Past Continuous Tense Presentation.pptx

PAST CONTINUOUS

tense

A. Fresneda

WHEN TO USE?

We use the Past Continuous Tense to talk about:

Actions that were ongoing at a specific time in the past. Actions that were interrupted by another action in the past. Two or more simultaneous actions happening in the past.

EXAMPLES

ONGOING ACTION: She was reading at 8 p.m. last night. INTERRUPTED ACTION: I was cooking when the phone rang. SIMULTANEOUS ACTS: They were playing while I was studying.

How to use?

POSITIVE STRUCTURE:

I He She It

We You + were + eating. They

+ was + eating.

For all subjects, the verb takes -ing.

How to use?

NEGATIVE STRUCTURE:

I He She It

We You + weren’t + eating. They

+ wasn’t + eating.

For all subjects, the verb takes -ing.

How to use?

QUESTION STRUCTURE:

I he she it

Was + + eating?

we Were + you + eating? they

For all subjects, the verb takes -ing.

ATTENTION!

There are several spelling rules while adding -ing!

For most verbs, simply add -ing to the base form of the verb.

doing playing studying

do play study

For verbs ending in e, drop the "e" and add -ing.

make take write

making taking writing

For one-syllable verbs ending in a consonant + vowel + consonant, double the final consonant and add -ing.

sit run plan

sitting running planning

For verbs ending in ie, change the "ie" to "y" and add -ing.

tie die lie

tying dying lying

For verbs ending in c, add "k" before adding -ing.

picnic panic mimic

picnicking panicking mimicking

We usually use the following time expressions with the Past Continuous Tense:

while at (specific time) all day / morning / night as

Example: "She was cooking dinner at 7 PM." I was r The phone rang while I was reading a book.

PRACTICE

1. Past continuous + - ?

2. PAST CONTINUOUS vs PAST SIMPLE