Past Continuous

Past Continuous

Past continuous tense

The farmer was working at 6 o’clock yesterday evening

I

was

You We They

were

He She It

was

playing

Past continuous tense I nterrogative

was

I

were

you we they

was

he she it

N

I

e g a t i v e

Was not Wasn’t

You were not We weren’t playing? playing They He She It

was not wasn’t

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.

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

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

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.

Time expressions: While, as, when.

While the band was playing a mobile phone rang.

What were Mike and Louise doing yesterday?

When the teacher arrived at school…

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.

Only one minute… • Ready, go ….

One minute…

What do you remember? 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13.

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 lefthanded? 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?