GRAMMAR PRACTICE 7C Past continuous ‘We use te past continuous io describe actions in progress a a partcuiartime inthe past, | was sleeping at 7.00 this morning. |1was working at my desk when te telephone rang. ‘We form the past continuous withthe simple past ofthe verb be + the -ing form of the main ver 710 1/he/ she fit you/ we / they Twas watching TV at 600 ast right We were walking home when started to rain ___Itwasnt raining when | gotto work The players weren't playing very well > Wassheworking atihis ofhce Were youtivng here the * hen you met her? begining ofthe yea? YIN. Yes,shewas /No,shewasnt Yes, wewere / No, we weren't Past continuous and simple past ‘We use the simple past to describe completed actions inthe past, for example a series of actions. Yesterday, | woke up, I had breakfast, and then | took a shower. woke up. had breakfast. Itooka shower. ‘We use the past continuous with the simple past to describe an action that was in progress when a completed action happened. The action in progress can continue. | was having breakfast when | heard the new song on the radio. having breakfast. continued | was having breakfast. ——e es | heard the new song on the radio. Or the action in progress may stop. ‘Iwas sleeping when the telephone rang, =| topped sleeping, was sleeping. eS The telephone rang. ‘We can also use two past continuous verbs together to show that two actions ‘were happening atthe same time. | was cooking while Steve was doing his homework. Iwas cooking, Steve was doing his homework. Look! We often use when and white in sentences with the past continuous {broke my leg while | was playing soccer. ‘was playing soccer when | broke my leg. White | was playing soccer, | broke my leg ‘1. Complete the conversations withthe past continuous form ofthe verbsin parentheses. 1A Were you warding (you / watch) TV just now? No, wasnt. twas the adi, 2 A Why di'tyou see Paula and Mark? B They werevaking (wale the dog 3 A Why was the boss angry with NigeP B He seasn'twocking {not wor fast enough. 4A Why didn'tyou play tennis yesterday? B ht wacrsining (ain) all day 5 A. Did you ask Thomas to come to the party? B Yes, talked to him while we. seer having {have lunch 2 Change one verb in each sentence tothe past continuous 1 Wehad dinner outside while we stayed in Rome. _Webad dinner outside while we were staying Rome _ 2 When Lisa crossed the street, she dropped her phone andi brote, ‘When Lsa was crossing the tect, she dropped her phone and it broke 3 Wehad dinner outside when itstarted to rain _Wenere ving dinner outside when i sarted to rain 4 | didn’tlsten when the teacher toldus about the exam next week * wogutlitning when the caches told ws abou he exam next week '5 While we sat nthe tax we checked te address ofthe hotel ‘While we wer iting im the tox, we checked the addess ofthe hove 3 Choose the correct form ofthe verbs to complete the text about a movie of Alastair Humphreys’ new adventure. Into The Empty Quarter InSeptember 2012, Ast Humphreys ines {oran expedition tothe South Poe Unfortunate, ‘nas ring out hatte ip could’ tae place because there ‘wasnt enough money Sohe had washavingto fed arew _avertre quickly One dy, he “look / was loki through hisadventure books when he found was finding the answer a book named Arabian Sands bout Wied Thesiger trip across the ‘bin desert the 940 ‘asaiimmedatey was contacting another export, Leon MeCarrn, ad they stated planing how to walemare than 1,600 lometersacrossthe dese. “They “Hagan! were beginning the tip in November 202, ana were home before the end of the year Sut thistime they Shite were fing alte adventures too. rio The empty Quarter isthe story. Go back to page 63