PAST CONTINUOUS

FORM Examples: You were studying when she arrived. Were you studying when she arrived? You were not studying when she arrived.

USE 1. Interrupted Action in the Past Use the Past Continuous to indicate that a longer action in the past was interrupted. The interruption is usually a shorter action in the Simple Past. - Examples: I was watching TV when she called. When the phone rang, he was having a bath. While we were having the picnic, it started to rain. What were you doing when the earthquake started? A: What were you doing when you broke your leg? B: I was snowboarding.

2. Specific Time as an Interruption In USE 1, described before, the Past Continuous is interrupted by a shorter action in the Simple Past. However, you can also use a specific time as an interruption. - Examples: Last night at 6 PM, I was eating dinner. At midnight, we were still driving through the desert. Yesterday at this time, I was sitting at my desk at work.

3. Parallel Actions When you use the Past Continuous with two actions in the same sentence, it expresses the idea that both actions were happening at the same time. The actions are parallel. - Examples: I was studying while she was making dinner. While Ellen was reading, Tim was watching television. Were you listening while he was talking? I wasn't paying attention while I was writing the letter, so I made several mistakes. What were you doing while you were waiting? Thomas wasn't working, and I wasn't working either. They were eating dinner, discussing their plans, and having a good time.

4. Atmosphere In English, we often use a series of parallel actions to describe the atmosphere at a particular time in the past. - Example: 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 shouting at a secretary and waving his hands. Others were complaining to each other about the bad service.

While vs. When 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. - Examples: I was studying when she called. While I was studying, she called.