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Past Continuous

We use the past continuous:

to talk about an activity in progress in the past.

I was sitting in Starbucks, checking my emails on my laptop.

for two or more simultaneous past actions.

She was talking on her mobile phone while she was driving to work.

for an action which was in progress when another action interrupted it. We use the past continuous for the action in progress and the past simple for the action which interrupted it.

I was writing the report when the phone rang.

for activities as background description.

I was sitting in a park. The sun was shining, and the birds were singing.

The past continuous is used with the following time expressions: while, when, as, all morning/evening/day/night, etc.

We do not normally use the past continuous with state verbs. For state verbs we use the past simple.

I didn’t know where you were.

Practice

Exercise 1

Complete the sentences by putting the verbs in brackets in the past continuous.

1.We … (talk) about the usual things, but during all of this, he answered the phone twice and even replied to an e-mail.

2.I tried to explain my problem to her, but she … (not/listen).

3.He … (talk) on the phone when I arrived.

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4.I … (work) for a large food company which didn’t employ many women.

5.I … (live) in London when I met them.

6.We … (phone) customers all day.

7.Which hotel … (you/stay) in when you lost your passport?

8.Fortunately, I … (not/drive) too fast when the child walked into the road in front of me.

Exercise 2

Underline the correct form.

1.While he took/was taking a bath, Archimedes discovered/was discovering the principles of density and buoyancy.

2.When Edouard Benedictus, a French scientist, worked/was working in his laboratory, he dropped/was dropping a glass bottle which had some plastic inside - and invented/was inventing safety glass.

3.Columbus arrived/was arriving in America while he tried/was trying to reach the Far East.

4.Alexander Fleming discovered/was discovering penicillin by accident while he looked/was looking at some old experiments.

5.While Hiram Bingham climbed/was climbing in the mountains of Peru in 1911, he discovered/was discovering the lost city of Macchu Picchu.

6.While Isaac Newton sat/was sitting under an apple tree, an apple fell/was falling on his head, and he understood/was understanding gravity.

7.While he observed/was observing the Moon through his telescope, Galileo realized/was realizing that it had mountains and craters.

Exercise 3

In each sentence put one verb into the past simple and one into the past continuous.

1.When you ___________ (call), I _____________ talk to a client.

2.While I _________ (enter) some data into the spreadsheet, the computer _________

(crash).

3.Tim Berners-Lee ______ (invent) the World Wide Web in 1989, while he _______

(work) at CERN in Geneva.

4.I _____ (discover) some interesting information about their company, while I _____

(surf) the Internet.

5.Everyone _________ (wait) for the meeting to begin, when a message ______

(arrive) from Josef to say he was stuck in traffic.

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6.The Leaning Tower of Pisa _________ (start) to lean in 1185, while they _______

(build) it.

7.I _______________ (met) Jean-Claude when I ______________ (work) for Airbus.

Exercise 4

Look at this information about Shirley and Kevin and complete the sentences about them, using the past continuous or the past simple.

1.In 1982 Shirley ________________________ in New York.

2.In 1984 Kevin _________________________ in Washington.

3.In 1984 Shirley ________________________ at university.

4.In 1984 Kevin _________________________ a course in Computing.

5.When Shirley ________________ university in 1986, Kevin ____________ as a computer operator.

6.When Kevin ________________ Shirley, she ______________ as a translator.

7.While Shirley ______________ as a translator, she ____________ Kevin.

8.While he _______________ his own company, Kevin ____________ Shirley.

Exercise 5

Translate from Russian into English.

1. Я делала уроки, когда он пришёл. 2. Вчера, в шесть часов, он читал книгу. 3. Что с вами случилось в тот вечер? 4. – С кем ты разговаривала по телефону, когда я вошла? – Я разговаривала с мамой. 5. Они вернулись в дом, когда пошёл дождь. 6. Я навещал их год тому назад. 7. Когда она проснулась, в саду весело пели птицы. 8. Он окончил университет, когда ему было 23 года. 9. – Когда вы здесь были последний раз? – Полтора года назад. 10. Мы говорили о нём, когда он вошёл в комнату.

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Past Simple or Past Continuous?

Practice

Exercise 1

Find the second part of each sentence. Put each verb into the correct form.

Example: Vicky was having a beautiful dream when the alarm clock rang.

Exercise 2

Complete these texts using the past simple or the past continuous of the verbs in brackets.

1.Last Saturday Tom wanted to make two salads. He … (make) the first one in five minutes. He … (make) the second one when his guests … (arrive), and they … (help) him to finish it.

2.The artist Gaudi … (design) several houses in Barcelona, Spain. Later he … (start) to work on a church. He … (work) on the church when he … (die).

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3.Last month a bank robber … (escape) while the police … (take) him in prison. Later they … (catch) him again, and this time they … (lock) him up without any problem.

4.Philip’s football team were lucky last Saturday. After twenty minutes they … (lose), but in the end they … (win) the game by four goals to two.

5.John Lennon … (sing) and … (play) on many records with the Beatles. After that he … (record) several songs without the Beatles. He … (prepare) a new record when Mark Chapman … (shoot) him.

6.The evening was getting darker; the street lights … (come) on. People … (hurry) home after work. I … (stand) in a queue at a bus stop. Suddenly somebody … (grab) my bag.

Exercise 3

Each of these sentences has a mistake in it. Write the correct sentence.

1.The hotel were very quiet.

2.It was peaceful, and the birds were sing.

3.I washed my hair when the phone rang.

4.You came not to the club last night.

5.It taked ages to get home.

6.We tried to keep quit because the baby sleeps.

7.As I was watching him, the man was suddenly running away.

8.We pass a petrol station two minutes ago.

9.Everything was seeming OK.

10.Where bought you that bag?

11.When I heard the alarm, I was leaving the room immediately.

Exercise 4

Complete each paragraph with one set of verbs, using the past simple or past

1.We … to music when one of the neighbours … to the door and … she couldn’t sleep because we … too much noise.

2.Someone … into Barbara’s office and … her computer yesterday afternoon while she … her history class. No one … the thief.

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3.Because he never … anything very clearly, none of us … what the science teacher … about most of the time.

4.I’m sorry. I … here on time and I … the beginning of your presentation, but I … if you might have an extra handout left.

Exercise 5

Put the verbs in brackets into the past simple or the past continuous.

The sun … (shine) and the birds … (sing) as Mike … (drive) down the country lane. He … (smile) because he … (look forward) to the journey ahead. Mike … (enjoy) driving, especially when he … (go) somewhere new. Then, suddenly, the engine … (begin) to make a strange noise and the car … (stop) dead in the middle of the road. Mike … (try) to start it, but nothing … (happen). He … (sigh), then … (get out) of the car. As he … (push) the car to the side of the road, he … (begin) to wish he had stayed at home.

Exercise 6

Speaking. Adam had a terrible day yesterday. Use the prompts and the linking words (when, as, while) given to tell the story.

he get out of bed / fall and hurt his leg

he make breakfast / spill

coffee and burn fingers he wait for a bus / it start

to rain

he watch TV / his cat knock over expensive antique vase / it smash on floor