Aqua
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- Jul 23, 2012
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Just to share with you the below materials from my Library.Enjoy
The past continuous tense
A: Form
The past continuous tense is formed by the past tense of the verb to be + the present participle:
Negative contractions: I wasn't eating, you weren't eating etc.
Negative interrogative: was he not/wasn't he eating? etc.
Remember that some verbs cannot be used in the continuous tenses examples
i) Verbs of the senses e.g hear, see, smell, recognise, notice
ii) Verbs of emotion e.g. desire ,want ,forgive, refuse ,wish,care,hate
iii) Verbs of possessing e.g own, owe, belong, possess
etc
B:Main uses of the past continuous tense
The past continuous is chiefly used for past actions which continued for some time but whose exact limits are not known and are not important.
a) Used without a time expression it can indicate gradual development:
It was getting darker. The wind was rising.
b) Used with a point in time, it expresses an action which began before that time and probably continued after it.
At nine he was having breakfast implies that he was in the middle of breakfast at nine, i.e. that he had started it before nine.
He had breakfast at nine would imply that he started it at nine.
c) If we replace the time expression with a verb in the simple past tense: When I arrived Tom was talking on the phone we convey the idea that the action in the past continuous (Tom was talking) started before the action in the simple past (When I arrived) and probably continued after it.
Compare the above combination with a combination of two simple past tenses, which normally indicates successive actions:
When he saw me he put the receiver down
d) We use the continuous tense in descriptions. Note the combination of description (past continuous) with narrative (simple past):
A wood fire was burning on the hearth, and a cat was sleeping in front of it.
A girl was playing the piano and (was) singing softly to herself. Suddenly there was a knock on the door. The girl stopped playing. The cat wokeup.
Other uses of the past continuous
a)The past continuous used in indirect speech
Direct speech: He said, 'I am living in London.'
Indirect speech: He said he was living in London.
b) Just as the present continuous, past continuous tense can be used to express a definite future arrangement:
I'm leaving tonight. I've got my plane ticket. So the past continuous can express this sort of future in the past:
He was busy packing, for he was leaving that night. (The decision to leave had been made some time previously.)
c) The past continuous with always:
He was always ringing me up. He was always praying.
C: Past continuous as an alternative to the simple past
The past continuous can be used as an alternative to the simple past to indicate a more casual, less deliberate action:
I was talking to Tom the other day.
The past continuous here gives the impression that the action was in no way unusual or remarkable. It also tends to remove responsibility from the subject. In the above example it is not clear who started the conversation, and it does not matter. Note the contrast with the simple past tense, I talked to Tom, which indicates that I took the
initiative.
Similarly:
From four to six Tom was washing the car.
This would indicate that this was a casual, possibly routine action. Compare with:
From four to six Tom washed the car. (implying a deliberate action by Tom)
Note that continuous tenses are used only for apparently continuous uninterrupted actions. If we divide the action up, or say how many
times it happened, we must use the simple past:
I talked to Tom several times. Tom washed both cars. But we may, of course, use the continuous for
apparently parallel actions:
Between one and two I was doing the shopping and walking the dog. This tense is normally used in this way
with a time expression such as today, last night, in the afternoon, which could either be regarded as points in
time or as periods. Periods can also be indicated by exact times as shown above.
In questions about how a period was spent, the continuous often appears more polite than the simple past:
What were you doing before you came here? sounds more polite than What did you do before you came here?
On the other hand, What were you doing in my room? could indicate a feeling that I think you had no right to be
there, while What did you do in my room? could never give this impression.
** The End**
Just to share with you the below materials from my Library.Enjoy
The past continuous tense
A: Form
The past continuous tense is formed by the past tense of the verb to be + the present participle:
| Affirmative | Negative | Interrogative |
| I was eating | I was not eating | Was I eating? |
| You were eating | You were not eating | Were you eating? |
| He was eating | He was not eating | Was he eating |
| We were eating | We were not eating | Were we eating? |
| They were eating | They were not eating | Were they eating? |
| | | |
Negative contractions: I wasn't eating, you weren't eating etc.
Negative interrogative: was he not/wasn't he eating? etc.
Remember that some verbs cannot be used in the continuous tenses examples
i) Verbs of the senses e.g hear, see, smell, recognise, notice
ii) Verbs of emotion e.g. desire ,want ,forgive, refuse ,wish,care,hate
iii) Verbs of possessing e.g own, owe, belong, possess
etc
B:Main uses of the past continuous tense
The past continuous is chiefly used for past actions which continued for some time but whose exact limits are not known and are not important.
a) Used without a time expression it can indicate gradual development:
It was getting darker. The wind was rising.
b) Used with a point in time, it expresses an action which began before that time and probably continued after it.
At nine he was having breakfast implies that he was in the middle of breakfast at nine, i.e. that he had started it before nine.
He had breakfast at nine would imply that he started it at nine.
c) If we replace the time expression with a verb in the simple past tense: When I arrived Tom was talking on the phone we convey the idea that the action in the past continuous (Tom was talking) started before the action in the simple past (When I arrived) and probably continued after it.
Compare the above combination with a combination of two simple past tenses, which normally indicates successive actions:
When he saw me he put the receiver down
d) We use the continuous tense in descriptions. Note the combination of description (past continuous) with narrative (simple past):
A wood fire was burning on the hearth, and a cat was sleeping in front of it.
A girl was playing the piano and (was) singing softly to herself. Suddenly there was a knock on the door. The girl stopped playing. The cat wokeup.
Other uses of the past continuous
a)The past continuous used in indirect speech
Direct speech: He said, 'I am living in London.'
Indirect speech: He said he was living in London.
b) Just as the present continuous, past continuous tense can be used to express a definite future arrangement:
I'm leaving tonight. I've got my plane ticket. So the past continuous can express this sort of future in the past:
He was busy packing, for he was leaving that night. (The decision to leave had been made some time previously.)
c) The past continuous with always:
He was always ringing me up. He was always praying.
C: Past continuous as an alternative to the simple past
The past continuous can be used as an alternative to the simple past to indicate a more casual, less deliberate action:
I was talking to Tom the other day.
The past continuous here gives the impression that the action was in no way unusual or remarkable. It also tends to remove responsibility from the subject. In the above example it is not clear who started the conversation, and it does not matter. Note the contrast with the simple past tense, I talked to Tom, which indicates that I took the
initiative.
Similarly:
From four to six Tom was washing the car.
This would indicate that this was a casual, possibly routine action. Compare with:
From four to six Tom washed the car. (implying a deliberate action by Tom)
Note that continuous tenses are used only for apparently continuous uninterrupted actions. If we divide the action up, or say how many
times it happened, we must use the simple past:
I talked to Tom several times. Tom washed both cars. But we may, of course, use the continuous for
apparently parallel actions:
Between one and two I was doing the shopping and walking the dog. This tense is normally used in this way
with a time expression such as today, last night, in the afternoon, which could either be regarded as points in
time or as periods. Periods can also be indicated by exact times as shown above.
In questions about how a period was spent, the continuous often appears more polite than the simple past:
What were you doing before you came here? sounds more polite than What did you do before you came here?
On the other hand, What were you doing in my room? could indicate a feeling that I think you had no right to be
there, while What did you do in my room? could never give this impression.
** The End**