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Past and Past Continuous
Past and Past Continuous
Verb Tenses
Simple Past Tense
• Actions, events, states that started and
finished in the past (…ago, last …,
yesterday… )
• Regular verbs: -ed
• Irregular verbs: change spelling, memorize
for list of irregular verbs, see
1. Blackboard Course Documents, Verb Tenses, Past Tense folder
2. Grammar Express textbook pages 336 - 337
3. The instructor
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
• 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 or interrupted a past in-progress action
• Examples:
Car accident
Broken bone
Meeting a future spouse
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 interrupting
action
when the driver ran the
red light.
Other examples:
Negation:
Subject + was / were + not + verb+ing
Yes/ No Question:
Was / Were + subject + + verb+ing ?
Information Question:
(WH) + Was / Were + subject + + verb+ing ?
Remember –ing spelling rules?
Verb ending in... How to make the -ING form Examples
1 vowel + 1 consonant Double the consonant, then add -ING swim - swimming
hit - hitting
get - getting
come - coming
1 vowel + 1 consonant + E lose - losing
live – living
Remove E, then add –ING
5. The driver (no pay) attention to the cars in front when he (crash) into the
red convertible.
8. A: What (you, do) yesterday at 5:00? I tried to call you but no one
answered.
B: I didn’t hear the telephone. I (vacuum).
Final Tips …
• Use while for two actions in progress at
the same time in the past:
She was talking while he was driving.
• Use when when telling about sequence of
events (one action that was in progress
that was interrupted by another event in
the past):
I was just leaving when you called.
(first action in progress) (interrupting event)
Punctuation
with When and While
• When and while at the front of a sentence, use
a comma:
When you called, I was watching TV.
While he was washing the clothes, I was doing the
dishes.
• When and while in the middle of a sentence, no
comma
I was watching TV when you called.
I was doing the dishes while he was washing the
clothes.
Questions?