Now, past continuous is made up of the subject plus the auxiliary verb to be plus the verb plus ING. So, for example, it was raining all day yesterday. It was raining. I was walking along the road, I was walking along the road. John and Mary, were talking on the phone.
So the question form is obviously, the inversion of the auxilary be and the subject. So, were you waiting for me? Were you waiting for me? Was John watching television, was John watching television.
Now, the negative form is just with not after the auxiliary verb to be. So we have, I wasn't having a very good time. I wasn't, I was not, I wasn't. They weren't eating, when I came in. They were not. They weren't eating, when I came in.
Now, we usually use the past continuous with words, like when, or as or while. So we often say, while she was coming home, a friend greeted her in the street. Or, as she was coming home, a friend greeted her in the street, or when she was coming home, a friend greeted her in the street. So these three words are really very similar when used with past continuous while, as and when.
Now, when do we use past continuous? Well, usually, it's used to talk about what we call unfinished actions in the past. Now, that means that the action is interrupted, perhaps by another action. So we don't know if the past continuous action has finished. For example, I was having a bath when the phone rang. Now, I was having a bath. And the phone rang. So did the action of having a bath continue afterwards? Did I get up to answer the phone? We don't know. So that's why we say it's an unfinished action. And another example is, we were watching television when my mother came in. Why did you interrupt me? I was studying. So we're saying I was studying as an unfinished action when you interrupted me. Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't know you were studying. I didn't know you were studying.
Now, we can use past continuous then if we refer to a specific time during that unfinished action. At the beginning of the match, Real Madrid, were winning. They were winning at the beginning of the match. I was having a coffee with Mary at four o'clock on Monday afternoon. So at four o'clock, I was having coffee. Did I have coffee after four o'clock? We don't say but I was having coffee at four o'clock. So it's an unfinished action. What were you doing at 12:30pm? Last Sunday. I can't remember what I was doing.
So if we compare past continuous with past simple, we can see that past simple talks about finished actions. Listen to these two examples. I was seeing Mary, at eight o'clock yesterday evening, I was seeing Mary. Now what does that mean? Well, it means that I was talking to her, maybe having a coffee with Mary. So seeing here means to go and visit somebody, and perhaps have a chat with them. I was seeing Mary at eight o'clock yesterday evening. So it's an unfinished action. Now compare that with the past simple. I saw Mary at eight o'clock yesterday evening. I saw Mary at eight o'clock yesterday evening. So that means there was just one single action where perhaps I saw Mary in the street, I said hello, or not, and walked on. So it's a finished action that occurred or happened at eight o'clock.
Now another use of past continuous is to talk about those unfinished actions, which describe a scene. So we see these examples in a novel, for example, in a book, a story. And maybe the chapter begins, it was a beautiful morning, the sun was shining brightly. A light breeze was blowing through the trees, and the birds were singing. So these things were happening on that beautiful morning, all happening together. The sun was shining, the light breeze was blowing, and the birds were singing. And then usually after that, we'll bring in some past simple action. Finished actions. For example, I opened my eyes sat up in bed, and looked out of the window. Okay, so that's all I'm going to say about past continuous today. Goodbye for now.
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