Past

Continuous
Tense
 • Use

We use the past continuous to say

that somebody was in the middle
of doing something at a certain
time.
 Past continuous tense

•The farmer was working at 6

o’clock yesterday evening.
HOW TO MAKE SENTENCE?

SUBJECT + TO BE +VERB
(ING)
I
was
You
We were
playing
They

He
She was
It
Past continuous tense
I nterrogatIve

was I
you
we
were
they

playing?
he
she
was
it
• NEGATIVE

Was not
I Wasn’t
You
were not
We
weren’t playing
They
He
was not
She
wasn’t
It
 Uses of the Past Continuous
We use the past continuous tense to describe a
past action over a period of time

What were they doing yesterday at 8 o’clock?

They were working all day.

This time yesterday the hairdresser was
working.
Past simple and past continuous are used together when
something happened in the middle of something else

The policeman broke his ankle while he was

running after the dog
NOW, LOOK AT THE EXAMPLES.
The past simple and the past continuous do not mean exactly the same.
Compare:

When Mary arrived, we were When Mary arrived, we had

having dinner. dinner.
This means that we already started This means that Mary arrived first and
dinner before Mary arrived. then we had dinner.
Time expressions:
While, as, when.

While they were playing band, a mobile

phone rang.
 Past Continuous Tense
Practice
1) She was watching movie when I went to her home.
 Was she watching movie, when I went to her homes.

2) They were learning computer.

 Were they learning computer?

3) Mr. Sharma war going to America.

 Was Mr. Sharma was going to America?

4) We were dancing in dance academy.

 Were we dancing in dance academy.

5) Jaimin was reading a book when the phone rang.

 Was Jaimin reading a book when the phone rang?
What were Mohan and Leena doing
yesterday?
Practice:
Do you have a good memory?
Are you a good witness?
Directions: Look at the following picture for one
minute. Try to remember as many details as you can,
but don’t write anything.
Only one minute…
Ready, go ….
One minute…
What do you remember?
1. How many people were there?
2. Where were the people?
3. What was hanging from the ceiling?
4. What was the bank robber holding?
5. What was the bank robber wearing?
6. What color was his hair?
7. What was covering the bank robber’s face?
8. Was the bank robber right-handed or left-handed?
9. What was the bank manager doing?
10. What was the bank teller doing?
11. Who was walking into the bank?
12. What time was it?
13. What was under the bank manager’s desk?