The Sun is shining. The boy is playing with the ball.The car is running. The clock is going. The girl is watering the flowers.

The Sun was shining. The boy was playing ball. The girl was watering the flowers. The car was running. The clock was going.

Form of Past Continuous Subject + was / were + verb+ing Negation: Subject + was / were + not + verb+ing Yes/ No Question: Was / Were + subject + + verb+ing ? Information Question: (WH) + Was / Were + subject + + verb+ing ?

Past Continuous: Two 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 Erika’s Schedule 8 – 9: had breakfast 9 – 10: finished her homework 10 – 11: exercised 11 – 12: cooked lunch 12 – 2: shopped 2 – 5: talked to a friend on the phone At 8:30, Erika was having breakfast. At 9:15, she was doing her homework At 10:30 she was exercising. At 11:30, she was cooking lunch. At 1:00 she was shopping. At 2:45 she was talking to a friend.

Past Continuous, continued Use 2: Two (or more) actions that were in progress in the past at the same time Use while Examples: Sorry, I wasn’t listening to you while you were talking. While I was reading, he was writing.

Form: Using past and past continuous together Use past continuous to say what was in progress I was crossing the street … Use simple past for the interrupting action 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.

Compare Past Simple & Past Continuous Past Simple [VERB+ed] or irregular verbs USE 1 Completed Action in the Past Use the Simple Past to express the idea that an action started and finished at a specific time in the past. I saw a movie yesterday Last year, I travelled to Japan. Past Continuous was/were+ [VERB+ing] USE 1 Interrupted Action in the Past Use the Past Continuous to indicate that a longer action in the past was interrupted. The interruption is usually a shorter action or a certain time in the Simple Past. I was watching TV when she called. She was driving a car at 8 p.m. yesterday.

Compare Past Simple & Past Continuous Past Simple USE 2 A Series of Completed Actions We use the Simple Past to list a series of completed actions in the past. I finished work, walked to the beach, and found a nice place to swim. Past Continuous USE 2 Parallel Actions 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. While Ellen was reading, Tim was watching television.

Final Tips … Use while for two actions in progress at the same time in the past: She was talking while he was driving. Use when when telling 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) P.S: It is important to remember that Non-Continuous Verbs cannot be used in any continuous tenses. Instead of using Past Continuous with these verbs, you must use Simple Past : seeunderstandwantdepend hearforgetexistseem noticehavepossessmean knowlikeownsuppose believeloverememberrealize recognizehateneedbelong

Answer the questions – use past continuous verbs: I was _______ing Where were you last Thursday at 8 p.m.? What were you doing? What were you doing on Friday at 5 p.m.? Where were you? Who were you with? What were you doing on Sunday morning at 7 a.m.? What were you doing last night at this time? What were you doing last week at this time?

The answers to the questions: I was at my uncle’s. I was playing chese with my cousin. I was reading a book.I was at the library.I was with my friend. I was sleeping at that time on Sunday morning. I was watshing TV at this time last night. I was working in the garden at that time.

A little practice 1. The telephone (ring) when I (take a shower). 2. I (eat) dinner when you (come) in. 3. It (begin) to rain while they (walk) home. 4. We (see) an accident when we (drive). 5. She (chop) onions when she (cut) her finger.

The answers to the questions: The telephone rang when I was taking a shower. I was eating dinner when you came in. It began raining while they were walking home. We saw an acsident when we were driving. She was chopping onions when she cut her finger.

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 was the bank manager doing? 7.What was the bank teller doing? 8.Who was walking into the bank? 9.What time was it? 10.What was under the bank manager’s desk?

Answers to the question: There were four people. They were in the bank. A camera was hanging from the ceiling. He was holding a gun. He was wearing a mask. The bank manager was putting money into the bag. The bank teller was calling the police. The policeman was walking into the bank. It was a.m There was a bag under the desk.