I listened vs. I was listening
Past simple vs. past continuous
We use the past continuous to talk about actions in progress at a moment in the past.
- I was working in the garden yesterday morning.
- They were living in Spain when I saw them.
It is often used in narratives to describe scenes in the past.
- The birds were singing and the sun was shining.
- The market was busy. People were buying vegetables and children were playing.
It is also used to describe an action or situation which was in progress when another event interrupted it.
- The man was walking in the forest when he saw the tiger.
- She was watching TV when the telephone rang.
Affirmative and negative
| You/We/They | were (not) | watching. |
| I/He/She | was (not) |
Question
| Were | you/we/they | watching? |
| Was | I/he/she |
1. Form.
Look at these examples of past simple and past continuous verb forms.
I worked at the weekend. = (worked is a past simple form)I was working and the lights went out. = (was working is a past continuous form)
How many past continuous forms can you find in this story?
Dear Lucy,
I like my new job, but last week something unexpected happened. I was working at night in my office on the tenth floor and suddenly the lights went out. The lift wasn't working. I went to the fire escape door, but it was locked. I went to the window. For three hours I was throwing pieces of paper out the window to people in the street. On the pieces of paper I wrote, "Help! I can't get out! Call the police!" Finally someone read a piece of paper and phoned the police. I was very tired and angry by then. The next day the people at work ....
2. Past simple vs. past continuous.
Use the phrases to complete the rules for the past simple and past continuous forms.
4. Story completion.
Complete the story using the verbs below. Type the correct form of the verbs into the boxes.
| write | happen | go | go | go out | read | not work | work | phone | throw |
For more information about past continuous forms see the Grammar Reference.
5. Memorable situations.
Memorable situations are things that happened to you in the past, things that you always remember.
Read a story about a memorable situation and put the pictures in order.
... and here is this week's "EXCITING MOMENTS" letter from Spain.
My son Harry was born two weeks early. Jean, my wife, suddenly had stomach pains. We went in the car to the hospital. We were driving through the centre of town and Jean called out, "The baby is coming!" I stopped the car and helped my wife. I was very nervous and worried. I was holding the baby when the ambulance arrived. Fortunately, the baby and my wife were fine.