martinet A. V.: A practical English
Grammar. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1986.
Vince M.: Intermediate Language Practice (New
Edition) . Oxford: Macmillan Education 2010.