UNIT 6. Past continuous (I was doing)

A. Study this example situation:

Yesterday Karen and Jim played tennis. They began at 10 o'clock and finished at 11.30. So, at 10.30 they were playing tennis.

They were playing = 'they were in the middle of playing'. They had not finished playing.

Was/were ~ing is the past continuous:

I/he/she/it was playing/doing/working etc.

we/you/they were playing/doing/working etc.

B. We use the past continuous to say that somebody was in the middle of doing something at a certain time. The action or situation had already started before this time but had not finished:

* This time last year I was living in Brazil.

* What were you doing at 10 o'clock last night?

* I waved to her but she wasn't looking.

C. Compare the past continuous (I was doing) and past simple (I did):

Past continuous (in the middle of an action)

* I was walking home when I met Dave. (= in the middle of walking home)

* Ann was watching television when the phone rang.

Past simple (complete action)

* I walked home after the party last night. (= all the way, completely)

* Ann watched television a lot when she was ill last year.

D. We often use the past simple and the past continuous together to say that something happened in the middle of something else:

* Tom burnt his hand when he was cooking the dinner.

* I saw you in the park yesterday. You were sitting on the grass and reading a book.

* While I was working in the garden, I hurt my back.

But we use the past simple to say that one thing happened after another:

* I was walking along the road when I saw Dave. So I stopped and we had a chat.

Compare:

* When Karen arrived, we were having dinner. (= We had already started dinner before Karen arrived.)

* When Karen arrived, we had dinner. (= First Karen arrived and then we had

dinner.)

E. There are some verbs (for example, know/want/believe) that are not normally used in the continuous (see Unit 4A):

* We were good friends. We knew each other well. (not 'we were knowing')

* I was enjoying the party but Chris wanted to go home. (not 'was wanting')

EXERCISES

What were you doing at the following times? Write one sentence as in the examples. The past continuous is not always necessary (see the second example).

1. (at 8 o'clock yesterday evening)

I was having dinner with some friends.

2. (at 5 o'clock last Saturday)

I was on a train on my way to London.

3. (at 10.15 yesterday morning)

4. (at 4.30 this morning)

5. (at 7.45 yesterday evening)

6. (half an hour ago)

Use your own ideas to complete these sentences. Use the past continuous.

1. Tom burnt his hand while he was cooking the dinner.

2. The doorbell rang while I ---

3. We saw an accident while we ---

4. Mary fell asleep while she ---

5. The television was on but nobody ---

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