1. Past Continuous

2. The farmer was working at 6 o’clock yesterday evening
Past continuous tense
The farmer was working at
6 o’clock yesterday evening

3. I
was
playing
You We
They
were He
She It

4. Past continuous tense was I playing? were you we they he she it I
I n t e r r o g a t i v e
N e g a t i v e
was I
playing?
were
you we
they he
she it I
Was not
Wasn’t
playing
You We
They
were not
weren’t He
She It
was not
wasn’t

5. Uses of the past continuous
We use the past continuous tense to describe a past action over a period of time
What were they doing yesterday at 8 o’clock?
They were working all day.

6. We use the past continuous to say that somebody was in the middle of doing something at a certain time.
This time yesterday the hairdresser was working

7. The policeman broke his ankle while he was running after the dog
Past simple and past continuous are used together when something happened in the middle of something else
The policeman broke his ankle while he was running after the dog

8. The past simple and the past continuous do not mean exactly the same
The past simple and the past continuous do not mean exactly the same. Compare:
When Mary arrived, we were having dinner.
This means that we already started dinner before Mary arrived.
When Mary arrived, we had dinner.
This means that Mary arrived first and then we had dinner.

9. Time expressions: While, as, when.
While the band was playing a mobile phone rang.

10. What were Mike and Louise doing yesterday?

11. When the teacher arrived at school…

15. 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.

16. Only one minute…
Ready, go ….

17. One minute…

18. 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 under the bank manager’s desk?