PAST CONTINUOUS

The past continuous should be used to refer to an action that was in

progress in the past.
AFFIRMATIVE
I/He/She/It + Was + Verb ING
You/We/They + Were + Verb ING

It was raining, when I woke up

NEGATIVE
He/She/It + Was not (wasn’t) + Verb ING
You/We/They + Were not (weren’t) + Verb ING

I wasn’t sleeping, when Alex called

INTERROGATIVE
Was + I/He/She/It + Verb ING
Were + You/We/They + Verb ING

Were you listening?

When do we use the past progressive?

• Action Belfore & After a Specific Time
Example: Yesterday at noon, I was eating lunch.

•Interrupted Continuous Past Action

Example: I was watching a movie when she called.

• Parallel Actions
Example: I was reading while my brother was playing guitar
• Repeated Action (often with "always"
Example: My last roommate was always leaving dirty dishes in the sink.
• To Start a Story / Create an Atmosphere
Examples: While I was driving to work yesterday...
The sun was shining, and birds were singing...

EXERCISE
1. Complete the dialogue according to the audio.

What were you doing?

A: Hi Glória, good morning! How are you?

B: Good morning, Tiffany! I’m fine, thanks! What about you?
A: I’m great, thanks. Hey by the way, what _______ (were) you __________
(doing) when I _________ (called) you last night?
B: There seemed to be a lot of noises, but you ___________ (said) you _________
(were)busy so I ___________ (didn't) have the chance to ask
A: Oh I'm sorry again for all the noises. My nieces and nephew came over.
Yesterday _______ (was)my sister's five year wedding anniversary
B: So she and her husband _______ (were) _______(going) out on a date at a
nearby French restaurant.
A: My husband and I wanted them to enjoy their romantic dinner, so we
agreed tô watch the kids for them.
B: How many nieces and nephews do you have?
A: I have only one nephew who just turned five, and twin nieces who are
only 3.
B: Oh nice, and you have two kids, so yesterday you ________________________
(were watching) five kids in total.
A: Yeah, basically.
B: Oh my God, I love children but watching five kids at the same time must
be so hard.
A: Yeah, you're not wrong at all. Last night, all of them ___________________
(were playing)games and __________________ (watching)cartoons together. I
tried to tell them to keep it down but it _________ (was) impossible.
B: It's the same for my kids. The kids are still small, so it's understandable
why they're naughty.
A: Yeah, I guess.