May | 2014 | English and Science for kids

Past Continuous

-We use past continuous to talk about actions, events, etc., that happened in the past.

-What is the difference between past simple and past continuous?

When we use past simple, we are just referring to the action performed- I watched a film last weekend

When we use past continuous, we are referring to both time and action- I was watching a film last weekend.

-Structures:

Affirmative:

Sujeto + was/were + gerund + rest of the sentence

I/he/she was watching a film last weekend.

We/you/they were watching a film last weekend.

Interrogative:

Was/were + Sujeto + gerund + rest?

Were you watching a film last weekend?

Yes, I was/No, I wasn’t

Were they watching a film last weekend?

Yes, they were/No, they weren’t

Negative:

Sujeto +Was not/Were not + gerund + rest

(wasn’t/weren’t)

I wasn’t watching a film last weekend

They weren’t watching a film last weekend.

-Relationship between past simple and continuous:

-Past simple sentences usually interrupt past continuous sentences:

-While I was sleeping, the telephone rang

Mientras estaba durmiendo, el teléfono sonó.

-While and when:

They usually appear in past sentences. While is normally used in past continuous sentences. When can be used in both past simple or past continuous sentences.

-When the telephone rang, I was sleeping.

-While I was sleeping, the telephone rang.

-When I was sleeping, the telephone rang.

-Suddenly: De repente

I was sleeping. Suddenly, the telephone rang.

El Pasado Continuo, es un tiempo verbal que describe acciones que estaban siendo realizadas en un momento del pasado al que se hace referencia y que luego continuaron, por ejemplo:

Yesterday he was studying English. Ayer él estaba estudiando inglés.
(Comenzó a estudiar antes de ese momento y continuó estudiando posteriormente)John was playing tennis at 10 a.m. John estuvo jugando tenis a las 10 a.m.
(Comenzó a jugar tenis antes de las 10 a.m. y continuó haciendolo después)

El Pasado Continuo se construye con el verbo auxiliar “to be” en su forma pasada y el verbo principal en infinitivo con la terminación ING:

Observa que la forma negativa se construye colocando la partícula NOT después del verbo TO BE. Puede usarse también la forma contraída WASN’T o WEREN’T.

También se puede utilizar este tiempo verbal para relatar dos acciones que sucedieron en el pasado y que una de ellas ya se ha completado. Para ello utilizamos el Pasado Simple para mencionar lo que ya finalizó y el Pasado Continuo para relatar lo que sigue ejecutándose.

When I left, he was studying the lesson.
Cuando yo partí, el estaba estudiando la lección.They were singing when I broke the window.
Ellos estaban cantando cuando yo rompí la ventana.

-Finally, learn more doing these exercises!

http://www.englishexercises.org/makeagame/viewgame.asp?id=734

http://www.englishexercises.org/makeagame/viewgame.asp?id=1206

http://www.englishexercises.org/makeagame/viewgame.asp?id=3482

http://www.englishexercises.org/makeagame/viewgame.asp?id=3580

http://www.englishexercises.org/makeagame/viewgame.asp?id=3782

http://www.englishexercises.org/makeagame/viewgame.asp?id=3000

http://www.englishexercises.org/makeagame/viewgame.asp?id=3017

http://www.englishexercises.org/makeagame/viewgame.asp?id=3320

http://www.englishexercises.org/makeagame/viewgame.asp?id=3798