The Tenses of The Verbs -5- The Past Continuous Tense

The simple past tense and the past continuous tense are so often confused ,so I think it's a good idea to revise them together and see how they differ.

In the simple past tense a specific time is used to show when an action began and finished but in the past continuous tense a specific time only interrupts the action :

-Last night at 8 PM ,I ate dinner. ( I started eating at 8 PM ).

- Last night at 8 PM ,I was eating dinner ( I started earlier,and at 8 Pm ,I was in the process of eating dinner ).

Usage:

We use the past continuous tense :

1- To talk about activities that continued for sometime in the past:

- He was watching TV all evening.

-They were playing football at 4 PM yesterday.

- Yesterday at this time, I was reading a book.

2-An activity was going on when another one took place :

When or While are used in this case: ( while is always followed by a past continuous clause ):

- While I was writing the email,the computer suddenly went off.

-It started to rain while we were having a picnic.

- I was watching TV when she called.

- He was sleeping last night when someone stole his car.

- What were you doing when you broke your leg?

Form:

We form the past continuous with : was /were + -ing .

Negatives and questions :

-He wasn't paying attention to the lesson .

- Were they sleeping when I called?

- What were you doing at 8 AM yesterday?

- Weren't you walking out when the acciedent happened?

Important :

whenever you think of using the past continuous tense ,ask your self the question:"

Is it important to the sense that this activity went on continuously? Even this activity did go for along time in the past ,is this fact important to the sense??

Exercise:

Change the infinitives in brackets to either the simple past or past continuous tenses :

1- He ( spend ) three years in London when he was a young man.

2- While I ( learn) English I often ( confuse) the tenses.

3- What ( be) you doing at eight o'clock yesterday evening?

4- Our team ( win ) the championship last year.

5-He ( study ) when the light went out.

6- The doctor said that he ( be ) too sick to go out and that he ( need ) to stay home a couple of days.

7- When the visitors ( come ) ,he ( read ) the newspaper.

8- What were you doing when I ( call ) you yesterday morning?

Thank you for reading

- Hala-

Tags: Grammar, Teacher-Hala, Tense

9 members like this

Replies to This Discussion

ModPermalink Reply by Anele on July 18, 2012 at 0:13

VERY IMPRESSIVE! The image that you posted says it all! I have this feeling that you were confident when you wrote the answer...... Good luck!

Permalink Reply by bluerose on July 15, 2012 at 11:46

hi dear teacher Hala ♥ :)

Exercise:

Change the infinitives in brackets to either the simple past or past continuous tenses :

1- He ( spent ♥) three years in London when he was a young man.

2- While I ( was learning ♥) English I often ( confused ♥) the tenses.

3- What ( Were ♥) you doing at eight o'clock yesterday evening?

4- Our team ( won ♥) the championship last year.

5-He ( was studying ) when the light went out.

6- The doctor said that he ( was ♥ ) too sick to go out and that he ( needed ♥) to stay home a couple of days.

7- When the visitors ( came ♥ ) ,he ( was reading ♥ ) the newspaper.

8- What were you doing when I ( called ♥) you yesterday morning?

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥have nice day dear teacher ^_* ♥ ♥ ♥

ModPermalink Reply by Anele on July 18, 2012 at 0:14

YOU GOT IT, Bluerose..............Congratulations! See you next time!

Permalink Reply by learner on July 15, 2012 at 11:59

Good afternoon,

It is good to brush up.

1- spent 2- was learning - confused 3- were 4- won 5-was studying 6- was- needed 7-came- was reading 8- called

ModPermalink Reply by Anele on July 18, 2012 at 0:15

VERY GOOD............Way to go, Learner!

Permalink Reply by Daniel on July 15, 2012 at 14:45

Here are the responses teacher Hala:

1- He SPENT three years in London when he was a young man.

2 - While I WAS LEARNING English I often CONFUSED the tenses

3 - What WERE you doing at eight o`clock yesterday evening?

4 - Our team WON the championship last year.

5 - He WAS STUDYING when the light went out.

6 - The doctor said that he WAS too sick to go out and that he NEEDED to stay home a couple of days.

7 - When the visitors CAME, he WAS READING the newspaper.

8 - What were you doing when I CALLED you yesterday morning?

* Waiting for comments

ModPermalink Reply by Anele on July 18, 2012 at 0:16

ABSOLUTELY CORRECT! You didn't miss a thing, Daniel..............see you next time!

Permalink Reply by Dinushi on July 15, 2012 at 16:54

Good afternoon dear teacher Hala, this is my home work.. :)

1- He spent three years in London when he was a young man.

2- While I was learning English I often confused the tenses.

3- What were you doing at eight o'clock yesterday evening?

4- Our team won the championship last year.

5-He was studying when the light went out.

6- The doctor said that he was too sick to go out and that he needed to stay home a couple of days.

7- When the visitors came ,he was reading the newspaper.

8- What were you doing when I called you yesterday morning?

ModPermalink Reply by Anele on July 18, 2012 at 0:17

THAT WAS GREAT, Dinushi..............you got a perfect score!

SpamBusterPermalink Reply by Ha Nguyen on July 16, 2012 at 2:18

My answers are:

1. He spent three years in London when he was a young man.

2. While I was learning English, I often confused the tenses.

3. What were you doing at eight o'clock yesterday evening?

4. Our team won the championship last year.

5. He was studying when the light went out.

6. The doctor said that he was too sick to go out and that he needed to stay home a couple of days.

7. When the visitors came, he was reading the newspaper.

8. What were you doing when I called you yesterday morning?

Thank you!

ModPermalink Reply by Anele on July 18, 2012 at 0:18

PERFECT! You're a very good student, Ha! Keep it up.........

Permalink Reply by mitran on July 16, 2012 at 3:57

My dear Teacher.s...

I don't know how can I say..My Grammar is poor ...with your home work, I always made so many mistakes and I'm ashamed ....hope this time, I can get full marks..or...hahaha....I will stop here. No, no.I mean : .....stop and learn all again...

And I will be busy from Tue-Fri. Will join your lesson at Sat. Till now, You both take care ...

Love you both.

Here is mine :

Exercise:

Change the infinitives in brackets to either the simple past or past continuous tenses :

1- He spent three years in London when he was a young man.

2- While I was learning English I often confused the tenses.

3- What were you doing at eight o'clock yesterday evening?

4- Our team won the championship last year.

5-He was studying when the light went out.

6- The doctor said that he was too sick to go out and that he needed to stay home a couple of days.

7- When the visitors came ,he was reading the newspaper.