was / were + v_ing. we use the past continuous tense to describe a period of time in the past
TRANSCRIPT
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PAST CONTINUOUS
was / were + V_ing
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We use the past continuous tense to describe a period of time in the past.
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Compare the past continuous (I was doing) and past simple (I did):
Past continuous (in the middle of an action) I was walking home when I met Dave. (in the
middle of walking home) Ann was watching television when the phone
rang. I was sitting in class when I fell asleep. We were talking when the teacher came into the
room. They were having lunch in the park when it
started to rain.
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GRAMMAR
I was You were He / She / It was +
V_ing We were They were
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Past simple and past continuous are used together when something happened in the middle of something else.
Tom burnt his hand when he was cooking the dinner.
I saw you in the park yesterday. You were sitting on the grass and reading a book.
While I was working in the garden, I hurt my back.
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But we use the past simple to say that one thing happened after another:Compare:
When Karen arrived, we were having dinner (we had already started dinner before Karen arrived).
When Karen arrived, we had dinner. (first Karen arrived and then we had dinner)
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There are some verbs (for example, know/want/believe) that are not normally used in the continuous:
We were good friends. We knew each other well (NOT “we were knowing”).
I was enjoying the party but Chris wanted to go home.