The document discusses the use of the past continuous tense in English to describe actions that were ongoing or happening at a specific time in the past. It provides examples of using the past continuous to talk about actions happening simultaneously or being interrupted by other events. It also contrasts using the past continuous with the simple past, which is used to describe a sequence of completed past actions.

1. Past Continuous
was/were + verb-ing

2. Action at specific time in the past
• Q: I called you at 7pm last night, but you
didn’t answer. What were you doing at
that time?
• A: At 7pm last night, I was taking a
shower.

3. One long action and one shorter
action at the same time
• While I was driving to work yesterday, a
taxi hit my car.
• While I was shopping in Myong-Dong, I
saw Won Bin.

4. Two long actions at the same
time
• Last night, I was talking on the
phone while I was cooking
dinner.

5. A sequence of events (use simple
past)
• Last night I got home, took off my
shoes, drank a beer, ate dinner, took
a shower and went to bed.
(these actions happen one after the
other – not at the same time).

6. We often use past continuous and simple
past together to tell a story.
• Last night I finished work, walked to the bus
stop and took a bus to Myong-Dong. I wanted
to buy some shoes so I walked to the main
shopping street in Myong-Dong to look for
shoe stores. As I was walking down the street I
saw Kim Tae Hee! She was filming a movie in
Myong-Dong and lots of people were standing
around and watching her. I stopped and asked
her for a picture and she said, “Sure, no
problem.” She was very pretty so I decided to
ask for her phone number, but as I was asking
her a security guard told me to go away! I was
very angry!