6. Past Continuous

	I, HE, SHE, IT	WE, YOU, THEY
Positive	He was reading.	They were reading.
Negative	He wasn’t reading.	They weren’t reading.
Questions	Was he reading? Yes, he was. No, he wasn’t. What was he reading?	Were they reading? Yes, they were. No, they weren’t. What were they reading?

The Past Continuous tense is used to express an activity in progress around a point of time in the past.

The Past Continuous tense means that:

- at a time in the past we were in the middle of an action

E.g. She was playing the piano at 6 o’clock (from 5 to 7 o’clock) yesterday.

- a past action in progress was interrupted by another past action

E.g. When she arrived, we were having dinner.

- there were two or more simultaneous past actions

E.g. While I was reading, Tom was sleeping.

Ex. 1. Make the sentences negative and interrogative.

1. She was cooking.

2. They were playing tennis.

3. I was sleeping.

4. From September to November they were working in the USA.

5. It was raining yesterday in the morning.

6. She was wearing jeans at the party.

7. John was waiting for me when I arrived.

8. He was driving fast when the accident happened.

9. They were looking at me in surprise.

10. She was reading a book at six yesterday.

Ex. 2. Put the sentences into the Past Continuous tense.

1. She is writing a letter.

2. They are having dinner.

3. It is raining.

4. I am watching television.

5. The sun is shining.

6. The bus is coming.

7. Pat is listening to the radio.

8. They are playing the piano.

9. We are running.

10. I am speaking English.

Ex. 3. Answer the questions.

1. What were you doing at 3 o’clock yesterday?

2. What were the students doing when you came into the classroom?

3. What were you wearing yesterday?

4. Where was your friend going when you saw her?

5. What was the policeman doing when the accident happened?

6. Where were you living from September till November last year?

7. Who were you speaking to when the phone rang?

8. What were your parents doing when you came home?

9. What was he eating when he broke his tooth?

10. What was your brother reading when you entered the room?

Ex. 4. Put the words in the correct order.

1. painting/ while/ was/ the/ fell/ chair/ he/ off/ the/ he/ wall.

2. theatre/ the/ while/ saw/ near/ accident/ I/ was/ I/ an/ standing.

3. when/ dinner/ tongue/ was/ he/ he/ his/ bit/ having.

4. you/ yesterday/ at/ time/ doing/ were/ what/ this?

5. them/ met/ going/ were/ when/ you/ they/ where?

6. she/ party/ was/ the/ wearing/ what/ at?

7. waved/ him/ to/ was/ but/ not/ he/ I/ looking.

Ex. 5. Translate the following sentences into English.

1. Когда я видел его в последний раз, он пытался найти работу.

2. Он шел по улице, когда внезапно услышал чьи-то шаги.

3. Ты вчера работал в 7 часов? – Нет, я был дома.

4. Телевизор работал, но никто не смотрел его.

5. Вчера с 3-х до 4-х он писал письмо.

6. Когда я уходил домой вчера, ко мне подошел менеджер.

7. Турист потерял фотоаппарат, когда гулял по городу.

8. Почему ты не слушал, когда учитель объяснял правило?

9. Что делал ваш муж, пока вы убирали квартиру?

10. Пока я ходил в магазин, моя дочь готовила обед.