The past long tense in English. The Past Continuous Tense

past simple- grammatical tense, which is used to indicate a completed action in the past. This is usually indicated by hint words. For example He finished school in 2002. He finished school in 2002. Thus, the indication 2002 is a hint word requiring the use of Past Simple.

Past Continuous- in this grammatical tense, we are primarily interested in the continuous nature of a specific action in the past. Often this time is accompanied by hints in their own words. For example, He was drinking tea with his friends yesterday at 5. That is, we are interested in a specific moment in the past, and special words indicate this.

Clues

Let us dwell a little more on the clue words of these two tenses.

past simple- yesterday, ago, last, the day before yesterday, in ... (date), on ... (day). As a rule, all of the above clue words are used at the end of a sentence. However, speeches may use these words at the beginning of a sentence.

Past Continuous- at ... (indication of time), all day long (all day), from ... till ... (from ... to ...). As in the Past Simple, hint words are placed at the end of the sentence, but they can also be used at the beginning of the sentence.

How Past Simple and Past Continuous are Formed

past simple

affirmative sentences- I started to work at shool in 2001. The subject is put in the first place, then the predicate in the second form (the ending ed is added to the regular verbs, the second form is learned from the wrong ones).

Interrogative sentences - Did you start to work at school in 2001? The auxiliary verb Did, which is not translated in any way, is put in the first place, then the subject and predicate in the FIRST (initial) form.

Negative sentences- I did not (didn't) start to work at school in 2001. (The subject is followed by did not + the verb in the initial form)

Past Continuous

affirmative sentences- We were having breakfast yesterday at 5. The subject is put in the first place, then to be in the past form (was / were - depending on the number of the subject. In the singular - was, in the plural - were.) + verb with the ending ...ing .

Interrogative sentences— Were you having breakfast yesterday at 5? The verb to be and the subject change places.

Negative sentences- We were not (weren't) having breakfast at 5. The particle not (not) is placed after the verb to be.

Sharing two tenses in one sentence

Often past simple and Past Continuous are used side by side in the same sentence. The most important thing in this case is to correctly determine which time to use in which case. Consider an example: Sally came when I was having breakfast. Sally came in while I was having breakfast. Let's compare two actions. One of them has a long character - to have breakfast, the other one-time, quick character - to come. Thus, when two past actions collide in one sentence, you need to choose, arguing about which action lasted longer and which happened quickly. In such cases, two sentences are usually connected using conjunctions. when(when and while(while)

Examples from fiction

A chill wind was blowing that nipped him sharply and bit with especial venom into his wounded shoulder. // Jack London "The Call Of The Wild"

She was trying to see it in a mirror behind the counter without letting the truck driver know, and so she pretended to push a bit of hair to neatness. // John Steinbeck "The Grapes Of Wrath"

The man was limping on towards this latter, as if he were the pirate come to life, and come down, and going back to hook himself up again. // Charles Dickens "Great Expectations"

Exercises for Past Simple / Past Continuous (test)

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In this article, we will look at the past long tense in English. We call all past tenses in English Past Tenses, the difference of which is only in their duration or quality: whether it will be simple past - Past Simple, long past - Past Continuous or past perfect - Past perfect. In this article, let's stop and look at Past Continuous Tense.

Past Continuous is a tense that is used to describe a continuous action in the past. Basically, this is a process that lasted at a certain moment or period in the past. The moment of action must be clearly defined, or be understandable in the context of the proposal.

Formation of affirmative sentences in the Past Continuous

When I came to London, it was raining. When I arrived in London, it was raining. Martin was studying history from three till eight o'clock. From three to eight o'clock Martin taught history. Lisa was cooking the pancakes, when I entered the kitchen. Lisa was making pancakes when I entered the kitchen.

Examples of negative sentences in the past continuous tense

He wasn't sleeping all the night. He didn't sleep all night. They weren't having a class at this time yesterday We didn't have a class at this time yesterday. Last year she wasn't eating fat food as she was on diet. Last year she didn't eat fatty food because she was on a diet.

Examples of affirmative sentences in the past continuous tense

Was Kate listening to the professor at the lecture? Did Kate listen to the professor during the lecture? How long were they traveling round Russia? How long did they travel around Russia? What kind of music was George playing when I entered the room? What music was George playing when I entered the room? What were you doing at five o'clock? I was searching the web. What were you doing at five o'clock? Sat on the Internet.

