Past continuous and Past Simple

Past continuous

• while - when - as
• all (the whole) day (morning / evening / night) yesterday
• yesterday at 6 (7, 8, ...) o'clock / a.m. / p.m.
• this time yesterday / this time last year (week / month)

Time words

1. Three years ago, we were living in my home town.
2. What were you doing at 8 p.m. last night? I was studying.

1. What were you doing this time last year?
2. I tried to give him some advice, but he wasn't listening.
3. When I woke up this morning, it was snowing.
4. When the guests arrived, Jane was cooking dinner.
5. As I was deciding what to do the bus arrived.

Examples

Past Continuous Structure

What were you doing at these times? Write sentences as in the examples. The past continuous is not always necessary. 1 (at 8 o’clock yesterday evening) ……………………. 2 (at 5 o’clock last Monday) ……………………. 3 (at 10.15 yesterday morning) ……………………. 4 (at 4.30 this morning) ……………………. 5 (at 7.45 yesterday evening) ……………………. 6 (half an hour ago) …………………….

Example: In the evening Larry was cycling home when he had an accident.

Make sentences about Larry´s day.

Put the verb into the correct form, past continuous or past simple.1 Jenny ……………………. (wait) for me when I ……………………. (arrive). 2 ‘What ……………………. (you / do) at this time yesterday?’ ‘I was asleep.’ 3 ‘ ……………………. (you / go) out last night?’ ‘No, I was too tired.’ 4 How fast ……………………. (you / drive) when the accident ……………………. (happen)? 5 Sam ……………………. (take) a picture of me while I ……………………. (not / look). 6 We were in a very difficult position. We ……………………. (not / know) what to do. 7 I haven’t seen Alan for ages. When I last ……………………. (see) him, he……………………. (try) to find a job. 8 I ……………………. (walk) along the street when suddenly I ……………………. (hear) footsteps behind me. Somebody ……………………. (follow) me. I was scared and I ……………………. (start) to run. 9 When I was young, I ……………………. (want) to be a pilot. 10 Last night I ……………………. (drop) a plate when I ……………………. (do) the washing-up. Fortunately it ……………………. (not / break).

Put the verb into the correct form, past continuous or past simple.1 Jenny was waiting for me when I arrived. 2 ‘What were you doing at this time yesterday?’ ‘I was asleep.’ 3 ‘ Did you go out last night?’ ‘No, I was too tired.’ 4 How fast were you driving when the accident happened? 5 Sam took a picture of me while I was not looking. 6 We were in a very difficult position. We did not know what to do. 7 I haven’t seen Alan for ages. When I last saw him, he was trying to find a job. 8 I was walking along the street when suddenly I heard footsteps behind me. Somebody was following me. I was scared and I started to run. 9 When I was young, I wanted to be a pilot. 10 Last night I dropped a plate when I was doing the washing-up. Fortunately it didn´t break it.

Describe these photographs using the information on page 200

Put the verb into the correct form, past continuous or past simple. 1 I ……………………. (see) Sue in town yesterday, but she ……………………. (not I see) me. She ……………………. (look) the other way. 2 I ……………………. (meet) Tom and jane at the airport a few weeks ago. They ……………………. (go) to Paris and I ……………………. (go) to Rome. We ……………………. (have) a chat while we ……………………. (wait) for our flights. 3 I ……………………. (cycle) home yesterday when a man ……………………. (step) out into the road in front of me. I ……………………. (go) quite fast, but luckily I ……………………. (manage) to stop in time and ……………………. (not / hit) him.