Past Tense and Past Continuous Verbs
Kristi Reyes
ESL 899:
Transition to College Writing
Simple Past Tense
Actions, events, states that started and finished in the past (…ago, last …, yesterday… )
Regular verbs: -ed
Irregular verbs: change spelling, memorize
for list of irregular verbs, see
Blackboard Course Documents, Verb Tenses, Past Tense folder
Grammar Express textbook pages 336 - 337
The instructor

Tell your partner – use past tense verbs!
What did you do yesterday?
What did you do Friday night?
Where were you Saturday morning?
What did you do to celebrate your last birthday?
When did you move to the U.S.?
Why did you start taking classes at MiraCosta College?
How did you learn to speak English so well?
Past Continuous: Three Uses
Use 1: Past actions that were in progress at a particular time in the past; actions that were not yet finished at a past time
Erika’s Schedule
8 – 9: had breakfast
9 – 10: finished her homework
10 – 11: exercised
11 – 12: cooked lunch
12 – 2: shopped
2 – 5: talked to a friend on the phone
At 8:30, Erika _________________ breakfast.
At 9:15, she ___________________ her homework.
At 10, she _____________________.
At 11:30, she ___________________.
At 1, she ____________________ lunch.
At 3, she ______________ to a friend.
Tell a classmate – use past continuous verbs: I was _______ing
Where were you last Thursday at 8 p.m.? What were you doing?
What were you doing Friday at 5 p.m.? Where were you? Who were you with?
What were you doing Sunday morning at 7 a.m.?
What were you doing last night at this time?
What were you doing last week at this time?
What were you doing last year at this time?
Past Continuous, continued
Use 2: Two (or more) actions that were in progress in the past at the same time



Use while
Examples:
Sorry, I wasn’t listening to you while you were talking.
While I was reading, he was writing.
Past Continuous, continued
Use 3: Describe and set the scene; tell what was happening or in progress when something else happened or interrupted a past in-progress action
Examples:
Car accident
Broken bone
Meeting a future spouse
A Crime


Form: Using past and past continuous together
Use past continuous to say what was in progress
I was crossing the street …
Use simple past for the interrupting action
when the driver ran the red light.
Other examples:


I was sleeping when the telephone rang and woke me up.


He was driving too fast when he crashed the car.

More Examples:
We were watching the news when the announcer made a special live report.

I was trying to study when you called.

Student examples:




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?
How many people were there?
Where were the people?
What was hanging from the ceiling?
What was the bank robber holding?
What was the bank robber wearing?
What color was his hair?
What was covering the bank robber’s face?
Was the bank robber right-handed or left-handed?
What was the bank manager doing?
What was the bank teller doing?
Who was walking into the bank?
What time was it?
What was under the bank manager’s desk?
Form of Past Continuous

Subject + was / were + verb+ing

Negation:
Subject + was / were + not + verb+ing

Yes/ No Question:
Was / Were + subject + + verb+ing ?

Information Question:
(WH) + Was / Were + subject + + verb+ing ?


Remember –ing spelling rules?
A little practice
1. The telephone (ring) when I (take a shower).

2. I (eat) dinner when you (come) to visit.

3. It (begin) to rain while they (walk) home.

4. We (see) an accident when we (drive) on the freeway.

5. The driver (no pay) attention to the cars in front when he (crash) into the red convertible.

6. She (chop) onions when she (cut) her finger.

7. They (watch) TV when the electricity (go) out.

8. A: What (you, do) yesterday at 5:00? I tried to call you but no one answered.
B: I didn’t hear the telephone. I (vacuum).
Final Tips …
Use while for two actions in progress at the same time in the past:
She was talking while he was driving.
Use when when telling about sequence of events (one action that was in progress that was interrupted by another event in the past):
I was just leaving when you called.
(first action in progress) (interrupting event)
Punctuation
with When and While
When and while at the front of a sentence, use a comma:
When you called, I was watching TV.
While he was washing the clothes, I was doing the dishes.
When and while in the middle of a sentence, no comma
I was watching TV when you called.
I was doing the dishes while he was washing the clothes.
Questions?
Practice on textbook pages 42 - 43
For more practice:
Forming and Using the Past Continuous
Quiz Yourself