Transcript The Past Continuous

The Past
Continuous
Tense
 Use 1:
Past actions that were in progress at a particular time in
the past; actions that were not yet finished at a past time
Erika’s Schedule
8 – 9: had breakfast
9 – 10: finished her
homework
10 – 11: exercised
11 – 12: cooked lunch
12 – 2: shopped
2 – 5: talked to a friend
on the phone
Was having
Was finishing
At 8:30, Erika
At 9:15, she
breakfast.
her homework.
At 10:15, she
.
At 11:30, she
lunch .
At 1, she
.
At 3, she
to a friend.
Was exercising
Was shopping
Was cooking
Was talking
 Use 2: Two (or more) actions that were in
progress in the past at the same time
Use while
 Examples:
Sorry, I wasn’t listening to you while you were
talking.
While I was reading, he was writing.
Form: Using past and
past continuous together
 Use past
continuous to say
what was in
progress
I was crossing the
street …
 Use simple past for
the interrupting
action
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.
Practice:
Do you have a good
memory?
Are you a good witness?
Directions: Look at the following picture 
for one minute. Try to remember as
many details as you can, but don’t write
anything.
Only one minute…
Ready, go …. 
One minute…
What do you remember?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
How many people were there?
Where were the people?
What was hanging from the ceiling?
What was the bank robber holding?
What was the bank robber wearing?
What color was his hair?
Was the bank robber right-handed or left-handed?
What was the bank manager doing?
What was the bank teller doing?
Who was walking into the bank?
What time was it?
What was under the bank manager’s desk?
Form of Past Continuous
Subject + was / were + verb+ing
Negation:
Subject + was / were + not + verb+ing
Yes/ No Question:
Was / Were + subject + + verb+ing ?
Information Question:
(WH) + Was / Were + subject + + verb+ing ?
Remember –ing spelling rules?
Verb ending in...
(Most verbs)
1 vowel + 1 consonant
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
Negative sentences
A: Was the man writing at 6p.m. yesterday?
B: No, he wasn’t. The man was not writing .
He was reading a newspaper.
read
A: Were they chatting at 8 yesterday?
B: No, they weren’t. They weren’t chatting .
They
were
discussing
a
project.
discuss a
project
A: Was the girl singing at 4p.m. yesterday?
B: No, she wasn’t. She was not singing .
She was dancing to the music .
dance
What was/were … doing at that time?
The worm was eating while the dog was
reading .
Two long actions went on at
the same time .
We were clapping our hands while the
performers were marching across the park .
Past Continuous Tense+ when
A: What was he doing when you arrived?
B: He was doing his maths homework
He was doing his maths homework
when I arrived.
A: What happened while you were having
supper?
B: My friend came to see me.
My friend came to see me while I was having
supper?
He was doing his maths homework when
I arrived.
While Amy was reading
was sleeping on
yesterday, Suzy____________
the sofa.
rang
The telephone ___________
while
sleeping on the sofa.
Suzy was
_____________
While Eddie was sleeping yesterday,
was playing
Daniel ____________the
computer
game.
Kitty was
___________
standing beside Daniel.
was looking at some photos
Peter ___________
gave him a pencil.
when Millie _______
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 was 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 was washing the
clothes.
Final Tips …
 Use while for two actions in progress at
the same time in the past:
She was talking while he was driving.
 Use when when telling 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)