By: Hussain Al-ghawi

November 2015 - H, Al-ghawi

Target Level: high- intermediate

Definition

• The past continuous OR past progressive: is the action

started before that moment but has not finished at that

moment. 

November 2015 - H, Al-ghawi

Rules

• Auxiliary verb “was or were” is used in

sentence.

• and the -ing form of a verb

November 2015 - H, Al-ghawi

TimelineNovember 2015 - H, Al-ghawi

Past Continuous - Examples in Songs!

• https

://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q8ZBiot

GvPk

November 2015 - H, Al-ghawi

Structure of sentence

Structure of sentence

Positive sentences

Negative sentences

Yes/no questions

Information questions

November 2015 - H, Al-ghawi

November 2015 - H, Al-ghawi

Past Continuous FormNovember 2015 - H, Al-ghawi

Meaning And Use Notes

• Activities in progress in the past.

• Stative verbs & the past continuous.

November 2015 - H, Al-ghawi

Activities in Progress in the Past.

• 1 A : Use the past continuous to talk about activities that

were in progress (happing) at a specific time in the past.

• Examples:

I wasn’t raining at lunch time. It was snowing.

She was studying at Kent library in 2011.

November 2015 - H, Al-ghawi

Continue

• 2 B: The past continuous is often used to talk about

several activities that were in progress at the same time.

• Example

At eight o’clock they were eating dinner,

discussing their plans, and having a good time.

November 2015 - H, Al-ghawi

Continue

• 3 C: The past continuous expresses an ongoing

past activities that may or may not be completed.

• Example:

• At 1:30 Sarah was making lunch in the kitchen.

November 2015 - H, Al-ghawi

Stative Verbs & The Past Continuous

• 1 A: Many stative verbs are used simple past, but not in the

past.

• Some of these verbs are: know, own, mean, seem, and

understand.

• Example:

I knew all the answers. (correct) √

I was knowing all the answers. (incorrect)×

November 2015 - H, Al-ghawi

• 2 B: Some stative verbs in the past continuous, but they are

used as action verbs with a different meaning.

• Some of these verbs are: have, think, taste, and weigh.

• Example:

Simple Past: Did you have a car?

Past Continuous: they were having a good time at the

football game.

November 2015 - H, Al-ghawi

Past continuous Exercises

• http://

www.myenglishpages.com/site_php_files/

grammar-exercise-past-progressive.php

November 2015 - H, Al-ghawi

Clauses Overview

Clause is a group of words that has a subject

and a verb.

A main clause can stand alone as a complete

sentence.

A dependent clause cannot stand alone and must

be used with a main clause.

November 2015 - H, Al-ghawi

Past time clauses

• Past time clauses are dependent clauses. They begin with words such

as before, when, while, and after.

• The verbs in a past time clause and main clause can be in the simple

past or past continuous.

• A past time clause can come before or after the main clause with

no change in the meaning.

• If the past time comes first, it is separated from the main clause by a

comma.

November 2015 - H, Al-ghawi

Sentence With Past Time Clauses

Past Time Clause Main Clause

Subject Verb Subject Verb

Before the storm hit, everyone was sleeping.

When the house collapsed, I was eating dinner.

While I was sleeping, the phone rang.

After the play ended, everyone clapped.

November 2015 - H, Al-ghawi

Position of past time clause

Past time clause Main clause

When the house collapsed, I was eating dinner.

After the play ended, Everyone clapped

November 2015 - H, Al-ghawi

Main clause Past time clause

I was eating dinner. When the house collapsed.

Everyone clapped After the play ended.

Meaning and use notes

• Simultaneous events.

• Interrupted events.

• Events in sequence.

November 2015 - H, Al-ghawi

Simultaneous Events

• Sentence with past time clauses describe the order in which

two past events occurred.

• When or while introduces the time clauses

• Example:

• When I was sleeping, the children were playing soccer in the

living room!

• I was sleeping while the children were playing soccer in the

living room!

November 2015 - H, Al-ghawi

Interrupted events

• When one verb is in the simple past and other is

in the past continuous, it shows the one event

interrupted the other.

• The event in the past continuous started

first and was interrupted by the simple past

event.

• When or while begins the time clause, which

use the past continuous.November 2015 - H, Al-ghawi

ExamplePast Continuous Simple Past

(First event) (Second event)

When I was sleeping, The telephone rang.

While I was sleeping, The telephone rang.

November 2015 - H, Al-ghawi

Events in Sequence

• When the verbs in both time clause and main clause are

in the simple past, one event happened after the other

(in sequence).

• Before, when, or after introduces the time clause and

indicates the order of events.

November 2015 - H, Al-ghawi

Time Clauses Exercises

• http://fog.ccsf.cc.ca.us/~

mbibliow/timeclauses2_4.html

November 2015 - H, Al-ghawi

Role Play: Student A

November 2015 - H, Al-ghawi

Role Play: Student B

November 2015 - H, Al-ghawi