PAST CONTINUOS
1. What is the past continuos?
is a verb tense which is used to show that an ongoing past action was happening at a specific moment of
interruption, or that two ongoing actions were happening at the same time.
subject+was/were/vb infinitive-ing +rest of the sentence
2. When we use the past continuos?
- Interrumped action in the past:
*I was watching tv when she called. (Yo estaba viendo la tele cuando ella llamó)
*While I was writing the email, the computer suddenly went off. (Mientras estaba escribiendo un correo el
ordenador de repente se apagó)
- Specific time as an interrumption
*Last night at 9PM, I was eating dinner (Anoche a las 9 estaba cenando)
*Yesterday at this time, I was sitting at my desk at work. (Ayer a esta hora estaba sentado en mi mesa de
trabajo)
-Parallel actions:
*I was studying while he was making dinner. (Yo estaba estudiando mientras él hacía la cena)
*Thomas wasn't working, and I wasn't working either. (Tomás no estaba trabajando y yo tampoco estaba
trabajando)
-In English, we often use a series of parallel actions to describe the atmosphere at a particular time in the
past.
*When I walked into the office, several people were busily typing, some were talking on the phones, the boss
was yelling directions, and customers were waiting to be helped. One customer was yelling at a secretary and
waving his hands. Others were complaining to each other about the bad service. (Cuando entré a la oficina,
varias personas estaban ocupadas escribiendo, algunas hablaban por teléfono, el jefe gritaba instrucciones y los
clientes esperaban ser ayudados. Un cliente le gritaba a una secretaria y agitaba las manos. Otros se quejaban
entre sí por el mal servicio. )
-Repetition and irritation with “always”: expresses the idea that something irritating or shocking often
happened in the past. The concept is very similar to the expression used to but with negative emotion.
Remember to put the words "always" or "constantly" between "be" and "verb+ing."
*Paco was always coming to classes late. (El está siempre viniendo tarde a clase)
*Your sister is always talking. She annoyed everyone. (tu hermana está siempre hablando, ella irrita a todos)
3. Past continuos tips
-While vs when: Clauses are groups of words which have meaning, but are often not complete sentences.
Some clauses begin with the word "when" such as "when she called" or "when it bite me." Other clauses begin
with "while" such as "while she was sleeping" and "while he was surfing." When you talk about things in the
past, "when" is most often followed by the verb tense simple past, whereas "while" is usually followed by past
continuous. "While" expresses the idea of "during that time." Study the examples below. They have similar
meanings, but they emphasize different parts of the sentence.
*Paco was studying when she called. (Paco estaba estudiando cuando ella llamó)
*While he was studying she called. (Mientras él estudiaba ella llamó)
-It is important to remember that non-continuos verb can not be used in any continuous tenses. Also, certain
non-continuous meanings for mixed verbs cannot be used in continuous tenses. Instead of using past
continuous with these verbs, you must use simple past.
*Jane was being at my house when you arrived
*Jane was at my house when you arrived. (Jane estaba en mi casa cuando tu llegaste)
-Adverb placement: The examples below show the placement for grammar adverbs such as: always, only,
never, ever, still, just, etc.
*you were just studying when she called. ( Estabas estudiando cuando ella llamó)
*were you just studying when she called? (¿Estabas estudiando cuando ella llamó)
EXCERCISES
1. We ____ (play) video games yesterday at 3 o'clock.
2. They ____ (not/do) their homework yesterday at 3 o'clock
3. What _____ he _____ (watch) on television when you arrived?
4. Howard ____ (like) the movie.
5. My parents ____ (work) when I came home.
6. In 2010, we ____ (live) in a small flat in London
7. She ____ (listen) to music when I called.
8. _____ it _____ (rain) when you left?
READ THE TEXT, TRANSLETE IT, SEARCH THE VOCABULARY IN WORDREFERENCE.COM AND
ANSWER THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS.
A great summer vacation
I just returned from the greatest summer vacation! It was so fantastic, I never wanted it to end. I
spent eight days in Paris, France. My best friends, Henry and Steve, went with me. We had a
beautiful hotel room in the Latin Quarter, and it wasn’t even expensive. We had a balcony with a
wonderful view.
We visited many famous tourist places. My favorite was the Louvre, a well-known museum. I
was always interested in art, so that was a special treat for me. The museum is so huge, you
could spend weeks there. Henry got tired walking around the museum and said “Enough! I need
to take a break and rest.”
We took lots of breaks and sat in cafes along the river Seine. The French food we ate was
delicious. The wines were tasty, too. Steve’s favorite part of the vacation was the hotel breakfast.
He said he would be happy if he could eat croissants like those forever. We had so much fun
that we’re already talking about our next vacation!
1. What city did they go to for their summer vacation?
a) latín.
b) parís
c)Lyon
d)Louvre
2.How long was the summer vacation?
a)eight days
b)eight weeks
c)two weeks
d)one week
3.What did their hotel room have?
a)A balcony
b)a bottle of wine
c)A view of the metro
d)a refrigerator
4.Who got tired walking in the Louvre museum?
a)Seine
b)Harry
c)Steve
d)Henry
5.What did Steve enjoy the most?
a)The wine and the food
b)The cafes along the river Seine
c)The latin quarter and the balcony
d)The hotel breakfast and the croissants