Using the Past Continuous

Time Indicators (time indicators)

All the time all day long at seven o'clock yesterday the whole Friday during the film from three till eight o'clock

Examples of using sentences in the Past Continuous

I was reading an interesting article at 6 pm yesterday evening. I was reading an interesting article at 6 pm yesterday. My parents were staying in Rome for three months. My parents stayed in Rome for three months. We went to the country. The sun was shining, the birds were singing. We drove out of town. The sun was shining, the birds were singing.

Watch video on Past Continuous tense

The word Past is translated as "past" and shows us that the action happened sometime in the past. If you read the last article, you already know that Continuous is translated as “long / continued”. In the past tense, this tells us that the action began sometime, lasted for some time, and ended by now.

We use the Past Continuous to emphasize the duration of an action that happened in the past. Unlike the Past Simple tense, which we use when we simply talk about something as if it happened in the past.

Let's look at two examples:

1.Past Simple:

I talked to her.
I talked to her.

2. Past continuous:

I was talking to her for 2 hours.
I spoke to her for two hours.

The first example just says fact. We can use it, for example, when we describe a series of actions: woke up, took a shower, ate, called, talked to her.

The second example says that it was process and it lasted for some time (2 hours). That is, we focus on the duration of this action. An emotion is also embedded in the sentence, and not just a set of facts: I talked with her for 2 hours and did not manage to do anything.

Now let's look at the use of the past continuous tense.

Using the Past Continuous Tense

This time is used in the following cases:

1. When we talk about an action in the past that took place over a period of time.
Example: I was cleaning my apartment all day yesterday.

2.When we want to emphasize the duration of the process and give an emotional coloring.
Example: me I baked this cake for two hours.

Affirmative sentences Past Continuous Tense

The affirmative sentence is formed with the past tense auxiliary verb to be (was, were) and the ending "-ing" added to the action verb. The educational scheme will be as follows:

the person in question + was/were + verb + -ing

For example:

They were watch ing TV for 2 hours.
They watched TV for two hours.

I was sleep ing whole day.
I slept all day.

He was drive ing a car.
He was driving.

Rules for adding an ending -ing we have considered in this article. In it, we also talked about verbs that are never used in continuous tenses, since they do not know how to last. Be sure to look.

Words are indicators of time

Very often, the following words are used with the Past Continuous:

• all day long - all day
• all the time - all the time
• all day yesterday - all day yesterday
• the whole morning - the whole morning
• from 5 to 7 p.m. - from 5 to 7

They will help you understand that this is the continuous past tense. Let's look at examples:

He was working the whole morning.
He worked all morning.

They were reading from 6 till 8 p. m.
They read from six to eight in the evening.

I was painting all day yesterday.
I painted all day yesterday.

Negative Past Continuous Tense

The negative sentence in this tense is formed in the same way as the affirmative sentence, but the negative particle not is added to our verb to be.

the one in question + was/were+ not + verb + -ing

They were not play ing all day long.
They didn't play all day.

I was not study ing.
I didn't study.

She was not clear ing her room.
She didn't clean the room.

Interrogative form Past continuous tense

If you want to ask if someone did a long action in the past, then we move the verb to be to the first place in the sentence. The question structure looks like this:

was/were + the one in question + verb + -ing

Statement:

I was doing my homework.
I did my homework.

They were swimming in a sea.
They swam in the sea.

She was playing a piano.
She played the piano.

A question and a positive answer (our "yes") would look like this:

Negative answers (our "no") would look like this:

Were they talking to her?
Did they talk to her?

Yes, they were.
Yes, they talked.

Were they talking to her?
Did they talk to her?

No, they were not.
No, they didn't talk.

was he washing his car?
Did he wash his car?

Yes, he was washing his car.
Yes, he washed his car

was he washing his car?
Did he wash his car?

No, he was not washing his car.
No, he didn't wash his car.

Special questions

When, we ask a question with the following question words:

• What - what
• Where - where
• Who - who
• Which - which
• Why - why

question word + was/were + person in question + verb + -ing

What were they reading?
What did they read?

Today you met with another extended tense. In the next article we will talk about the continuous future tense. Be sure to ask them in the comments.

Useful related articles:

Reinforcement task

Now let's move on to practice, translate the following sentences into English. Be careful!

1. It rained all day yesterday.
2. I played cards all evening.
3. He was working on his diploma.
4. He went to school yesterday.
5. His sister swam for three hours.
6. My friend woke up early.
7. From two to six she sang on stage.
8. As a child, he cried all the time.
9. I knocked on the door for an hour.

