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, When Mary arrived,

we were having we had dinner.
dinner.
This means that Mary arrived
This means that we already first and then we had dinner.
started dinner before Mary
arrived.
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?