The Past Continuous

1.

My
My
Imum
was
brother
My
and
running
dad
Iwas
were
was
along
riding
fishing.
making
the
hissea.
abike.
cake.

2.

Past Continuous
was
to be
were
Ving
Use the Past Continuous to describe an action
happening at a certain time in the past.
What were you doing at 5 o’clock yesterday?
We were looking at photos.

3.

to be
was/were + Ving
spelling -ing

4.

was/were + Ving.
was/were + not +Ving.
?
Was/Were
Ving ?
Yes, I was. / No, I wasn’t.
Yes, they were. / No, they weren’t.
example

5.

What was she doing?
What was he doing?
She was running along the sea.
He was fishing.
was/were+Ving
What were they doing?
They were making a cake.
What was he doing?
He was riding his bike.

6.

What were they doing at 2 o’clock yesterday?
Then make some negative sentences.
to play
soccer
to watch
TV
to paint a
picture
to listen to
music
Tom
Sally
John
Ann
Max
e.g. Tom and Max were playing soccer. But they weren’t watching TV.

7.

Make up sentences using these verbs what you were doing or weren’t doing
at 7 o’clock yesterday.
e.g. I was playing the piano. or I wasn’t playing volleyball.

8.

What were they doing at 9 o’clock
yesterday?
read
a newspaper
Mumtowas
reading
a newspaper.
dodoing
the washing-up
Dadto
was
the washing-up.
The to
boyssing
wereChristmas
singing Christmas
carols.
carols
sitsitting
on theon
sofa
Grannyto
was
the sofa.
to was
sleepsleeping.
Granddad
to open
the presents
The girl
was opening
the presents.
to snow
outside
It was
snowing
outside.
to was
staystaying
at home
Everyone
at home.

9.

were visiting
was making
was riding
was reading

10.

Look at the pictures again. Ask and answer as in the example.
Holly and her aunt/to read a book
Were Holly’s parents
going to the cinema?
No, they weren’t.
They were visiting a
friend in hospital.
Amy/to make a photo album
Leo/to ride a skateboard
Max/to read a book