The document discusses the past continuous tense in English. It provides examples of affirmative and negative forms of the past continuous tense using different subjects. It then describes three main uses of the past continuous tense: 1) to talk about an ongoing action in the past, 2) to describe two simultaneous ongoing actions in the past, and 3) to contrast an ongoing action with a short action that interrupted it. The document concludes by comparing the past continuous with the past simple tense and providing additional examples.

1. Past continuous tense
The farmer was working at
6 o’clock yesterday evening

2. Past continuous tense
I was
playing
You
We
They
were
He
She
It
was
AFFIRMATIVE: Play

3. Past continuous tense
INTERROGATIVE: Play NEGATIVE: Play
was I
playing?
were
you
we
they
was
he
she
it
I
was not
wasn’t
playing
You
We
They
were not
weren’t
He
She
It
was not
wasn’t

4. Uses of the past continuous
1-We use the past continuous tense to
talk about an action that was in progress
around a particular time in the past.
"What were they doing yesterday at 8
o’clock?" "They were working all day.

5. 2-We use the past continuous to talk about
two actions that were in progress at the
same time (simultaneously) in the past.
The hairdresser was cutting my hair
while I was reading the newspaper.

6. 3-Past simple and past continuous are used
together when something happened in the
middle of something else (action in progress in
the past when something else happened)
The policeman broke his ankle
while he was running after the dog.

7. Compare the past continuous (I was doing)
and past simple (I did):
Past continuous (in the middle of an action)
· I was walking home when I met Dave. (in the
middle of walking home)
· Ann was watching television when the phone
rang.
Past simple (complete action)
· I walked home after the party last night.
· Ann watched television a lot when she was ill
last year.

8. Past Continuous & Past
Simple
We can use past simple and past
continuous in the same sentence to
describe a ‘long action’ (past
continuous) that was interrupted by
a ‘short action’ (past simple).
I was having a shower when the
telephone rang.

9. Past continuous tense
She was doing her homework when the
computer crashed.
(Estaba haciendo los deberes cuando el
ordenador se estropeó).
While I was doing her homework the
computer crashed.
(Mientras estaba haciendo sus deberes el
ordenador se estropeó).

10. Past continuous tense
She was doing her homework when the
computer crashed.
(Estaba haciendo los deberes cuando el
ordenador se estropeó).
While I was doing her homework the
computer crashed.
(Mientras estaba haciendo sus deberes el
ordenador se estropeó).