Past Continuous

Past Continuous

By Denis Merchán

This picture was taken last week at the station. What were the people doing?

​

​Let's observe the picture

• What verbs do you see?

• What forms are being used in the verbs?

​QUESTIONS

The woman with a backpack was reading the newspaper.

Sentence

Past continuous

STRUCTURE

EXAMPLE:

The man and woman in formal clothes were running towards the train station.

Past continuous:

was / were + present participle (verb +ing)

Why do we use the past continuous?

PURPOSE

We use the past continuous to describe actions in progress at a specific time in the PAST.

Like setting the scene, describing the background.

​REMEMBER

WAS is used with HE, SHE and IT and singular nouns.

WERE is used with WE, YOU, and THEY and plural nouns.

Multiple Choice

READ and CHOOSE the correct verb to complete the sentence:

The girl ___ listening to music when the teacher called her out.

• was

• were

• are

Multiple Choice

READ and CHOOSE the correct verb to complete the sentence:

Tania and Lucia ____ looking at Sofia's phone when the bell rang.

• was

• is

• were

Multiple Choice

READ and CHOOSE the correct answer:

The teacher were looking at her phone during her break.

Is the sentence written correctly?

• CORRECT

• INCORRECT

• I DON'T KNOW.

LET'S PRACTICE!

Pair Work. ​

​PROMPT

Imagine you have a time machine. You travelled back to this city 100 years ago, on a Tuesday afternoon. What were people doing in the streets? Think for 30 seconds. Now, describe the scene to your partner using 3 sentences with 'Past Continuous'.

Example: People were using carriages to move through the city.

EXIT Ticket

Copy these sentences in a piece of paper and complete them with your own ideas. DON'T FORGET to USE PAST CONTINUOUS.

1. Yesterday evening at 7PM , I _____________.
2. While I was on the phone earlier, my friends ___________.