Express

an activity / activities that was / were happening at a period of time in the past. Expresses more than one activity that was happening at the same time in the past. While one activity was happening, another specific activity took place in the past.

 From

: was / were + V + ing Negative - be + not + V + ing

subject I You We They He She It helping verb was were were were was was was the base form of the verb + ing climbing. talking. sitting. singing. thinking. dreaming. growing.

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For several hours all day while when as still

 She
Last

was sewing for a few hours last night.

night when I arrived, everybody was sleeping. I saw her, she was not crying but she was laughing. I was talking on my mobile phone, dad was watching television.

When

While

 My

shoe fell off as I was jumping over the fence. While I was doing my homework yesterday, my father was polishing his car. As my sister was running down the steps, she tripped over a brick and fell flat on her face. Yesterday evening, Alice was watching a movie which she had downloaded in her MP4. she finally stopped when her mother called her to have dinner.

My boys was climbing into the tree house. X My boys were climbing into the tree house.
It were raining heavily. X It was raining heavily. The donkeys was walking extremely slowly. X The donkeys were walking extremely slowly. The wind were blowing through the trees. X The wind was blowing through the trees.

Another common mistake is to use the base form of the verb instead ofverb + -ing. Look at these examples: I was play in the park. X I was playing in the park. Max and Mona were read a book about sports vocabulary. X Max and Mona were reading a book about sports vocabulary.

The receptionist was speak on the phone. X The receptionist was speaking on the phone.

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5.

As he .. (water) the plants, it started to rain. While I (dust) the shelves, he (sweep) the floor. While Mr. Ong .. (read) the newspaper, his wife (prepare) breakfast. They .. (wave) to us as the train .. (leave) the station. He .. (lie) down and (read) a book while .. (do) my sums.

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9. 10.

At 8 oclock last night I .. (read) an interesting book when the light . (go) out. It . (come) on again at a quarter past nine, so I .. (continue) reading. The women .. (quarrel) all this morning. They .. (stand) at the gate all evening. My uncle . (fish) in the pond the whole afternoon. The birds (sing) all morning.