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The Past The Past Progressive Progressive

(Past Continuous)(Past Continuous)

The Past The Past Progressive Progressive

(Past Continuous)(Past Continuous)

What? How? When? What? How? When?

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What is it? (Examples)

• I was studying when she called.

I was carefully picking up the snake when it bit me.

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How do we form it?

Subject + WAS/WERE + VERB+ ing + …

She WAS reading a book at midnight.

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When do we use it?

We will discuss three situations in which we use the Past Progressive.

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USE 1

Interrupted Action in the Past    

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Use the Past Continuous to indicate that a longer action in the past was interrupted. The interruption is usually an action in the Simple Past. Remember this can be a real interruption or just an interruption in time.

כדי לדבר על Past Progressiveאנו משתמשים ב-פעולה ממושכת בעבר, שבמהלכה התבצעה פעולה

. Simple Pastאחרת בדרך כלל ב- זכרו! הפעולה האחרת אינה חייבת להפסיק את

הפעולה הממושכת.

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EXAMPLES:

I was watching TV when she called.

When the phone rang, she was writing a letter.

While we were having a picnic, it started to rain.

Sally was working when Joe had the car accident.

While John was sleeping last night, someone stole his car.

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USE 2

Specific Time as an Interruption    

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While in USE 1,the Past Continuous action is interrupted by an action in the Simple Past, you can also use a specific time as an interruption.

"נקטעת" Past Progressive הפעולה ב-USE 1בעוד ב –, אפשר להשתמש גם Simple Pastעל ידי פעולה ב-

בציון זמן ספציפי כדי "לקטוע" את הפעולה הממושכת.

(At midnight, at 11AM…)

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EXAMPLES:

Last night at 6 p.m., I was eating dinner.

At midnight, we were still driving through the desert.

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IMPORTANT

• In the Simple Past a specific time is used to show when an action began or finished.

• In the Past Continuous a specific time

only interrupts the action.

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EXAMPLES:

Last night at 6 p.m., I ate dinner.(I started eating at 6 p.m.)

Last night at 6 p.m., I was eating dinner.(I started earlier and at 6 p.m. I was in the process of eating dinner.)

I was driving home at 11:45. I arrived home at 12:15.

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USE 3

Parallel Actions    

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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.

כדי לדבר על שתי Past Progressiveאנו משתמשים ב-פעולות ממושכות שהתרחשו במקביל, באותו זמן.

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EXAMPLES:

I was studying while he was making dinner.

While Ellen was reading, Tim was watching television.

They were eating dinner, discussing their plans and having a good time.

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ACTIVE / PASSIVE Past Continuous

EXAMPLES:

The salesman was helping the customer when the thief came into the store. -ACTIVE

The customer was being helped by the salesman when the thief came into the store. -PASSIVE

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Time Expressions

• Clauses are groups of words which have meaning but are not complete sentences. Some clauses begin with the word when such as: "...when she called " or "...when it bit me."

היא קבוצת מילים שיש לה משמעות אולם לא "פסוקית"הושלמה לכדי משפט )ללא פועל/נושא(.

יש פסוקיות המתחילות במילים כמו " כש.. "בזמן ש...". אלו .Time Clausesפסוקיות זמן =

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Time Expressions

• Clauses with the Past Continuous usually start with while. While expresses the idea "during the time." Study the examples below. They have the same meaning.

Past"מבטא את הרעיון של "בזמן ש..." ולאחריו נשתמש ב-whileביטוי הזמן "Progressive כדי לדבר על שתי פעולות ממושכות שהתרחשו במקביל, באותו

זמן.

ולאחריו נשתמש " מבטא את הרעיון של "כש..." )זמן ספציפי(whenביטוי הזמן ".Past Simpleברוב המקרים ב-

שימו לב לדוגמאות הבאות:

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EXAMPLES:

I was studying when she called.

While I was studying, she called.

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• When he saved he cut himself.• When she bakes cakes she usually forgets

to set the timer.• When I came home he called me.• He called me when I came home.• When he called me, I came home.

" במשפטים מורכבים בעבר או בהווה whenשימוש בביטוי הזמן " קדם ” when“הפשוט מצביע על כך שחלק המשפט שאחרי

בזמן.

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It’s time to practice!

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EXERCISES AND RELATED TOPICS:

Verb Tense Exercise 3 Simple Past and Past Continuous

Verb Tense Exercise 4 Simple Past and Past Continuous

Verb Tense Exercise 16 Present and Past Tenses with Non-Continuous Verbs

Verb Tense Exercise 17 Present and Past Tense Review

Verb Tense Practice Test Cumulative Verb Tense Review

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More practice will be given in class.

• While you were watching this presentation, I hope you learned something.