Past Continuous

Past continuous tense

The farmer was working at

6 o’clock yesterday evening
I was

You
We were playing
They

He
She was
It
 Past continuous tense
I nterrogative N e g a t i v e

Was not
was I I Wasn’t

you You were not

were we We weren’t
playing? playing
they They
he He was not
was she She wasn’t
it 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.

We use the past continuous to say that somebody
was in the middle of doing something at a certain
time.

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
 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 the band was playing a mobile

phone rang.
What were Mike and Louise doing
yesterday?
When the teacher
arrived at school…
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?