AUGUST 9th, 1974

 When Mr
Benson took
the picture,
Nixon was
saying
goodbye to
his cabinet.
 BERLIN, 1989

 When Mr
Benson took
this picture,
a woman was
hitting the wall
with a stone.
 PARIS, 1964

 Mr Benson took
this photo while
the Beatles
were fighting
with their
pillows.
 PAST CONTINUOUS

Past of “be” (was-were) + verb in –ing

 The Beatles were celebrating a number one.

 Nixon was speaking to the people.

We use it to talk about an action in progress at

a given time in the past (we imagine it
happening).
 PAST CONTINUOUS
NEGATIVE

“wasn’t - weren’t” + verb in –ing

 The woman in the photo wasn’t smiling.

 The Beatles weren’t composing a song.
 PAST CONTINUOUS QUESTIONS

(Question word) + “Was-were” + subject

+ verb in –ing

 Was the woman smiling? No, she wasn’t.

 Why were the Beatles playing? Because they

were number one in the US.
 PAST SIMPLE & CONTINUOUS
We can often find the past simple and continuous in
the same sentence:

 Mr Benson took the photo when Nixon was

speaking.

[------------------Nixon was speaking-----------------]

__________________X___________________
Mr Benson took the photo

The action in P. Continuous is longer; the action in

past simple is shorter and usually happens in the
middle of the long action.