1. Revision of the tenses
Unit 3

2. Past continuous Formation of the tense
Affirmative: was / were + present participle
I was calling
You / they were calling.
Negative: formed by putting not after was / were
I was not calling. (I wasn’t calling.)
You were not calling. (You weren’t calling.)

3. Past continuous
Making questions: formed by inverting the subject and auxiliary.
Was I calling?
Were they calling?
Negative questions: formed by putting not after the subject of the question OR n’t after was / were
Was I not calling? (Wasn’t I calling?)
Were they not calling? (Weren’t I calling?)

4. Past continuous Question –word questions
Who was he calling?
Who were they calling?
Question- word questions tot the prepositional object.
What was he talking about?
Who were they talking to?
Question- word questions to the subject
Who was calling you?
Who were talking to you?

5. The past continuous is used for…
An action going on at a given time in the past (of limited duration).
He was working all day.
Our neighbour’s dog was barking all night.
Two actions taking place at the same in the past (parallel actions).
He was washing up while she was drying.
He was making an omelette while she was getting up.

6. The past continuous is used for…
An action going on in the past when something new happened.
While I was having a bath the telephone rang.
He jumped of the plane while it was still flying.
Gradual development in the past.
The water was rising slowly.
It was getting cooler.

7. The past continuous is used for…
The expression of irritation by repeated past actions. (Signal words: always, forever, continually, …)
He was always asking stupid questions.
She was continually nagging about her ex-husband.
Ongoing repetition in the past.
The phone was ringing
Future in the past.
He was busy packing for he was leaving that night.

8. Past continuous or simple past?
At ten o’clock I went for a walk with my dog.
When we came in, his wife sang.
He wrote a book some years ago.
At ten o’clock I was going for a walk with my dog.
When we came in, his wife was singing.
He was writing a book some years ago.