1. AUGUST 9th, 1974
When Mr Benson took the picture, Nixon ____ _________ goodbye to his cabinet.

2. AUGUST 9th, 1974
When Mr Benson took the picture, Nixon was saying goodbye to his cabinet.

3. When Mr Benson ______ this picture,
BERLIN, 1989
When Mr Benson ______ this picture,
a woman ____ _______ the wall with a stone.

4. When Mr Benson took this picture,
BERLIN, 1989
When Mr Benson took this picture,
a woman was hitting the wall with a stone.

5. PARIS, 1964
Mr Benson ___ this photo while the Beatles ____ _______ with their pillows.

6. PARIS, 1964
Mr Benson took this photo while the Beatles were fighting with their pillows.

7. Past of “be” (was-were) + verb in –ing
PAST CONTINUOUS
Past of “be” (was-were) + verb in –ing
The Beatles were celebrating a number one.
Nixon was speaking to the people.
We use it to talk about an action in progress at
a given time in the past (we imagine it
happening).

8. PAST CONTINUOUS NEGATIVE
“wasn’t - weren’t” + verb in –ing
The woman in the photo _____ smiling.
The Beatles ______ composing a song.

9. PAST CONTINUOUS NEGATIVE
“wasn’t - weren’t” + verb in –ing
The woman in the photo wasn’t smiling.
The Beatles weren’t composing a song.

10. PAST CONTINUOUS QUESTIONS
(Question word) + “Was-were” + subject
+ verb in –ing
____ the woman ______? No, she wasn’t.
(smile)
Why ______ the Beatles ______? Because they were number one in the US.
(play)

11. PAST CONTINUOUS QUESTIONS
(Question word) + “Was-were” + subject
+ verb in –ing
Was the woman smiling? No, she wasn’t.
Why were the Beatles playing? Because they were number one in the US.

12. PAST SIMPLE & CONTINUOUS
We can often find the past simple and continuous in
the same sentence:
Mr Benson took the photo when Nixon was
speaking.
[ Nixon was speaking ]
__________________X___________________
Mr Benson took the photo
The action in P. Continuous is longer; the action in
past simple is shorter and usually happens in the
middle of the long action.