Past continuous tense

 

 

Después de haber visto el pasado simple hoy vamos a ver el past continuous tense. Como ya podéis intuir un poco por el nombre del tiempo, eso de “continuous”, ya nos suena al present continuous que veíamos que se formaba usando la forma -ing del verbo. Pues exactamente eso es lo que tenemos que hacer también con el past continuos, solo que en lugar de usar el presente del verbo to be como auxiliar, vamos a usar el pasado. Vamos a explicar esto más detalladamente.

 Para hacer la afirmativa vamos a usar, como acabo de decir, el pasado del verbo to be seguido del verbo al que añadiremos -ing:

             He was eating a sandwich.

            They were studying.

 Si lo que queremos es formar la negativa, lo haremos negando directamente el verbo to be:

            He wasn’t eating a sandwich.

            They weren’t studying.

 Y la interrogativa se hace anteponiendo el verbo to be al sujeto:

            Was he eating a sandwich?

            Were they studying?

 En cuanto al uso veamos ahora cuando debemos usar el pasado continuo:

 Se usa principalmente para acciones que estaban desarrollándose en un momento determinado del pasado. No sabemos exactamente cuando empezó o terminó la acción:

            At two o’clock they were studying.

Una acción que se esta desarrollando en un momento del pasado y se ve interrumpida por otra. En este caso la acción que interrumpe irá en pasado simple:

             I was having a shower when the phone rang.

 Dos acciones diferentes que tienen lugar en el mismo momento del pasado. Son acciones simultaneas:

             I was watching television while my mother was cooking dinner.

 Por último, vamos a ver que expresiones de tiempo son las que van a referirse a este tiempo:

 Acompañan al past continuous: while, when, as, all day / night / morning, etc.

 Os dejo aquí un cuadro resumen que espero que os sirva de apoyo:

 

  Conviene recordar, que, tratándose de un tiempo continuo, pasa lo mismo que cuando hablábamos del present continuous, había verbos que no podían ponerse en forma continua y tenían que ir en present simple o en este caso en past simple. Son los non continuous verbs que veis en el esquema anterior.

 Y por último recordar:

 

WHEN / WHILE / AS + past continuous (acción larga)

WHEN + past simple (acción corta)

 

Ahora vamos a ponerlo en práctica con algunos ejercicios.

 

Write the verbs into the past continuous:

 1.    The children were frightened because it (get) dark.

2.    He usually wears sandals but when I last saw him he (wear) boots.

3.    The house was in great disorder because he (redecorate) it.

4.    The car had nobody in it but the engine (run).

5.    Two children (play) on the sand and two fishermen (lean) against an upturned boat.

6.    Are you going to Rome? I thought that you (go) to Milan.

7.    My wife and I (talk) about you the other day.

8.    When I first met him he (study) painting.

9.    As she (climb) the ladder it slipped sideways and she fell off it.

10.  When I first met him he (work) in a restaurant.

11.  He had a bad fall while he (repair) his roof.

12.  While he (learn) to drive he had twenty-five accidents.

Put the verbs in brackets into the past simple or past continuous.

 1.    As I (do) the washing -up, I (break) a glass.

2.    We (walk) in the woods when the storm (begin).

3.    John (repair) his motor bike when his mother (arrive).

4.    I (eat) my lunch when the phone (ring).

5.    He (ride) his bicycle to school when he (drop) his bag.

6.    We (see) a bad accident as we (drive) to the airport.

7.    Tom (watch) the match when the TV (break down).

8.    We (talk) when she (come) into the room.

 Look at these sentences and answer the questions.

 1.    When I saw them, they were playing football. Which happened first?

2.    When she telephoned, I was having a bath. Which happened first?

3.    They were watching television when I visited them. Which happened first?

4.    I was walking into the house when I heard the noise. Which happened first?

5.    I walked into the house when I heard the noise. Which happened first?

6.    We left the party when the police arrived. Which happened first?

7.    We were leaving the party when the police arrived. Which happened first?

8.    I made the beds when Joan and Ian got here. Which happened first?

9.    I was making the beds when Joan and Ian got here. Which happened first?

10.  I was getting into my car when I heard the shot. Which happened first?

 

Espero que os haya servido de ayuda. Click and share!😸