PAST CONTINUOUS

FORMS:
AFFIRMATIVE
I was working
You were working
He/she/it was working
We were working
You were working
They were working

QUESTION

NEGATIVE

Was I working?
Were you working?
Was he/she/it working?
Were we working?
Were you working?
Were they working?

I was not/wasnt working

You were not/werent working
He/she/it wasnt working
We werent working
You werent working
They werent working

SPELLING:
Most of verbs: add

ing

work

working

go

read

reading

play

going
playing

Verbs ending in e: lose e and add-ing

(but not

ee: see
make
live

seeing)
making
living

Verbs ending in ie: change

die
dying
lie
lying

ie

into

Y+ing

Verbs ending in P, R, L,-T, -M usually double the consonant before

swim
sit

swimming
sitting

travel
stop

ing

travelling
stopping

USES:
To talk about something in progress around a particular past time.
Ex.:
What were you doing at eight oclock yesterday evening? I was watching TV.
This morning the sun was shining and birds were singing.

NOTE!! The Past Continuous refers to a longer action or situation; the Past Simple
refers to a shorter action or event that happened in the middle of the longer action.
Ex.:
The phone rang while I was having dinner.
He came into my room when I was studying

EXERCISES:
Write the requested form of the next sentences:
Mozart was composing the Requiem when he died.
NEG.:___________________________________________________________
QUEST.:________________________________________________________?
Was she still waiting when the bus came?
AFFIRM.:________________________________________________________
NEG.:___________________________________________________________
They were walking down the road, so they saw him.
NEG.:___________________________________________________________
QUEST.:________________________________________________________?
The children werent cleaning their rooms when you came
AFFIRM.:________________________________________________________
QUEST.:________________________________________________________?

Past Simple or Past Continuous?

I ___________ (not live) in Germany when I ___________ (meet) my husband.
Our team ____________ (play) really well. We _____________ (win) at half a
time, but in the end we ______________ (lose) 3-2.
Jack _______________ (play) happily with his toys when his big brother
___________ (hit) him on the head and ___________ (make) him cry.

It ______________ (snow) when I _____________ (get up) this morning. The

children ______________ (make) a snowman, so I quickly ___________ (put) on
some warm clothes and _______________ (run) outside to help them.
We ____________ (walk) across a field and suddenly a bull ____________
(attack) us.
When I ____________ (come) back home I ______________ (find) that the
water _______________ (run) down.
The man ___________ (fall) down because he ______________ (wear) his
wooden leg.
I ________________ (read) Tolstoys War and Peace on the flight.
Mary ______________ (not go) to the barbeque tonight.
He _____________ (fall) down and _____________ (break) his arm when
he____________ (skate).
He ____________ (have) enough time but he ______________ (not finish) his
work.
I

_______________

(dial)

your

telephone

number

just

when

you

____________ (come).
The private investigator

________________ (not realize) that she

_____________ (lie) me when she _____________ (tell) him about her life.