Lesson 6 The Past Continuous and the Past Simple
Form (This form is sometimes called the ‘past progressive’.)
The Past Continuous
-
Affirmative
Interrogative
I
He (she, it)
was speaking
Was
I
he (she, it)
speaking?
-
We
You
They
were speaking
Were
we
you
they
speaking?
-
Negative
I
He (she it)
was not (wasn’t) speaking
-
We
You
They
were not (weren't) speaking
Negative-interrogative
a) |
Was |
I He (she, it) |
not speaking? |
b) |
Wasn’t |
I He (she, it) |
speaking? |
-
Were
we
you
they
not speaking?
Weren't
we
you
they
speaking?
B. Use
1) We use the Past Continuous to talk about something which was in progress at a given moment in the past: at 5 o’clock yesterday / from 5 to 6 on Sunday / when she came. The action or situation had started but it had not finished at that time:
▪ At 8 o’clock last night I was watching TV.
▪ I saw you last night. You were waiting for a bus.
▪ I was writing a letter to my friend when my mother came.
2) We often use the Past Continuous and Past Simple together in a sentence. The Past Continuous describes a longer action or situation which was in progress at a past time; the Past Simple describes a shorter action which happened in the middle of the longer action, or interrupted it:
▪ I was driving along when suddenly a child ran across the road.
▪ When Kate was watching TV the telephone rang.
▪ We were walking in the park when it started to rain.
3) To say that one thing happened after another, we can use the Past Simple:
▪ When the telephone rang, Kate answered it.
▪ We sheltered under a tree when it started to rain.
4) When we tell a story, we often use the Past Continuous to describe a background scene and the Past Simple for events and actions: