Past continuous

English 8: Unit 6: FOLK TALES

A CLOSER LOOK 2, P 61,62

By Ngô Thị Phượng

Grammar: Past continuous

​ Duong: I phoned you around 9p.m last night but no reply.

Nick: Oh,I was doing some Internet research on Vietnamese lrgends for my project.

1a. Read part of the conversation from GETTING STARTED. Pay attention to the underlined part.

Structure:

Form of the past continuous

​(+) Positive:

​I/he/she/it + was + V-ing

​we/you/they+ were+ V-ing

​(-) Negative:

​​I/he/she/it + was not/ wasn't+ V-ing

​​we/you/they+ were not/ weren't+ V-ing

​(?) Questions:

​was + I/he/she/it + V-ing?

​were +we/you/they + V-ing?

​(+) Yes, I/he/she/it was

​ Yes, we/you/they were

​(-) No, I/he/she/it wasn't

​ No, we/you/ they weren't

b.When do we use the past continuous? Can you think the rules?

We use the past continuous to describe an action that was in progress at a started time in the past.​

​Ex: At 3.30 the tortoise

was running ahead of the hare.

​We use the past continuous to describe an action that was in progress when another shorter action happened ( this shorter action is expressed by the simple past).

​Ex: She was crying when a fairy appeared.

​Afairy appeared while she was crying.

2.Complete the following sentences by putting the verbs in brackets in the correct form.

1. When the prince saw Cinderella at the party, she (wear) ............................................................ a beautiful gown.

2. What (you/ do) ............................................. this time yesterday?

3. When Jack (go) ........................................ to the market, he met a magician.

4. While the hare was sleeping, the tortoise (run) .................................... to the finish as fast as he could.

5. When the princess returned, the prince (not wait) .............................................for her.

3.Use the past continuous and the sugeested words to

write sentnces to decribe what was happing in each picture.

1.girl/ pick flowers/ by the side of the road

​............................................................................................

​2. knights/ ride horses/to the castle

​.............................................................................................

​3. Cinderella/dance/with the prince

​..............................................................................................

​4. ogre/ roar/with anger

​..............................................................................................

​5. Saint Giong/ fly to heaven.

​....................................................................................................

4.Write the correct form of each verb. Use the past continuous or the pas tense.

1.The prince (walk) ………….....  along the road when he met a princess, so he (stop) ………..  and  (have) ……….a chat with her.

2.​ When Saint Giong (lie) …………..on the bed, he (hear) ……….…..an announcement that the emperor(need)   …..........brave men to protect his land.

​3. 3.Alice was walking alone in the woods when she suddenly (hear)  …………. footsteps behind her. Someone (follow)   …........

her. She was frightened and she (start)  ………….to run.

​4. When the crow ( drop) ......................... the cheese, the fox ( eat) ....................... it.

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​5. Read the fable and put the verbs in brackets into the past simple or the past continuous.

​It was a nice day. The sun (1. shine) …………… and a tortoise(2.sleep)  

………………. in the sun. He opened his eyes and saw that an eagle was flying in the sky. “I want to fly like that!” the tortoise said. The eagle heard him and agreed to help. The eagle picked up the tortoise, and off they (3. go) …………... When they (4. fly)  …………………….very high in the sky, the eagle (5. open) …………. his claws for the tortoise to fly. But the poor tortoise (6. fall)  ……………all the way down to earth.

​Homework:

​- Do exercise B4, B5, B6 (p.44, 45) (Workbook).

- Study the grammar.

- Prepare : Unit 6: Lesson 4: Communication.