General English Level 3 V 3
UNIT 05 Getting away TOPIC 02 That was bad luck!
LANGUAGE FOCUS 05d Verb tenses: revision

4. The past continuous tense

Philip writes:
Water was pouring in under the door of the cabin.

We use the past continuous tense to talk about a repeated or continuous action in the past.

Pedro says:
We were walking across the sand to our cabin, when I noticed that the sky on the horizon looked rather grey.

We also use the past continuous to describe a situation that existed when an event happened.

I
He
She
It
was
not
working.
n't
not
We
You
They
were

Was
I
he
she
it
waiting?
Were
we
you
they

Examples

1 Read the examples.
2 Listen to the examples.
3 Practise saying each example. Use the pause button.
My friend was waiting for us.
I was studying at university, when I met her.
They were speaking Italian.
I wasn't studying last night.
You weren't driving carefully.
Was it raining yesterday?
Were you playing tennis?

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