past continuous

Sam started talking Sam finished talking... Children rode their bikes all day long…and they had a great time… They started riding They stopped riding... Talk finished and children went

Sam continued to talk for hours…

He talked that much that John was bored….

Sam started talking Sam finished talking

Children rode their bikes all day long…and they had a great time…

They started riding They stopped riding

Talk finished and children went home, but the fact is that both actions took some time So we can say that PAST CONTINUOUS expresses an action that happened and lasted →→→→→ in the past.

Sam was talking for hours.

Children were riding their bikes all day long.

So I told

 We form this tense with :

WAS/ WERE + -ING on the main verb

1.I was sleeping 1 We were sleeping 2.You were sleeping 2.You were sleeping 3.He/she/it was sleeping 3 They were sleeping

I was sleeping from 2 to 4

They were having lunch

Mark was playing football with Harry

Marry and I were swimming in the lake

 Change places to make questions:

Was I sleeping?

Were they eating?

Put NOT on was/were to make negative sentences:

I wasn’t sleeping

They weren’t eating

 It’s possible that two people were doing something at the same time For example:

Mum was cooking while Jane was sleeping.

For both actions we use PAST CONTINUOUS because they lasted some time.

Mum was cooking.

Jane was sleeping.

 Join sentences:

1) Ellen was reading Tim was watching television.

2) I was listening to my iPod James was studying

3) They were snowboarding Mum was sitting by the fire

 And sometimes one action can interrupt ( cut) the other For example:

We can join these sentences using WHEN For example:

The dog was eating in the kitchen when the cat went in.

The longer action is in PAST CONTINUOUS and the short one is in PAST SIMPLE.

The dog was eating.

Cat went in.

 Join sentences:

1) I was having breakfast The phone rang.

2) They were travelling by plane The engine broke

down.

3) Tim was riding a horse Someone stole his car.