Past Continuous Verbs

Form of Past Continuous

Subject + was / were + verb+ing

Subject + was / were + not + verb+ing

Yes/ No Question:Was / Were + subject + + verb+ing ?

Information Question:(WH) + Was / Were + subject +

verb+ing ?

Simple Past Tense

Actions, events, states that started and finished in the past (…ago, last …, yesterday… )

Yesterday, I went to Walmart.

Ask: Is it finished? Yes = Simple past

Simple Past Examples

What did you do yesterday?I went to the store.

Where were you last Sunday morning?I was at church.

When did you get to school?I got to school at 7:30.

Past Continuous: Three Uses

Use 1: Past actions that were in progress at a particular time in the past; actions that were

not yet finished at a past time

Reo’s Schedule8 – 9: had breakfast9 – 10: did his homework10 – 11: read the newspaper11 – 12: ate lunch12 – 2: watched TV2 – 5: took a nap

At 8:30, Reo was having breakfast.

What was Reo doing at 9:30?

Stand and ask – use past continuous verbs: I was _______ing

Where were you last Thursday at 8 p.m.? What were you doing? I was at home. I was watching TV.

What were you doing Friday at 5 p.m.? Where were you? Who were you with? I was watching TV at home with my dogs.

What were you doing Sunday morning at 7 a.m.? I was sleeping

What were you doing last year at this time? I was teaching in Korea.

Past Continuous, continued

Use 2: Two (or more) actions that were in progress in the past at the same time

Use whilewhile

Sorry, I wasn’t listening to you while you were talking.

While I was reading, he was writing.

Let’s play charades!

Past Continuous, continued

Use 3: Describe and set the scene; tell what was happening or in progress when something else happened or interrupted a past in-progress action

Use when

Form: Using past and past continuous together

Use past continuous to say what was in progress

Use simple past for the interrupting action

I was crossing the street when the driver ran the red light.

Other examples:

I was sleeping when the telephone rang and woke me up.

He was driving too fast when he crashed the car.

More Examples:

We were watching the news when the announcer made a special live report.

I was trying to study when you called.

Student examples:

A little practice

1. I (make) ____________________ a deposit at my bank when a man in a mask (pull) ____________________ out a gun and started to rob the bank. 2. I (drive) ____________________ to work when I (see) ____________________ my neighbor’s door open and someone in the house. 3. They (walk) on the sidewalk when a car (hit) ____________________ the person closest to the road.

Watch the video and tell me what’s happening.

What tense?

1. Alexsandr (sleep) well last night.2. Rain (sleep) when the fight started.3. When Nattaruja got up this morning, it

(rain).4. It (rain) hard last night.5. Kazu fell when he (play) in the park.6. We (have) dinner when Zizu called.7. Joris (write) an email when Kim called him.8. Hokunani (paint) the walls yesterday.9. Reo (drive) to Los Angeles in his new car.

Review

Simple past = action or state finished in the past (yesterday, last…, … ago, etc.)

Past continuous = was/were + verb+ing, an action that was in progress/not finished when another action happened (interrupted)

Remember –ing spelling rules?

Verb ending in... How to make the -ING form Examples

(Most verbs) Add -INGsay - saying

go - goingwalk - walking

1 vowel + 1 consonant Double the consonant, then add -INGswim - swimming

hit - hittingget - getting

1 vowel + 1 consonant + E

Final –ie

Remove E, then add –ING

Change –ie to y, then add -ING

come - cominglose - losinglive – living

die – dyingtie -- tying

When do you use While?

Use while for two actions in progress at the same time in the past:

She was talking while he was driving.

While he was sleeping, someone stole his car.

(10pm - 6am) (1am-1:10am)

If action 1 started and finished during action 2, use simple past for action 1.

When do you use when?

Use when when talking about sequence of events (one action that was in progress that was interrupted by another event in the past):

I was just leaving when you called.(first action in progress) (interrupting event)

Punctuation with When and While

When and while at the front of a sentence, use a comma:

When you called, I was watching TV.

While he was washing the clothes, I was doing the dishes.

When and while in the middle of a sentence, no comma

I was watching TV when you called.I was doing the dishes while he was washing

the clothes.

When do we use Past Continuous?

Past actions that were not yet finished at a past time.

2 or more actions happening at the same time. (While)

Tell what was happening when something else happened or interrupted it. (When)