The past continuous / progressive

The past continuous:

The past continuous, also called past progressive, is used to refer to an action that was continuous (i.e. an action that was going on) at a particular time in the past. This page will present the form and the use of the past continuous (progressive.) (More on the present continuous / progressive) Before you continue the lesson, read the following passage and try to see how the verbs in bold are formed and used.

Yesterday, Liza and Jim played tennis. They began at 10:00 and finished at 11:30. So at 11:00, they were playing tennis. They were playing= they !ere in the middle of playing. They had not finished yet. Was/were playing is the past "ontin#o#s.

The form of the past continuous:

The past continuous is formed as follows:

to be in the simple past + verb + ing The affirmative form: $, he, she, it !as playing.

yo#, !e, they !ere

Examples:

esterday evening ! was watching a film, when someone "noc"ed on the door. This morning ! was revising my lessons when my father came in. #im and $i%a were playing tennis yesterday at &&:''.

The interrogative form: %as $, he, she, it &laying'

!ere yo#, !e, they

Examples:

(hat were you doing yesterday evening) *nd what was your mother doing) (here were you going, this morning at +:,') (hat were Jim and Liza doing)

The negative form: $, he, she, it !as not ( !asn)t playing.

yo#, !e, they !ere not ( !eren)t

Examples:

! wasn't reading a boo" yesterday evening- ! was watching a film. My mother wasn't preparing dinner- she was wor"ing on the computer. (e weren't playing cards.

The use of the past continuous:

(e use the past continuous to say that somebody was in the middle of doing something at a certain time in the past. ./ample: 0This time yesterday, ! was doing my homewor".0 (e use the past continuous to say that something happened in the middle of something else: ./ample: 0Bob burnt his hand when he was cooking dinner yesterday0 0(hile ! was working in the garden, ! hurt my bac".0

emem!er:

0"asn't playing0 and 0weren't playing0 are the short forms of 0was not playing0 and 0were not playing0

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