Leave your answers in the comments below the article.

When getting acquainted with English grammar, you can’t ignore the Past Continuous (Progressive). After all, this is the time that keeps a few little secrets that will take you to a new level, enrich your speech.

Among the variety of temporary forms for mastering English, it is simply necessary to learn the past for a long time. Its whole essence is to focus on an event that happened and lasted in the past. Where to start and what nuances need to be remembered?

Education Past Continuous (Progressive)

If you carefully study the forms of pastes continius, then there will be no difficulties in their use. You need to remember to be , namely its form was/were. The verb in this tense is used in one form, which is the same as participle 1 - Ving. Even here, however, there are exceptions. The rules for the past continuous about the features of writing a predicate with this ending can be found in the article “Continuous tenses”. It is very important to learn how to translate this shade correctly. Each verb emphasizes the duration of the action, its duration in the situation indicated in the sentence. For example, he worked, read, swam, wrote, drew.

Table Past Continuous

Let's try to schematically depict all the forms of this tense in various types of sentences. But, first, remember the general scheme.

was/were + Ving

All this is quite easy to remember and understand. In colloquial speech, we often use short forms such as wasn't, weren't.

Using Past Continuous Tense

Like everything in our life, including the use of tenses in English, it obeys the rules. Consider the main cases of using the past continuous (progressive):

1. The name itself - long, continued - indicates that the action took place and lasted in some specified moment in the past. This moment can be either clear from the context, or indicated by some clues, indicators of time.

• at 6 o'clock yesterday, at that moment, at that time

We were drawing at 7 o'clock yesterday. We were painting at seven o'clock yesterday.
At that time I was writing a letter to my friend. At that time I was writing a letter to a friend.

• Past Progressive is used in situations where one action happened, lasted, and suddenly another happened, which is expressed by Past Simple. The words when are used to help convey such situations. It can also be parallel actions that lasted in the past. For an expression, the word while is the best helper. Do not confuse with Past Simple, which describes actions going one after another, and not simultaneously.

They were reading when the teacher came in. They were reading when the teacher came in.
I was sleeping while he was watching TV. I was sleeping while he was watching TV.

2. Both in the present and in the past tense of this group, phrases can be expressed reproach, disapproval, irritation, too often repeated habit. And again, the adverbs always, constantly, too often serve as pointers.

He was always borrowing money and fogetting to pay it back. He was always borrowing money and forgetting to pay it back.

3. Use the Past Progressive time if the exact time is specified time period in the past not necessarily the exact time, but perhaps some kind of framework. You can recognize it in a sentence by the clues all day long yeaterday, the whole evening (yesterday), from 10 till 11, during.

We were sleeping the whole day yesterday. We slept all day yesterday.

4. To express actions that gradually developed and changed. All this will be clear from the meaning of the sentence, the context, so look deep into the text.

The sun was rising. — The sun was rising.
It was getting dark. - It was getting dark.

5. Remember that the British are very polite people, which is why they have so many ways to express their respect. Even the rule for the past continuous has its own notes. Paste continius is used instead of simple tense to express a polite question or answer. Moreover, the meaning in Russian is almost the same, but in English - two different ones.

What was he doing in our absent? What did he do in our absence?

But the grammar of the Past Continuous puts another stick in the wheel in language learning. Namely, you still have to memorize verbs that are not used in any of the Continuous tenses. All this can be found in the article "Non Continuous Verbs".

So, in order to learn this time well, you not only need to get acquainted with the education, but also remember the use cases. It is very important that the action lasts, not interrupted in the past. All this is best worked out in exercises and tests.

Past Progressive (Past Continuous) can be translated as "the past long time." It is one of the most commonly used grammatical tenses in the English language. Once you master it, you will be able to express your thoughts more freely.

Structure of an affirmative sentence

In the Past Progressive, sentences are built in the way shown in the diagram below.

Explanation for the diagram:

• S - subject;
• was/were - past tense form of the verb to be (was - for the singular, were - for the plural);
• V ing is a verb with the ending -ing.

I was reading a book yesterday morning. - Yesterdayin the morningIreadbook.

Jane was watching TV yesterday at 3 pm. - YesterdayinthreehoursdaysJanewatchedtelevision.

They were singing all evening. - They aresangthe wholeevening.

