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ESL forum >
Grammar and Linguistics > past continuous
past continuous
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natulika-23
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past continuous
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please help me someone. explain me past continuouse. |
6 Apr 2010
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Laly59
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Hi dear! it�s very easy. Past continuous construction:
past verb to be+ verb to conjugate that finishs in ing, for example:
I was+watching Tv, film, etc
You were+teaching the cicle of water yesterday
They were playing football the last week
I hope that you have understood |
6 Apr 2010
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L. habach
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We use past progressive in the following situations
a/ at a certain time in the past
At this time last night I was watching TV.
b/ with verbs of perception in the past
I saw Janet this morning. she was wearing smart clothes.
c/ two actions taking place at the same time:
While Tommy was listening to music last night, his sister was surfing on the net.
d/ an action interrupted by a sudden event
I was riding to school yesterday when I saw an accident.
N.B
Normally we use simple past after these signal words: while / as / when |
7 Apr 2010
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yanogator
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hasan habach,
I don �t want to sound disagreeable after such good answers, but I have some comments. Please don �t be offended.
Your explanation is good, but I don �t think "b" is a separate case from "a", since your example is at a certain time in the past.
Also, I think we use the past continuous as much as the simple past after "while".
While I was cooking dinner, I was listening to the radio.
I was listening to the radio while I was talking on the phone.
Even your own good example in "c" used the past continuous with "while", and if you reverse the order of "d" it becomes "I saw an accident while I was riding to school yesterday."
Bruce |
7 Apr 2010
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