Past Continuous

READ THESE EXAMPLES:

• I was lying on the beach at this time last week.
• Sorry, I wasn't listening. Can you say it again?
• What were you doing yesterday at 8.00?
• My mother was working in the garden. That's why she didn't hear when I called her.

All these sentences are written in PAST CONTINUOUS TENSE.

The PAST CONTINUOUS TENSE is formed with WAS/WERE + the PRESENT PARTICIPLE (-ING).

Look at the structures:

Affirmative: S + WAS/WERE + ACTION(+ -ING) + REST
                    E.G. Mary was watching TV yesterday at 9.00

Negatives:   S + WAS/ WERE + NOT + ACTION (+ -ING) + REST
                    E.G. Thomas was not paying attention.
NOTE: WAS NOT / WERE NOT = WASN'T / WEREN'T (short form)

Questions:  (WH-) + WAS/WERE + S + ACTION (+ -ING) + REST?
                    E.G. Was Samantha waiting for him?
                            Where were you staying?

The PAST CONTINUOUS TENSE is used to describe a CONTINUING SITUATION in the past. That is to say, a PAST ACTION WITH A DURATION.

Look at this table:





Here we have a list of different uses for the PAST CONTINUOUS. 

* FOR PAST ACTIONS IN PROGRESSFOR A PERIOD OF TIME. The activity started in the past, continued for some time and ended at a particular time in the past

E.G. I  was working all night.

* FOR SPECIFIC TIMES IN THE THE PAST. Here the Past Continuos has a meaning of 'being in the middle of an activity' 

E.G. Yesterday at 10.00 I was watching T.V.

* FOR INTERRUPTED ACTIONS IN THE PAST. A long activity in the past is interrupted by a shorter activity. The Past Simple is used to describe the shorter activity

E.G. I was reading the newspaper when the phone rang.

* FOR TWO PARALLEL ACTIONS IN THE PAST. Two past actions happening at the same time

E.G. While Tim was reading, her mother was ironing the clothes.



WHILE VS WHEN

Clauses are groups of words which have a meaning but are often not complete sentences. Some clauses can begin with WHEN such as in "When he called me..", or with WHILE such as in "While he was watching TV...". WHILE is always used with PAST CONTINUOUS because it expresses the idea of 'during that time.' WHEN is normally used with the shortest activity and the past simple tense. See the table below:

Examples:

• I was studying WHEN the bell rang.
• WHEN he arrived, Sheila was preparing dinner.
• Dylan fell down WHILE he was running for the bus.
• WHILE I was reading a book, somebody knocked at the door.
• WHILE Julian was repairing the car, his mother was cooking.

ATTENTION!!


The PAST CONTINUOUS TENSE CANNOT  be used with STATIVE VERBS. That is to say, we do not use Past Continuous with verbs that describe states or conditions. The stative verbs DO NOT describe actions. We use Past Simple with stative verbs.

Examples:

              She was wanting to see him again.

              She wanted to see him again.

  I was recognising him immediately.

  I recognised him immediately.

  The soup was tasting great.

  The soup tasted great.

NOW IT'S YOUR TURN!! Let's practise. Click on the following links to practise PAST CONTINUOUS TENSE

EXERCISE 1

EXERCISE 2 

EXERCISE 3

EXERCISE 4

EXERCISE 5

EXERCISE 6

EXERCISE 7


AND NOW, LET'S WATCH AND LISTEN!! Click HERE and watch and listen the video to describe past activities.
1º Make a list of the things the people were doing last night during the blackout (the cut off of electrical power).
2º Why did the blackout happen?
3º What were the reporters doing during the blackout?
4º What was the man in Our Neighbors, Our Lives doing when the woman saw him?
5º What was the man in I See You doing when the other man saw him?
6º What were the people at 151 River Street doing when the robbery took place?