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Past Continuous Tense

The document explains the Past Continuous tense, including its affirmative, negative, and interrogative forms. It highlights its usage for describing ongoing actions in the past, particularly in conjunction with the past simple tense for completed actions. Key phrases such as 'while' and 'when' are emphasized for introducing actions in progress and completed actions, respectively.

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4 views

Past Continuous Tense

The document explains the Past Continuous tense, including its affirmative, negative, and interrogative forms. It highlights its usage for describing ongoing actions in the past, particularly in conjunction with the past simple tense for completed actions. Key phrases such as 'while' and 'when' are emphasized for introducing actions in progress and completed actions, respectively.

Uploaded by

benkhamsasyrine3
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PPT, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Past Continuous

Tense
Form
Affirmative form

Subject + verb to be in the past


simple + main verb +ing

Subject Verb to Main verb ing


be form

I, He, She, It was sleeping.

You, We, were Sleeping.


Negative form
Subject +was/were + not +main
verb+ing

Subjec Verb negative Short Verb+ ing


t to be form
I, He, was not wasn’t sleepin
She, It g

You, were not weren’t sleepin


We, g
They
Interrogative form
verb to be in the past simple +Subject
+v-ing
- Was + He, She, It + v-ing?
Was he working?
- Were + you, we, they + v-ing?
Were they working?

Short answers
- Yes, he/she/it + was or you, we, they
were
- No, he, she, it + wasn’t
or you, we, they + weren’t.
USE
We use this tense to talk
about descriptions in the
past.

ex:
Last Saturday, the sun was shining in
the park and the children were playing
nicely.
To talk about a long activity in the past
We often use the past continuous and
the past simple together.

Past continuous: longer action or


situation

Past simple: complete shorter action


that happened during the longer action.
We often use past continuous to
say what was in progress, when
another thing happened:
Ex:
The phone rang while I was doing my
homework.

I was reading a comic book while


my sister was watching TV.

While I was walking along the road, I saw a


car hit a motorbike.
Key words
While/ When
Last night, while I was sleeping, the sound of loud
music woke me up.

I was cooking when I heard loud music.

While I was having dinner, the phone rang.

While I was talking to my brother, Bill came in.


Past Continuous Tense

FORM
Affirmative form: Subject+verb to be in the past simple+main
verb+ing
Negative form: Subject +was/were + not +main
verb+ing
Interrogative form: verb to be in the past simple +Subject
+v-ing
USE
We use this tense to talk about descriptions in the past.

To talk about a long activity in the past


To say what was in progress, when another thing happened.
We can introduce it using “while”
We use the past simple for the completed shorter action .
We can introduce it using “when”

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