The past continuous

Miss Cinthia Zapata

 Use of the past continuous.
• The action takes place continuously
in the past.
e.g: I was having lunch at 1pm yesterday.

• An action in progress at every

moment during a period of time.

e.g: I was playing football all day yesterday.

 Use of the past continuous
• It is usually used with the past simple.

(The past continuous refers to a ¨longer¨or

¨background¨
action; the past simple refers to ashorter action
that
interrupted the ¨longer¨action, or happened in the
middle
of it.)

e.g:
She was eating a hamburger when the phone
rang.

While I was working in the garden, I heard a

 Use of the past simple
• We use the past continuous to say
that an action in the past was
temporary.
e.g: They were living in Paris for a year.

• We use the past continuous with

frecuency adverbs to talk about
things that happened repeatedly.
e.g: My grandfather was always telling us
funny stories.
 The Past Continuous
Positive Negative
• I • I
• He • He
• She ____________ talking • She _____________ talking
• It • It

• You • You
• We _____________ talking • We _____________ talking
• They
• They
 The Past Continuous
Question Short Answer
I Yes, I was No, I wasn’t
Yes, he wasNo, he wasn’t
he
was
__________ she
Yes,
Yes,
she was No, she wasn’t
it was No, it wasn’t
working?
it
Yes, you were No, your weren’t
Yes, we were No, we weren’t

wer
you
Yes, they were No, they weren´t

e
___________ we
working?
they
 Was was
Who he reading?
singing?
What was he doing?

Elvis
No,wasPresley
he wasn’t was
He singing
singing
 Was was
Where
What he working?
was he
he working?
doing?

He was
He was
Yes, he at
was
working the
working
 Werewere
Where theythey
watching a
watching
What were they
movie?
a movie?watching?

They
Theywere
werewatching
watchingKing
a
Yes, they were
movie in the
Kongback yard.
Yesterday Helen went to a party. What were her
Turn your book to page 13, exercise C. Listen to the
friends doing when she arrived? Fill in the spaces with
instructions.
the verbs in the box.
DANCE LISTEN SIT
DRINK TALK

Hugo

Ann
Kemal
a

Marco
Luisa
 Fill in the blanks using the past continuous.

was writing
1. I ___________________letters all day yesterday.
(write)
were
2. You__________________very slow about it. (be)
  were talking
3. You____________________on the phone for hours.
(talk) weren’t doing
 
4. They _________________
were business before lunch.
doing
(do NEGATIVE)
 wasn’t
6. She ______________to me all week. (speak
speaking
NEGATIVE)
 
wasn’t raining
7. It ________________for long. (rain NEGATIVE)
 
wer
e doing
8. What______you________ when I phoned
yesterday? (do)
  Were watching

9.________you____________TV when it happened?

 WELL
DONE!!!