Past Continuous Tense – Tiempo Pasado Continuo

El pasado continuo se usa para referirnos a una acción que estuvo sucediendo en el pasado
durante algún tiempo. El tiempo pasado está reflejado en el pasado del verbo “To Be”
(was/were) y la idea de continuo por el uso de “ing” en el verbo principal.

 
PASADO CONTINUO

El uso (conjugación) de was/were corresponde al mismo que cuando usamos este verbo como verbo
principal de la oración.

I was I wasn’t Was I?

He was He wasn’t Was he? We were We weren’t Were we?
She was She wasn’t Was she? You were You weren’t Were you?
Remember? It was It wasn’t Was it? They were They weren’t Were they?
¿Te
acordás?

Ahora vamos a combinar ese verbo con otro verbo terminado en “ing”.
La estructura básica del Pasado Continuo será entonces: was / were + verb ”ing”

NOTA: El pasado Continuo es muy parecido al Presente Continuo que ya estudiaste

antes. ¡Mirá!

Presente Continuo: verbo To Be (en presente) + verbo principal con “ing” 

am/is/are + ….ing

Pasado Continuo: verbo To Be (en pasado) + verbo principal con “ing” 

was/were + ….ing

We use the Past Continuous to express: Usamos el pasado continuo para expresar:

a) Actions in progress at a moment in the past. Acciones en curso en un momento del pasado E.g.: I was
reading a book at 9 o’clock last night. Yo estaba leyendo un libro anoche a las 9.

b) Describing a scene. Describir una escena.

E.g: It was an awful morning. It was raining heavily and the wind was blowing. Era una mañana horrible.
Estaba lloviendo mucho y estaba soplando viento.

c) Actions happening at the same time in the past. Acciones que suceden al mismo tiempo en el pasado
(Nota: esto lo veremos en detalle en una próxima clase)

e.g. = for example = por ejemplo

Look at the structure of the sentences – Mira la estructura de las oraciones

Examples: Anna was sleeping at 10 am this morning. Anna estaba

durmiendo esta mañana a las 10
We were singing a song when the teacher arrived. Estábamos cantando una canción cuando llegó la profe.
I was living with my family in 2010. Yo estaba viviendo con mi familia en 2010.
The wind was blowing strongly before the rain. El viento estaba soplando fuerte antes de la lluvia.
He wasn’t cooking because it was too early. Ella no estaba cocinando porque era demasiado temprano.
No mom, we weren’t watching TV. We were doing out homework. No, mama. No estábamos mirando tele.
Estábamos haciendo la tarea.
Were Amanda and Nick sleeping when grandmother called? Yes, they were. ¿Amanda y Nick estaban durmiendo
cuando llamó la abuela? Sí. Was Sally working when the fire started in her home? No, she wasn’t. ¿Sally estaba
trabajando cuando empezó el incendio en su casa? No.

Information Questions with Full Answers

I
Was He -ing? He was –ing.
What She She was –ing.
When It etc.
Where We
Were You -ing? We were –ing.
they They were –ing.

¿Recuerdas? A este tipo de preguntas las llamamos preguntas informativas (Information Questions) o
Preguntas Wh (Wh- Questions) porque siempre comienzan con algunas de las palabras interrogativas que
ya conoces y que tienen Wh (What – Where – Who – When – etc.) y piden algún tipo de información.
Este tipo de preguntas llevan una respuesta larga, normalmente afirmativa.

Examples:
What was Alex doing when the avalanche caught him? He was climbing up the Everest. ¿Qué estaba haciendo
Alex cuando la avalancha lo atrapó? Estaba escalando el Everest.

Where were the fishermen going? They were going out to the sea. ¿A dónde estaban yendo los pescadores?
Estaban saliendo al mar.
A: What were you doing before I called? ¿Qué estabas haciendo antes
de que llamara? B: I was having a shower. Me estaba duchando.

A: Who was making so much noise? ¿Quién estaba haciendo

tanto ruido? B: My little brother, Tim. Mi hermanito, Tim.

ACTIVIDADES OBLIGATORIAS
Exercise 1: Here is a list of some things Robert did yesterday in the afternoon and evening. Make sentences as in the examples:
Remember to use: was/were + verb “ing”. What was he doing at the different times?
Hacer oraciones afirmativas como en el ejemplo. Recordar la estructura: was/were + verb “ing”

1. At 4.00 pm, he was drinking wine.

2. At 5.00 pm, he was……………………
………………………………………………….
3. ………………………………………………….
………………………………………………….
4. ………………………………………………….
………………………………………………….
5. ………………………………………………….
………………………………………………….
6. ………………………………………………….
………………………………………………….
7. ………………………………………………….
………………………………………………….
8. ………………………………………………….
………………………………………………….
9. ………………………………………………….
………………………………………………….
10.………………………………………………….
………………………………………………….

Exercise 2: It was a beautiful Sunday afternoon and the park was full of people enjoying the sunny and warm
weather. What were they doing? Correct the sentences as in the examples. Era una hermosa tarde de domingo y el parque
estaba lleno de gente que disfrutaba del sol y del calor. ¿Qué estaban haciendo? Corregir las oraciones como en los ejemplos (negando y
aclarando)

Examples:
a. Alejandra was sitting under a tree and reading a book.
She wasn’t reading a book. She was watching the children.
b. Eva and Mario were playing with a ball.
They weren’t playing with a ball. They were skating.
c. Cesar and Hector were walking their dogs.

d. Andres and Guille were texting on their mobiles.

e. Augusto was taking a nap.

f. Laura was running.

g. Leticia was eating a sandwich.

Exercise 3: Answer these questions. Pay attention! Some are Yes/No questions with short answers, some are
Wh questions with full answers. Responde a estas preguntas. ¡Presta atención! Algunas son preguntas Sí/No con respuestas
cortas, otras son preguntas Wh con respuestas completas.

A) What were you doing at 7.00 a.m. today?

B) Was it raining yesterday afternoon?
C) What were you doing yesterday at 1.00 p.m.?
D) Were you playing games online at 4.00pm yesterday?
E) Was your mother cleaning the house at 11.00 a.m. yesterday?
F) Where were you living in 2011?