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ENGLISHPAGEPastContinuous

Englishpage.com>VerbTenseTutorial>PastContinuous
VerbTenseIntro.
TypesofVerbs
Active/Passive
SimplePresent
PresentContinuous
SimplePast
PastContinuous
PresentPerfect
PresentPerf.Cont.
PastPerfect
PastPerfectCont.
SimpleFuture
FutureContinuous
FuturePerfect
FuturePerfectCont.
Usedto
WouldAlways
FutureinthePast

PastContinuous
FORM
[was/were+presentparticiple]
Examples:
Youwerestudyingwhenshecalled.
Wereyoustudyingwhenshecalled?
Youwerenotstudyingwhenshecalled.
CompleteListofPastContinuousForms

USE1InterruptedActioninthePast

UsethePastContinuoustoindicatethatalongeractioninthepast
wasinterrupted.Theinterruptionisusuallyashorteractioninthe
SimplePast.Rememberthiscanbearealinterruptionorjustan
interruptionintime.
Examples:
IwaswatchingTVwhenshecalled.
Whenthephonerang,shewaswritingaletter.
Whilewewerehavingthepicnic,itstartedtorain.
Whatwereyoudoingwhentheearthquakestarted?
IwaslisteningtomyiPod,soIdidn'thearthefirealarm.
YouwerenotlisteningtomewhenItoldyoutoturntheoven
off.
WhileJohnwassleepinglastnight,someonestolehiscar.
Sammywaswaitingforuswhenwegotofftheplane.
WhileIwaswritingtheemail,thecomputersuddenlywentoff.
A:Whatwereyoudoingwhenyoubrokeyourleg?
B:Iwassnowboarding.

USE2SpecificTimeasanInterruption
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ENGLISHPAGEPastContinuous

InUSE1,describedabove,thePastContinuousisinterruptedbya
shorteractionintheSimplePast.However,youcanalsousea
specifictimeasaninterruption.
Examples:
Lastnightat6PM,Iwaseatingdinner.
Atmidnight,wewerestilldrivingthroughthedesert.
Yesterdayatthistime,Iwassittingatmydeskatwork.
IMPORTANT
IntheSimplePast,aspecifictimeisusedtoshowwhenanaction
beganorfinished.InthePastContinuous,aspecifictimeonly
interruptstheaction.
Examples:
Lastnightat6PM,Iatedinner.
ISTARTEDEATINGAT6PM.

Lastnightat6PM,Iwaseatingdinner.
ISTARTEDEARLIERANDAT6PM,IWASINTHEPROCESSOFEATINGDINNER.

USE3ParallelActions

WhenyouusethePastContinuouswithtwoactionsinthesame
sentence,itexpressestheideathatbothactionswerehappeningat
thesametime.Theactionsareparallel.
Examples:
Iwasstudyingwhilehewasmakingdinner.
WhileEllenwasreading,Timwaswatchingtelevision.
Wereyoulisteningwhilehewastalking?
Iwasn'tpayingattentionwhileIwaswritingtheletter,soI
madeseveralmistakes.
Whatwereyoudoingwhileyouwerewaiting?
Thomaswasn'tworking,andIwasn'tworkingeither.
Theywereeatingdinner,discussingtheirplans,andhaving
agoodtime.
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ENGLISHPAGEPastContinuous

USE4Atmosphere
InEnglish,weoftenuseaseriesofparallelactionstodescribethe
atmosphereataparticulartimeinthepast.
Example:
WhenIwalkedintotheoffice,severalpeoplewerebusily
typing,someweretalkingonthephones,thebosswas
yellingdirections,andcustomerswerewaitingtobehelped.
Onecustomerwasyellingatasecretaryandwavinghis
hands.Otherswerecomplainingtoeachotheraboutthebad
service.

USE5RepetitionandIrritationwith"Always"

ThePastContinuouswithwordssuchas"always"or"constantly"
expressestheideathatsomethingirritatingorshockingoften
happenedinthepast.Theconceptisverysimilartotheexpression
"usedto"butwithnegativeemotion.Remembertoputthewords
"always"or"constantly"between"be"and"verb+ing."
Examples:
Shewasalwayscomingtoclasslate.
Hewasconstantlytalking.Heannoyedeveryone.
Ididn'tlikethembecausetheywerealwayscomplaining.

Whilevs.When
Clausesaregroupsofwordswhichhavemeaning,butareoftennot
completesentences.Someclausesbeginwiththeword"when"such
as"whenshecalled"or"whenitbitme."Otherclausesbeginwith
"while"suchas"whileshewassleeping"and"whilehewassurfing."
Whenyoutalkaboutthingsinthepast,"when"ismostoftenfollowed
bytheverbtenseSimplePast,whereas"while"isusuallyfollowedby
PastContinuous."While"expressestheideaof"duringthattime."
Studytheexamplesbelow.Theyhavesimilarmeanings,butthey
emphasizedifferentpartsofthesentence.
Examples:
Iwasstudyingwhenshecalled.
WhileIwasstudying,shecalled.

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ENGLISHPAGEPastContinuous

REMEMBERNonContinuousVerbs/MixedVerbs
ItisimportanttorememberthatNonContinuousVerbscannotbe
usedinanycontinuoustenses.Also,certainnoncontinuous
meaningsforMixedVerbscannotbeusedincontinuoustenses.
InsteadofusingPastContinuouswiththeseverbs,youmustuse
SimplePast.
Examples:
Janewasbeingatmyhousewhenyouarrived.NotCorrect
Janewasatmyhousewhenyouarrived.Correct

ADVERBPLACEMENT
Theexamplesbelowshowtheplacementforgrammaradverbssuch
as:always,only,never,ever,still,just,etc.
Examples:
Youwerejuststudyingwhenshecalled.
Wereyoujuststudyingwhenshecalled?

ACTIVE/PASSIVE
Examples:
Thesalesmanwashelpingthecustomerwhenthethiefcame
intothestore.ACTIVE
Thecustomerwasbeinghelpedbythesalesmanwhenthe
thiefcameintothestore.PASSIVE
MoreAboutActive/PassiveForms

EXERCISESANDRELATEDTOPICS
VerbTenseExercise3SimplePastandPastContinuous
VerbTenseExercise4SimplePastandPastContinuous
VerbTenseExercise16PresentandPastTenseswithNon
ContinuousVerbs
VerbTenseExercise17PresentandPastTenseReview
VerbTensePracticeTestCumulativeVerbTenseReview
VerbTenseFinalTestCumulativeVerbTenseReview
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