Structure of a negative sentence

In a negative sentence, the particle not is added to the verb to be in the past tense.

I was not (wasn't) sleeping when she came. - Whenshe iscame, Inotsleeping.

They were not (weren't) preparing dinner at 2 pm. - ATtwohoursdaystheynotprepareddinner.

He was not (wasn't) playing computer games that morning. - Temin the morninghenotplayedincomputergames.

Interrogative sentence structure

In general interrogative sentences in the Past Progressive, the auxiliary verb is placed at the beginning of the sentence.

WereyoudoingyourhomeworkwhenIcalledyou? - Were you doing your homework when I called you?

Was he walking along the street when it started to rain? - Hewalkedonstreet, whenhas begunrain?

In a special question, the interrogative word is put first, followed by the auxiliary verb, the subject and the verb with the ending -ing.

What were they doing when the police arrived? - Whattheydid, whenarrivedpolice?

Wherewashegoingat 5pmyesterday? Where was he going yesterday at five o'clock in the evening?

A special question for the subject to construct is the easiest: you need to insert Who instead of the subject.

Whowassingingsuchanicesong? - Who sang such a beautiful song?

Please note: the verb in this case is always put in the third person singular, regardless of the number of the subject in the answer.

They were laughing loudly. Who was laughing loudly? - They areloudlylaughing. Who laughed out loud?

Use

There are four uses of the Past Progressive in English. The rules go like this:

• The past continuous tense can denote a continuous action that happened in the past at a certain time. The emphasis is not on the completion of the action, but on its duration. I was listening to music yesterday from 2 till 3 pm. - YesterdayWithtwobeforethreehoursdaysIlistenedmusic. At 10 am yesterday I was having my breakfast. - Yesterdayin10 a.mIhad breakfast. It is necessary to distinguish between Past Progressive and Past Simple, which also indicates a specific time. In the first case, the action lasted at a certain time, and in the second, it began or ended. Yesterday at 10 o'clock in the morning I went to bath. - Yesterdayin10 hoursmorningIwentinbathroom(one-timeaction). Yesterday at 10 o'clock in the morning I was having a shower. - YesterdayintenhoursmorningIacceptedshower(longaction).

• The Past Progressive also denotes two continuous actions that happened at the same time in the past. WhileIwascycling,myfriendswereplayingtennis. While I was cycling, my friends were playing tennis.While I was reading a book, my sister was typing a text. - ByeIreadbook, mysisterprintedtext.

• Past Progressive also indicates a long action that was interrupted by a short action (the Past Simple is used to denote it). I was watching a film when somebody knocked at the door. - Iwatchedmovie, howsuddenlywho-thenknockedinDoor. When I woke up, my mother was talking on the phone. - WhenIwoke up, mymothertalkingontelephone. When I was slicing a carrot, I cut my finger. - WhenIslicedcarrot, Ihurtfinger.

• The past continuous is also used to indicate an annoying action in the past. In this case, the adverb always is needed. They were always coming late! - They arealltimewere late! Youwerealwayscriticizingme! - You always criticized me!

Verbs not used in Progressive

However, exceptions are inevitable. Not all verbs can be used in the Past Progressive. The examples below will illustrate this material. In the tenses of the Continuous (Progressive) group, non-long verbs are not used. These include:

• feelings and emotions - to love, to adore, to hate, to like;
• possession of something - to have, to possess;
• thinking abilities - to think, to believe;
• sense organs - to see, to smell, to hear, to taste;
• other verbs - to seem (to appear), to appear (to appear), to sound (to sound).

Some verbs are mixed. They have several lexical meanings, and the choice of grammatical tense depends on this.

Particular attention should be paid to the verb to be. It can also be used in the Past Progressive to mean "to behave differently than usual."

Hewasveryrudethatevening! - That evening he behaved very rudely! (He is always rude, that evening was no exception).

Hewasbeingveryrudethatevening!Icouldn'ttbelievemyeyes. - That evening he behaved very rudely! I could not believe my eyes (Usually he is polite, but that evening he was rude).

She was so quiet yesterday. Why does she always behave herself in such a way? - She isyesterdaywassuchquiet. Why does she always act like this?

She was being so quiet yesterday. Anythingwrongwithher? She was so quiet yesterday. She is all right?

So, Past Progressive indicates the duration of the action. But it is important to remember about non-long verbs - their use in any tense of the Continuous group is considered a gross mistake.