Past Continuous - Quá khứ Tiếp diễn ppsx

They weren't watching TV.. Use the Past Continuous to indicate that a longer action in the past was interrupted by another action or event.. In other words, it expresses an unfinished or

Past Continuous - Quá khứ Tiếp diễn

FORM of Past Continuous

S + was/were + V-ing

I was learning English

He was swimming well

They were watching TV

S + was/were + V-ing

I wasn't learning English

He was not swimming well

They weren't watching TV

Was/Were + S + V-ing ?

Was you learning English?

Was he swiming well?

Were they watching TV?

Use the Past Continuous to indicate that a longer action in the past was interrupted

by another action or event In other words, it expresses an unfinished or

incomplete action in the past

 I was walking on the street when it rained

 While I was painting a picture, she came

 They were playing tennis at 10.00 yesterday

USEs of Past Continuous

1 to describe an ongoing action that was interrupted by another event or action:

 I was watching TV when she called

 When the phone rang, she was writing a letter

 While we were having the picnic, it started to rain

 What were you doing when the earthquake started?

 I was listening to my iPod, so I didn't hear the fire alarm

 You were not listening to me when I told you to turn the oven off

 While John was sleeping last night, someone stole his car

 Sammy was waiting for us when we got off the plane

 While I was writing the email, the computer suddenly went off

 A: What were you doing when you broke your leg?

B: I was snowboarding

2 to describe two parallel actions happening at the same time in the past

 I was studying while he 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

3 a series of parallel actions happening at a particular time in the past to describe the background of the story

 The sun was shining and the birds were singing as the elephants were coming out of the jungle The other animals were relaxing in the shade of the trees, but the elephant moved very quickly She was looking for her baby, and she didn't notice the hunter who was watching her through his binoculars When the shot rang out, she was running towards the river

Signal Words

Examples:

o While I was studying, she called