Past continuous - Quá Khứ Tiếp Diễn

STRUCTURE : was/were + VING

+	I, she, he, it you, we, they	was were	working.
–	I, she, he, it you, we, they	(full form) was not were not	working.
–	I, she, he, it you, we, they	(short form) wasn’t weren’t	working.
? +	Was Were	I, she, he, it you, we, they	working?
? –	(full form) Was Were	I, she, he, it you, we, they	not working?
? –	(short form) Wasn’t Weren’t	I, she, he, it you, we, they	not working?

Past continuous: uses

1.Các sự kiện xảy ra tại một thời điểm cụ thể trong quá khứ

Chúng ta  sử dụng quá khứ tiếp diễn  để nói về những hành động và trạng thái đang diễn ra xung quanh một khoảng thời gian cụ thể trong quá khứ. Để nhấn mạnh rằng hành động tiếp diễn trong một thời gian trong quá khứ:

A:

Where was Donna last night?

B:

I’m not sure. I think she was visiting her family. 

I remember that night. You were wearing that red dress. 

2.Chúng ta thường sử dụng quá khứ tiếp diễn  và quá khứ đơncùng nhau . quá khứ tiếp diễn  mô tả hành động hoặc tình huống 'nền tảng' dài hơn ( đang diễn ra )và quá khứ đơn giản mô tả hành động hoặc sự kiện .:

When I woke up this morning it was raining and my father was singing in the kitchen.

I was walking home, whistling happily, when I saw two masked men run out of the bank.

3. Hành động chen ngang chia quá khứ đơn, hành động đang diễn ra chia quá khứ tiếp diễn.  

I broke my leg when I was skiing.

I was playing a computer game when the doorbell rang.

4.Lý do và bối cảnh cho các sự kiện

Chúng ta thường sử dụng quá khứ tiếp diễn  để đưa ra một lý do hoặc bối cảnh cho một sự kiện:

A:

I can’t believe you met Fran and Dave in Portugal.

B:

It was funny. They were staying in the hotel next to ours. (giving a reason/context for meeting them)

I didn’t make the meeting last week; I was travelling to Rome.

Các sự kiện đang diễn ra và lặp lại

Chúng ta có thể sử dụng quá khứ tiếp diễn  để nói về các sự kiện  lặp lại trong quá khứ. Sự việc này chỉ là  tạm thời hoặc có thể thay đổi:

She was feeding her neighbours’ cat every morning while they were on holiday. Then one morning, it was gone.

The neighbours were making so much noise, night after night. We had to complain eventually.

Warning: 

Chúng ta không sử dụng quá khứ tiếp diễn  theo cách tương tự như  used to khi chúng ta nói về những thứ trong quá khứ mà không còn đúng nữa:

We used to go on holiday to Yorkshire every year when I was little.

Not: We were going on holiday …

•Note : 

Các trạng từ như  always, constantly, forever mãi được sử dụng với quá khứ tiếp diễn  khi chúng ta nói về các sự kiện lặp lại, không có kế hoạch hoặc không mong muốn:

We were always spending so much time in traffic. That’s the main reason why we decided to move to the country and work from home.

My boss was constantly phoning me in my last job. I hated it.

She was forever losing her keys.

5.Thời gian xác định  tiếp diễn trong quá khứ. 

Đôi khi chúng ta sử dụng quá khứ tiếp diễn  để chỉ một khoảng thời gian nhất định của thời gian vừa qua. Điều này thường nhấn mạnh sự kiện tiếp diễn trong một khoảng thời gian:

We were cooking all morning because we had 15 people coming for lunch.

Lots of us were working at the office on Saturday because we had to finish the project by Monday.

EXERCISES

I.Put the verbs into the correct form (past progressive).

1.When I phoned my friends, they (play)   ____ monopoly.

2.Yesterday at six I (prepare)   ____ dinner.

3.The kids (play)   ____ in the garden when it suddenly began to rain.

4.I (practice)   ____ the guitar when he came home.

5.We (not / cycle)   ____ all day.

6.While Alan (work)   ____ in his room, his friends (swim)   ____ in the pool.

7.I tried to tell them the truth but they (not / listen )  ____  .

8.What (you / do)  ____  yesterday?

9.Most of the time we (sit)   ____ in the park.

10.I (listen)   ____ to the radio while my sister (watch)   ____ TV.

11.When I arrived, They (play)  ____  cards.

12.We (study)  ____ English yesterday at 4:00 pm .

II.Write correct sentences:

Yesterday at 6 pm your family were doing different things. 

Write positive sentences in past progressive.

1.My mother / read / a novel ..................................................

2.My father / watch / a movie ..................................................

3.My elder sister / writing / in her diary..................................................

4.My two brothers / listen / to the radio..................................................

5.My little sister and I / not / watch / a movie..................................................

6.We / talk / about school..................................................

ANSWERS 

I.Put the verbs into the correct form (past progressive). 

1.When I phoned my friends, they were playing monopoly.

2.Yesterday at six I was preparing dinner.

3.The kids were playing in the garden when it suddenly began to rain.

4.I was practicing  the guitar when he came home.

5.We were not cycling / weren't cycling all day.

6.While Alan was working in his room, his friends were swimming in the pool.

7.I tried to tell them the truth but they were not listening / weren't listening.

8.What were you doing yesterday?

9.Most of the time we were sitting in the park.

10.I were listening  to the radio while my sister was watching TV.

11.When I arrived, They were playing cards.

12.We were studying English yesterday at 4:00 pm.

II.Write correct sentences:

1.My mother / read / a novel My mother was reading a novel .

2.My father / watch / TV My father was watching a movie .

3My elder sister / writing / in her diary My elder sister was writing in her diary .

4.My two brothers / listen / to the radio My two brothers were listening to the radio .

5.My little sister and I / not / watch / a movie  My little sister and I were not watching a movie .

6.We / talk / about school  We were talking about school .