Name: Romero Márquez Briggitte Ccurse: 3/ D Contabilidad

PAST PROGRESSIVE OR PAST CONTINOUS

 The past progressive puts emphasis on the course of an action in the past.

 A continuous action in the past which is interrupted by another action

or a time:
I was taking a bath when the telephone rang.
At three o'clock, I was working.

 Background information, to give atmosphere to a story:

It was a beautiful day. The birds were singing, the sun was shining and in
the cafes people were laughing and chatting.

 An annoying and repeated action in the past, usually with 'always':

He was always leaving the tap running.

 For two actions which happened at the same time in the past:

I was watching TV and he was reading.

PAST PROGRESSIVE STRUCTURE

Subject + was/were + verb/ing + complement.

Positive Structure

Subject + was/were + verb/ing + complement.

Negative Structure

Subject + was/were (NOT) + verb/ing + complement

Question Structure
 Name: Romero Márquez Briggitte Ccurse: 3/ D Contabilidad

Was/were + Subject +verb/ing + complement.

WH-Question + was/were + Subject + main verb/ ing + complement.

Example:

  Positive Negative Question

I / he / she / it I was speaking. I was not speaking. Was I speaking?

you / we / You were speaking. You were not speaking. Were you speaking?
they

1. Were the children painting a picture?

2.  Was Clark repairing his computer?
3. Was Rachel feeding the cat?
4. Henry was living in London last year.   Where was Henry living last
year?
5. Anita was working at a restaurant last week.  When was Anita working at a
restaurant?
6. Ricky was waiting for Holly.  Who was Ricky waiting for?
7. Joe was reading a book.  What was Joe reading?

Exceptions in Spelling

Exceptions in spelling when adding ing Example

final e is dropped (but: ee is not changed) come – coming

(but: agree – agreeing)
 Name: Romero Márquez Briggitte Ccurse: 3/ D Contabilidad

after a short, stressed vowel, the final consonant is doubled sit – sitting

l as final consonant after a vowel is doubled (in British English) travel – travelling

final ie becomes y lie – lying

Signal Words of Past Progressive

 When, While, As long as

Clauses are groups of words which have meaning, but are often not complete
sentences. Some clauses begin with the word "when" such as "when she called" or
"when it bit me." Other clauses begin with "while" such as "while she was sleeping"
and "while he was surfing." When you talk about things in the past, "when" is most
often followed by the verb tense Simple Past, whereas "while" is usually followed
by Past Continuous. "While" expresses the idea of "during that time." Study the
examples below. They have similar meanings, but they emphasize different parts
of the sentence.

Examples:

 I was studying when she called.

 While I was studying, she called.

http://www.perfect-english-grammar.com/past-continuous-use.html

https://www.ego4u.com/en/cram-up/grammar/past-progressive/exercises?07
Name: Romero Márquez Briggitte Ccurse: 3/ D Contabilidad