Past Continuous - One Minute Grammar
Shantel / United States
What were you doing this morning?
Hello. My name is Shantel and I'm from California. Today's question is, what were you doing this morning?
Well, this morning at 6:00, I was still sleeping. I usually wake up around 7:00 AM. When I wake up, I get dressed, and I brush my teeth, and it only takes me about 20 minutes to get ready for work. At 8:00, I was teaching a class at work, and my students were very sleepy, so I tried to wake them up and I told some funny jokes, but they didn't laugh. At 10:00, I was sitting at my desk making a PowerPoint for a lesson. So, I wasn't teaching at that time. What about you? What were you doing this morning?
Past Continuous - Grammar Notes
Point
1: The past continuous uses the past tense BE verbs + present participle (ing)
- I was watching TV when he arrived.
- I was sleeping when cat woke me up.
- They were waiting when we got there.
- She was just telling me a joke.
Point 2: We often use time connectors (when, as, while) to show two actions happened at once.
- As I was eating, a strange man approached me.
- While I was living in Spain, I met my partner.
- The children were fighting when I got home.
- She was sleeping, so I tried to be quiet.
Point
3: We use the past continuous when a specific time is referenced in the past.
- What were you doing at six last night?
- I was eating dinner with my family.
- Where were you this morning?
- I was at home. I was helping my mother.
Point
4: We use the phrase "was just -ing" to show an action just happened related to the present.
- As I was just saying, you need to be more careful.
- You know, I was just thinking the same thing.
- He was just sitting here. Where is he now?
- We were just leaving.
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