past continuous tense

Past Continuous Tense

Lesson 6. Past Continuous Tense

I was watching TV

when I fell asleep.

The family was

eating dinner

and talking.

I was taking a

shower when you

called.

John and Jen

were walking

home when they

saw Jack.

• She was crying yesterday.

• I was camping when I got stung by a bee.

• While my brother was laughing, my sister was crying.

• I wasn’t sleeping when you came home last night.

• Were you writing the report when the electricity went off?

• Where were you standing when the trouble started?

More examples:

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The past progressive tense is difficult for many non-native speakers to master

e ause a y la guages do ’t ha e a e ui ale t.

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a) Interrupted Action in the Past

Use the Past Continuous to indicate that a longer action in the past was interrupted. The

interruption is usually a shorter action in the Simple Past. Remember this can be a real

interruption or just an interruption in time.

b) Parallel Actions

• When the phone rang, she was writing a letter.

• While we were having the picnic, it started to rain.

• What were you doing when the earthquake started?

When you use the Past Continuous with two actions in the same sentence, it

expresses the idea that both actions were happening at the same time. The actions

are parallel.

• I was studying while he was making dinner.

• While Ellen was reading, Tim was watching television.

• Were you listening while he was talking?

Examples:

Examples:


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subject + Auxiliary be + Main verb

conjugated in Past Simple

Was /were present participle (-ing)

I / She / He / It was watching TV.

You / We / They were

• He was writing an e-mail when the phone rang.

• When the phone rang, he was writing an e-mail.

• I was preparing dinner while Melanie was working upstairs.

More examples:

When we use the Present Continuous in speaking, we often contract the subject and

the auxiliary verb. We also sometimes do this in informal writing.

• He’s speaking with my sister on the phone last night.

• You’re learning English when I arrived.

• They’re preparing for the party while you’re sleeping.


Make the past continuous tense of the following sentences.

1. Mrs. Brown / walk in the garden when the murder happened

2. Mr. Black / work in his study when the murder happened

3. Miss Jones / talk to Mr. White when the murder happened

4. they / eat ho olate at th ee o’ lo k

5. e / at h TV at th ee o’ lo k

6. Joh / play te is at th ee o’ lo k

7. Alice / run around the lake

8. Linda / look for her ring

9. Caron / listen to the radio

10.Kim and I / wait in the park

11. Fiona and Sam / visit the castle

12. My sister / feed the birds

13.we / read a book about Australia

14.Greg and Phil / count their money

15.Ben / wash the car

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Make the past continuous of the following sentences.

Use contractions.

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1. He ____________ all day yesterday. (rest)

2. We ____________ through the window when mother came in. (look)

3. They ____________ a newspaper when I entered. (read)

4. I ____________ to her but she. didn't hear me. (speak)

5. I ____________ didn't go for a walk because it . (rain)

6. When you telephoned I ____________ my room. (sweep)

7. They ____________ with John's wife when I came in. (talk)

8. While we ____________ we heard a shot. (play)

9. She ____________ along the embankment when I met her yesterday.

(walk)

10. We ____________ home when, it started to snow. (go)

11. I ____________ very hard when he called. (study)

12. She ____________ when his friend arrived. (sleep)

13. They ____________ to the lecture when the light went off. (listen)

14. She still ____________ when we returned home. (work)

15. When he ____________ his garden he found a silver coin. (dig)


subject + Auxiliary be not + Main verb

conjugated in Present Simple

was, were present participle (-ing)

I / She / He / It was not studying when you came home,

You / We / They were not

• Caroline was not skiing when she broke her leg.

• They were not playing football at 9am this morning. More examples:

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When we use the Past Continuous in speaking, we often contract the auxiliary verb

a d ot . We also so eti es do this i i fo al iti g.

• Caroline wasn’t skiing when she broke her leg.

• They weren’t playing football at 9am this morning.

• It was lucky we weren't sitting under that tree when the lightning hit.


Choose the verb from the list that best fits in the sentence below.

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Be

Drive

Have

Listen

Look

Pay

Rain

Sit

Speak

Wait

Wear

Work

1. It's no surprise that she fell off her bike. She ________ where

she was going.

2. When I arrived late, my friend ________ . She had lost patience

and gone home.

3. Don't interrupt. I ________ to you!

4. Where were you at lunch yesterday? You ________ in the

library reading the newspaper as you usually are.

