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Past ContinuousForm and
UsageOthman AL Rashid
2016
Affirmative
I was
playing
YouWe They
were
HeSheIt
was
Past continuous tense
was I
playing?were
youwethey
washesheit
IWas notWasn’t
playing
YouWe They
were notweren’t
HeSheIt
was notwasn’t
Interrogative Negative
'yes / no' question
• Was I listening?• Were you working?• Was she working?• Was he living in Paris at
the time?• Was it snowing when
you arrived?• Were we eating?• Were they studying?
• Yes, I was. • No, I wasn’t (was not)• Yes, she was.• No, He wasn’t (was not)
Yes, it was.
No, we weren’t (were not)Yes, they were.
'wh' question
• Why was I working?• Where were you living?• How was she travelling?• Where was he going?• Why was it snowing in the summer?• What were we eating?• Why were they studying?
1. We use the past continuous to say that an action was in progress at a specific time in the past. The action had already started at this time, but had not finished.
Usage
•At 5pm yesterday, it was raining.
2. We use the past continuous to say that an action was in progress at every moment during a period of time.
working workingworking working working working
8:00am 4: 00pm12:00pm
• Yesterday she was sitting at her desk at work all day. • You were working all day yesterday. • Yesterday they were not playing football at 9am. • What were you doing at 10pm last night? • Jimmy was working at 10pm last night.
3.use the past continuous together with the past simple. The past continuous refers to a "longer" or "background" action that was in progress to indicate that a longer action in the past was interrupted; The past simple refers to a “shorter” action that interrupted the longer action, or happened in the middle of it.
John’s daughter was sleeping when he called her at 8pm.
I was watching TV when Jim knocked the door.
Long action = (watching TV), expressed with past continuous tense
Short action = (knocked), expressed with simple past tense
I was watching TV when Jim knocked the door.
I was watching TV when Jim knocked the door.
When Jim knocked the door , I was watching TV
Jim knocked the door while I was watching TV
While I was watching TV , Jim knocked the door
4. We use the past continuous to say that an action in the past was temporary.
Sarah was waiting for her friend for 20 minutes yesterday.
6. An annoying and repeated action in the past, usually with 'always':
5. For two actions which happened at the same time in the past:
I was watching TV and he was reading.
He was always leaving the tap running.(In the same way as the present Continuous)
The past simple and the past continuous do not mean exactly the same. Compare:
When Mary arrived, we were having dinner.
When Mary arrived, we had dinner.
This means that we already started dinner before Mary arrived.
This means that Mary arrived first and then we had dinner.
Practice: Do you have a good memory?Are you a good witness?
• Directions: Look at the following picture for one minute. Try to remember as many details as you can, but don’t write anything.
Only one minute…
• Ready, go ….
One minute…
What do you remember?1. How many people were there?2. Where were the people?3. What was hanging from the ceiling?4. What was the bank robber holding?5. What was the bank robber wearing?6. What color was his hair?7. What was covering the bank robber’s face?8. Was the bank robber right-handed or left-handed?9. What was the bank manager doing?10. What was the bank teller doing?11. Who was walking into the bank?12. What time was it?13. What was under the bank manager’s desk?
