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Past Continuous: Uses & Structure

Leonor Adelina Gamboa

Created on July 31, 2023

Past Continuous uses and structure in English. Also a brief description of the gerunds and verb to be in the past. Designed, edited and adapted for Academic Purposes only by Leonor Adelina Gamboa, july 2023.

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Transcript

Past Continuous

Uses and Structure

click here to learn

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Past Continuous: Uses

USES

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Back

Past Continuous Vs. Simple Past

USES

Next

Back

Past Continuous: Structure

  • was/were

Structure

  • -ing (gerunds)

Next

References (1)

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Next

  • Sanook English ESL Activities. (7 de febrero 2022). Tiempo Pasado Continuo para niños. ESL Progresivo anterior. [Video de Youtube]. https://youtu.be/Rb_qdxmspeU
  • DK Kids. (6 de diciembre 2020). Past Simple | Past Continuos | when. [Video de YouTube]. https://youtu.be/Da4urI725-E
  • Easy English. (10 de septiembre de 2019). What were you doing? Past continuous. [Video de YouTube]. https://youtu.be/etvW0FOD_so
  • English Study Page. (24 de marzo de 2017). To be in the past. [Achivo de Imagen]. https://englishstudypage.com/grammar/past-continuous-tense/
  • University of Victoria. (2023). Forming Gerunds. Grammar Topics. https://continuingstudies.uvic.ca/elc/studyzone/410/grammar/gerund/
  • British Council. (s.f.). Past continuous and past simple. Learn English-Grammar. https://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/grammar/a1-a2-grammar/past-continuous-past-simple
  • Cambridge Dictionary. Past continuous and past simple. Recuperado el 31 de julio de 2023. https://dictionary.cambridge.org/grammar/british-grammar/past-continuous-or-past-simple
  • Cambridge Dictionary. Past continuous (I was working). Recuperado el 31 de julio de 2023. https://dictionary.cambridge.org/grammar/british-grammar/past-continuous-i-was-working
  • Perfect english Grammar. Past Continuous Positive and Negative. Recuperado el 31 de julio de 2023. https://www.perfect-english-grammar.com/past-continuous-exercise-1.html
  • ToLearnEnglish.com. Spooky story: past simple and past continuous. Recuperado el 31 de julio de 2023. https://www.tolearnenglish.com/exercises/exercise-english-2/exercise-english-87720.php

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Background around the main events in the past

We use the Past Continuous to talk about:

  • Events happening at a specific time in the past, happening around a particular time and action in the past (simple form).
  • Background events surrounding the main event (expressed in simple past).
  • Reasons and context for events
  • Repeated sdurrounding events in the past, also for temporary situations.
  • Events continuing over a period of time.

Past Continuous

USES

Rules for the gerunds

All depends on the vowels and consonants at the end of the verbs. Check this chart:

"to be" in past

The verb "to be " in past continuous is an auxiliary for quesitons and negatives.

Watch this video, and take notes

Past continuous

was/were + verb-ING

In general, there are two main key poins to remember:

  • use WAS or WERE as auxiliaries
  • verbs take the -ing ending

Let's check them!

Past simple or continuous?

Narrative Tenses

In Story Telling:

  • The past continuous and the past simple help us to show how two past actions or situations are connected.
  • Simple Past- actions that occured in the past, not now in an specific point in the past.
  • Repeated or actions in progress in the past
  • if an action happened in the middle of another, we use past cotinuous

USES