INTROD DUCT ION ED he police are questioning a burglary suspect. Read and listen to part of the police interrogation. Police: What were you doing last Tuesday between 6:00 and Suspect: 9:00 pa? Well, let’s see. I was probably doing what | always do. 1 was with my wife, We were eating dinner, We finished around 7:00. : Police: OK. So what were you doing between 7:00 and 9:00? Suspect: Between 7:00 and 9:00? [was watching TV. Police: And what was your wife doing while you were ‘watching TV? Suspect: I think she was talking onthe phone. That's KPOLICE ; DE °F right. I remember, Farrage mre now. | was watching G l TV when the phone rang, That was at 7:30. Police: Hmm. I thought the phone wasn’t working because of the storm. at 7:00. when-my brother called | while he was talking.‘PASTPROGRESSIVE AND SIMPLE PAST TENSE ¥ 53 — at 7.00? a a working while he was talking? we Were you ‘ they SHORT ANSWERS ‘SHORT ANSWERS enamel ‘AFERMATIVE Necarve free — you | were. weren't. {i was. wasn't. | feherse asses Yes, | she j} was. No, | she | wasn't. i it it you you y we were. we weren't. they they te at 7:00? i ov tee ite working | while he was talking? we were | you54 ¥ UNT7 1, Use the past progressive (also called the past continuous) to describe an action that was ip progress at a specific ~~ time im the past. The action began before the specific time and may or may not continue after the specific time. My wife and | were eating dinner at 6:00, Now 00 Past xs Fate Prem ‘2, Be carefull Non-action verbs are not usually used in the progressive. I had a headache last night. Nov Hwas: having headache lastnight. 3, Use the past progressive with the imple past tense to talk about an action that was interrupted by another action. Use the simple past tense for the interrupting action. Use when to introduce the simple-past-tense action. Iwas watching TV when the phone "rang. oR ‘When the phone rang, | was watching ‘TV. (The phone call came in the mile cof what | was doing.) Notice that the time clause (when the phone rang) can come at the beginning or the end of the séntence. The meaning is the same. Use a comma after the time clause when it comes at the beginning. Future "28 wane 4, Use the past progressive with while (or when) to talk about two actions in progress at the same time in the past. Grammar Notes Bae : Use the past progressive in both, clauses. “While |was watching TY, my wife was. ‘ali ofthe prove My wife was talking ‘on the phone ‘while | ‘was watching TV, Future 5, Be carefull Sentences with roth elauses in the simple past tense have avery different meaning from sentences with ‘One clause in the simple past tense and’ ‘one clause in the past progressive. ~ ‘When the bell rang, | ate dinner. (Fst the, -bell rang; then | ate dinner.) ‘When the bell rang, | was eating dinner. First | was eating dinner; then the bell ng.) Now oe Past ——x—x: Foture Future 6. Use the past progressive to focus on the duration of an action, not its ‘completion, Use the simple past tense to focus on the completion of an action, Paul was reading a book last nisht. We. ‘don’t know if he finished the book) Paul read a book last night: (He probably finished the book.) xPAST PROGRESSIVE AND SIMPLE PAST TENSE V 55 FOCUSED PRACTICE i Qe Discover the Grammar Circle the letter of the correct answer. 1. In which sentence do we know that the man died? a, He was drowning. (b)He drowned. ; 2. Which sentence tells you that the woman finished the magazine article? a. She was writing a magazine article. } b. She wrote a magazine article. 3. Which sentence talks about an interruption? a. When the phone rang, I answered it . When the phone rang. I was taking a bath, 4, Which sentence talks about two actions that were in progress at the same time? a. While Mary was painting the living room, Jeff was typing a letter. b. Mary put down her brush when Jeff entered the room, 5, In which sentence did the guests arrive before dinner began? a. When the guests arrived, we were cating dinner. b. When the guests arrived, we ate dinner. a Describe the Suspects Look at the picture of the suspects yesterday. Write about them. Use the past progressive. wae wearing a hats Serger (emma i 2.He wasn't wearing a hat. | Teoh : 3. They Teanga : 4.She i “Gales | 5.He i Tama t 6.She Galea ‘YESTERDAY 7. They elena) 8. They, Tai56 V UNT7 j “3, At the Scene of a Traffic Accident Complete the conversation with the simple past tense or the past progressive form of the verbs in parentheses. Reporter: What was the cause of the accident, Officer? Officer: Well, it looks like there were many causes. First of all, when the accident occurred ,thedriver___as driving ___ much too fast. And while he eee Tae) she to a client on his car phone. When he Tie Tea the pedestrian, he immediately onthe Tey Tay brakes, but it was too late. The victim wasn't paying attention, either. First of all, he didn’t wait for the traffic light to change. He ; against a red light when the car him.He______--the approaching car because he EO ase to his friend. The friend wasn't paying attention, either. He easy a an ice cream cone while he the street. When he the car, he aT Try way, but it was too late. Reporter: How is the victim doing? Officer: Well, when the ambulance. = he from his head ae To Beas wound, but the doctors stopped the bleeding, and they think he'll be OK. Answer Carefully The police are questioning another suspect in the burglary last Tuesday. Read this suspect's answers. Use the words in parentheses and the past progressive or simple past tense to write the police officer's questions. 1. Police: What were you doing Tuesday night? Suspect: I was visiting a friend. 2, Police: rea SNaT Suspect: My girlfriend. I got to her house at 5:30 and drove her to work. 8, Poliee:.__ oe Sea Ta Suspect: Yes, she was working the late shift. 4, Police: EE NANT Suspect: No. She was working alone.PAST PROGRESSIVE AND, SIMPLE PAST TENSE 57 } (5 Police: ee ‘Whaiyouldandilelanewer) ‘Suspect: I was reading the paper in her office. 6. Police: But there was a terrible storm Tuesday night. The lights went out. Co ae Suspect: | was still reading the paper. f 7. Police: i Talaananlcre sso Suspect: When the lights went out, we left the building. 8. Police: | ‘anv patel ya ‘Suspect: We were running because we wanted to get out of the rain. ‘ i a Earthquake i In 1989 a big earthquake struck the San Francisco Bay Area of California. At that time, many people were at the World Series baseball game in Candlestick Park. Combine these pairs of sentences about the earthquake. Use the simple past tense or the past progressive form of the verb. 1. a, The earthquake struck. ' b. Thousands of people sat in Candlestick Park. | : When the earthquake struck, thousands of people were sitting In Candlestick Park. \ 2. a. The earthquake struck. i b. The lights went out. When the earthquake struck, the lighte went out, I 3. a. The crowd felt the earth move. i b. They knew immediately it was an earthquake, i When. i 4, a. The electric power went out. - b. Millions of people watched the game on TV. \ | | | When | | 5. a. The earth stopped moving. b. The police told the crowd to leave the stadium calmly. ; When, (continued on next page)