5. Even though it ________ , it was getting dark. So we decided

to forget about the picnic and go home.

6. I had no idea what time it was because I ________ a watch.

7. I ________ a very good time at the dance, so I was quite

pleased when it ended early because of the power failure.

8. He ________ funny when he told you about the horse in the

cafeteria yesterday. It's true!

9. She was a bit unlucky to have the accident. She ________ very

fast.

10. Sorry, I couldn't finish my homework yesterday. My

printer ________ .


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1. When the accident happened...

2. The ceiling fell down while...

3. I was riding my bike when...

4. While the police officer was talking to me...

5. The bird attacked me while...

6. The computer exploded while...

7. ….. it sta ted to ai hea ily

8. ….. the po e e t off 9. ….. a a tu ed i to y path

10.….. a othe d i e d o e past e y ui kly

11. Whe she a i ed …

12. …. he she sudde ly shouted. 13. While y othe as p epa i g di e …..


form of Be subject main verb (-ing form) rest of the sentence

Was Was ’t I / he / she / it watching TV when I came in?

Were We e ’t you / we / they

Was she sleeping when you got home?

We e ’t you playi g the pia o last ight?

Was Jenny playing tricks on you?

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To ask a question that will be answered with either a yes or no, start with Am, Is or Are

(or is ’t/a e ’t for negative questions), then choose a subject (the person or thing

doing the action), followed by going to + the base form of the verb.

To create a wh-question, start with the wh-word, then add am, is or are, then the subject

(a person or thing that will be doing the action), present participle of the verb then rest

of the sentence.

Wh word form of Be Subject present particle rest of the sentence

Why

was as ’t he / she / it

eating vegetable? were e e ’t you / we / they


Make yes or no questions in be going to form.

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1. Rachel / feed / the cat

2. the children / paint / a picture

3. Clark / repair / his computer

4. Hazel / swim / in the pool

5. Lucas / have / a shower

6. They / bake / cookies for snacks

7. Jason and Aaron / run / down the street

8. Betty / do / her homework

9. John / make / his school project

10.Cindy and James / make / dinner

11.Rebecca / watch / Star Trek

12. George / the boy / sleep / in the sofa last night

13. I / sing / in the opera

14.you / watch / news on TV last night

15.Anita and Linda / sit / in the kitchen


1. Max / feel / how

2. Jack and Jill / go up the hill / why

3. she / drink / what

4. they / cry / why

5. he children / play / where

6. the mouse / eat / what

7. John / do / what

8. you / exercise / when

9. Jack / listen to / what

10.the dogs / bark / why

11. you / playing the piano / what time

12.Max / do for a living / what

13. they / talk to / who

14. wash the dish in the kitchen / who

15.they / watch on TV / what

Make the Wh Question using the following phrases and words.

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be do drive go listen live look rain shout sleep wait wear

Choose the verb from the list that best fits in the sentence below.

1. I saw you walking out of school yesterday morning. Where ..... you ..... ? - To the dentist.

2. ..... it ..... when you arrived? - No, the sun was shining.

3. ..... she ..... glasses the last time you saw her? - No, she had bought herself some contact lenses.

4. Why ..... you ..... at him like that? - He was just about to jump out of the window.

5. What ..... you ..... when you fell and broke your arm? - I was standing on a chair trying to change

the light bulb.

6. ..... you ..... when the television caught fire? - Yes, I woke up when I smelled the smoke.

7. ..... he ..... too fast when he had the accident. - No, not at all. You know how cautious he is.

8. ..... you still ..... at home when you met Mary? - Yes, I moved out when we got married.

9. I saw you standing by the gate after school. Who ..... you ..... for? - My mother. She had to drive

me to the doctors.

10. ..... she ..... serious when she said she wants to be a bus-driver when she leaves school? - No, of

course, not. You know how she likes to make a joke about everything!

11. ..... you ..... for me? I've just got back from lunch. - Yes, I'd like you to help me with this problem.

12. ..... you ..... to me? - Sorry, I was miles away

Make items 1-6 Affirmative and 7-12 Negative


subject be verb main

verb

rest of the

sentence

+ I / he / she / it was

playing football

you / we / they were

- I / he / she / it was

not you / we / they were

?

Was I / he / she / it

(not)

Were you / we / they

(not)

Why

Was I / he / she / it

(not)

Were you / we / they

(not)

Look at these example sentences with the Present Continuous tense:

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The End

past continuous tense

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