Elementary, my dear Watson! Past Simple & Past Continuous Elementary, my dear Watson!

What were you saying? I wasn’t listening… I was just presumingthat… Hum… I’m terribly sorry… What were you saying? I wasn’t listening… I was just presumingthat…

What were you doing last night at 10:25, Ms. Jamieson? I was dining out with the Parksons. She has a good alibi, I dare say, Holmes, don’t you think?…

Mr. Bullock climbed the stairs when he tripped and fell… Mr. Bullock was climbing the stairs when he tripped and fell… Speculating... Upon my faith, Watson…That is it!

Finished actions in the past. Past Simple Past Continuous Action that continued at a specific time in the past. The action continued when another action started in the past. Finished actions in the past.

Did you hear or see anything strange last night at 10:25? Well, I was trying to read last night around 10:15 when I saw a strange light at my window. I was preparing to go to bed when I heard someone screaming.

…when I walked into the room. Past Simple Past Continuous Mr.Bullock and Ms. Jamieson were arguing about something…

Did you see or hear anything suspicious? Strange… Could you tell me what you were doing exactly at 10:25 last Monday? Strange…

Elementary, my dear Watson! Last…/ yesterday/ when+ Past Simple Years ago / in ( year)/ from (year ) to ( year)+Past Simple While / As + Past Continuous Elementary, my dear Watson!

The End

Past Continuous Form subject + was/were + verb –ing + object I was eating dinner at 9:00pm. They were doing their homework when you called. Negative: subject + was/were + not verb –ing + object I wasn’t (was not) eating dinner at 9:00pm They weren’t (were not) doing their homework when you called.

Past Continuous Form Questions: was/were + subject + verb –ing + object? Was I eating dinner at 9:00pm? Were they doing their homework when you called? Yes / No answers: Yes, I was. / No, I wasn’t. Yes, they were. / No, they weren’t.

Past Continuous Form Question word + was/were + subject + verb –ing + object? Where was I eating dinner at 9:00pm? What were they doing when you called? Answers: I was eating dinner at home at 9:00pm. They were doing their homework when you called.

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 At 8:30, Erika _________________ breakfast. At 9:15, she ___________________ her homework. At 10, she _____________________. At 11:30, she ___________________. At 11, she ____________________ lunch. At 12:30, she ___________________. At 3, she ______________ to a friend. Erika’s Schedule 8 – 9: ate breakfast 9 – 10: did her homework 10 – 11: exercised 11 – 12: cooked lunch 12 – 2: shopped 2 – 5: talked to a friend on the phone

Tell a classmate – use past continuous verbs: I was _______ing Where were you last Thursday at 8 p.m.? What were you doing? What were you doing last 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 yesterday at this time? What were you doing last week at this time? What were you doing last year at this time?

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.

Past Continuous, continued Use 3: Describe and set the scene; tell what was happening or in progress when something else happened during an action that continued in the past. Examples: Car accident Broken bone A Crime

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 finished action when the car drove by the red light.

Other examples: I was sleeping when the telephone rang and woke me up. We were watching the news when the reporter made a special report. He was driving too fast when he crashed the car. I was studying when you called.

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? How many people were there? Where were the people? What was hanging from the ceiling? What was the bank robber holding? What was the bank robber wearing? What color was his hair? What was covering the bank robber’s face? Was the bank robber right-handed or left-handed? What was the bank manager doing? What was the bank teller doing? Who was walking into the bank? What time was it? What was on the bank manager’s desk?