Past Continuous

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Examples of the past continuous:

I was cleaning my house when you called.I was listening to music while my friends were studying.I was hoping you could help me find an apartment.At 8 pm last night I was chatting to my friends on Facebook.

We use the past continuous in four main ways

An interrupted action

Simultaneous actions

A polite request, asking for something politely

Action in progress around a point in time

Ok, that’s a lot of information!

Let’s look at the previous sentences in more detail!

An interrupted action

I was cleaning my house when you called.

One action was in progress

I was cleaning my house.

An interrupted action

I was cleaning my house when you called.

when you called.

One action was in progress

I was cleaning my house.

The second action interrupts the first action.

Some more examples of this kind of sentence:

I was walking in the street when I met my friend.

I was talking on my phone when my battery died.

Simultaneous actions

We can use the past continuous to describe two actions that are happening at the same time.Two very important words areWhen and while.While = at the same time

Simultaneous actions

I was listening to music while my friends were studying.

My friends were making so much noise when I was trying to sleep!

While I was preparing this power point my housemate was cooking dinner for a friend!

Simultaneous actionsNotice how when and while are used

I was listening to music while my friends were studying.

My friends were making so much noise when I was trying to sleep!

While I was preparing this power point my housemate was cooking dinner for a friend!

Polite requestsEnglish is a very indirect language.We use a lot of polite ways to ask for something.

Is it ok if…..Would you please help me?Could you please show me?

Polite requestsWe use past continuous to ask for things politely.

Two important verbs are:

To Hope and To Wonder.

Polite requestsTo hope

A common way to use this is

I was hoping I could ask you something

We were hoping we could buy tickets for the AC-DC concert.

She was hoping to speak to speak to the manager about a job.

Polite requestsTo wonder

A common way to use this is

I was wondering if……

I was wondering if you could help me find a new apartment

We were wondering if it would be possible to buy tickets for the Game of thrones tour today?

Actions around a point in timeWhen we say a point in time we can mean two thingsONE:

A specific point in time:At 11 am I was watching the news.At 4 pm she was still working.

TWO:

A period of timeI was working at a sports shop last year.I was studying at university in 2008.

Form of the past continuousaffirmative

Personal pronoun Verb to be in past Verb+ing

IHeShe

was

Talking

YouWe

they

Were

Talking

Form of the past continuousnegative

Personal pronoun Verb to be in past Verb+ing

IHeShe

Was notWasn’t

Talking

YouWe

they

Were not

Talking

Form of the past continuousquestions

Verb to be in past Personal pronoun Verb+ing

was I

Heshe

Talking?

Were

YouWe

they

Talking?

Around a point in timeWhen we say a point in time we can mean two thingsONE:

A specific point in time:At 11 am I was watching the news.At 4 pm she was still working.

TWO:

A period of timeI was working at a sports shop last year.I was studying at university in 2008.

1. Why he was singing in the street?

2. Max and Mona were playing with the playstation?

3. Was my parents visiting my grandparents?

4. Were the child crying because he had an accident

5. Max and Mona were read a book about sports vocabulary.

6. The receptionist was speak on the phone.

7. I was play in the park.8. Who was Mona dream

about?9. It were raining heavily.

1. Why he was singing in the street?

2. Max and Mona were playing with the playstation?

3. Was my parents visiting my grandparents?

4. Were the child crying because he had an accident

5. Max and Mona were read a book about sports vocabulary.

6. The receptionist was speak on the phone.

7. I was play in the park.8. Who was Mona dream

about?9. It were raining heavily.

1. Why was he singing in the street?

2. Were Max and mona playing with the playstation?

3. Were my parents visiting my grandparents?

4. Was the child crying because he had and accident?

5. Max and mona were reading a book about sports vocabulary.

6. The receptionist was speaking on the phone.

7. I was playing in the park.8. Who was Mona dreaming

about?9. It was raining heavily.