PAST CONTINUOUS

We use the Past Continuous to indicate that a longer action in the past was interrupted. The interruption is usually a shorter action in the Simple Past. Remember this can be a real interruption or just an interruption in time. Formes [was/were + present participate

Examples :

I was watching TV when she called.

Sue was waiting for us when we got off the plane.

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

Yesterday at this time, I was sitting at my desk at work.

At midnight, we were still driving through the desert.

I was studying while he was making dinner.

She was writing a letter when the phone rang.

I was listening to my iPod, so I didn’t hear the fire alarm.

While Mark was sleeping last night, someone stole his car.

When we use the Past Continuous with two actions in the same sentence, it expresses the idea that both actions were happening at the same time. The actions are parallel.

Examples:

I was studying while he was making dinner.
While Susanne was reading, Mark was watching television.
I was listening while he was talking.
I wasn’t paying attention while I was writing the post, so I made several mistakes.
We were eating dinner, discussing our plans, and having a good time.

In English, we often use a series of parallel actions to describe the atmosphere at a particular time in the past.

Example:

When I walked into the office, several people were busily typing, some were talking on the phones, the boss was yelling directions, and customers were waiting to be helped. One customer was yelling at a secretary and waving his hands. Others were complaining to each other about the bad service.

The Past Continuous with words such as « always » or « constantly » expresses the idea that something irritating or shocking often happened in the past. The concept is very similar to the expression « used to » but with negative emotion. Remember to put the words « always » or « constantly » between « be » and « verb+ing. »

Examples :

She was always coming to class late.
He was constantly talking. He annoyed everyone.
I didn’t like them because they were always complaining.
While vs. When

Clauses are groups of words which have meaning, but are often not complete sentences. Some clauses begin with the word « when » such as « when she called » or « when it bit me. » Other clauses begin with « while » such as « while she was sleeping » and « while he was surfing. » When you talk about things in the past, « when » is most often followed by the verb tense Simple Past, whereas « while » is usually followed by Past Continuous. « While » expresses the idea of « during that time. » Study the examples below. They have similar meanings, but they emphasize different parts of the sentence.

Example:

I was studying when she called → While I was studying, she called.

Remember non-continuous verbs / mixed verbs it is important to remember that non-continuous verbs cannot be used in any continuous tenses. Also, certain non-continuous meanings for mixed verbs cannot be used in continuous tenses. Instead of using past continuous with these verbs, you must use Simple Past.

Examples:

Susane was being at station when you arrived(not Correct).
Susane was at station when you arrived(Correct).

Adverb placement :

The examples below show the placement for adverbs such as: always, only, never, ever, still, just, etc :

You were just studying when she called.
Were you just studying when she called?
Active/ Passive :

the salesman was helping the customer when the thief came into the store(active)
The customer was being helped by the salesman when the thief came into the store(passive)

Exercice on texte :

Now the old man looked up and saw that the bird was circling again. “He’s found fish,” he said aloud. No flying fish broke the surface and there was no scattering of bait fish. But as the old man watched, a small tuna rose in the air, turned and dropped head first into the water. The tuna shone silver in the sun and after he had dropped back into the water another and another rose and they were jumping in all directions, churning the water and leaping in long jumps after the bait. They were circling it and driving it. If they don’t travel too fast I will get into them, the old man thought, and he watched the school working the water white and the bird now dropping and dipping into the bait fish that were forced to the surface in their panic. “The bird is a great help,” the old man said. Just then the stern line came taut under his foot, where he had kept a loop of the line, and he dropped his oars and felt tile weight of the small tuna’s shivering pull as he held the line firm and commenced to haul it in. The shivering increased as he pulled in and he could see the blue back of the fish in the water and the gold of his sides before he swung him over the side and into the boat. He lay in the stern in the sun, compact and bullet shaped, his big, unintelligent eyes staring as he thumped his life out against the planking of the boat with the quick shivering strokes of his neat, fast-moving [38] tail. The old man hit him on the head for kindness and kicked him, his body still shuddering, under the shade of the stern. “Albacore,” he said aloud. “He’ll make a beautiful bait. He’ll weigh ten pounds.” He did not remember when he had first started to talk aloud when he was by himself. He had sung when he was by himself in the old days and he had sung at night sometimes when he was alone steering on his watch in the smacks or in the turtle boats. He had probably started to talk aloud, when alone, when the boy had left. But he did not remember. When he and the boy fished together they usually spoke only when it was necessary. They talked at night or when they were storm-bound by bad weather. It was considered a virtue not to talk unnecessarily at sea and the old man had always considered it so and respected it. But now he said his thoughts aloud many times since there was no one that they could annoy. “If the others heard me talking out loud they would think that I am crazy,” he said aloud. “But since I am not crazy, I do not care. And the rich have radios to talk to them in their boats and to bring them the baseball.” [39] Now is no time to think of baseball, he thought. Now is the time to think of only one thing. That which I was born for. There might be a big one around that school, he thought. I picked up only a straggler from the albacore that were feeding. But they are working far out and fast. Everything that shows on the surface today travels very fast and to the north-east. Can that be the time of day? Or is it some sign of weather that I do not know?