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8-D) Past Continuous
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First read the explanations and then watch this video. See what you can understand.
Primero lee las explicaciones y después mira el vídeo de esta página, a ver qué consigues entender.
El pasado continuo es muy sencillo si conoces el presente continuo, simplemente pon el verbo ser en pasado:
I am watching TV now = estoy viendo la tele ahora
I was watching TV yesterday = ayer estuve viendo la tele
She's not listening to me = ella no me está escuchando
She wasn't listening to me = ella no me estaba escuchando
Are you playing golf with Susan? = ¿estás jugando al golf con Susan?
Were you playing golf with Susan last Monday? = ¿estuviste jugando al golf con Susan el lunes pasado?
La principal diferencia entre el pasado simple y el continuo es que el pasado simple nos habla de algo que ocurrió en un momento determinado (ni antes ni después) y el pasado continuo nos habla de algo que estaba sucediendo en un momento determinado (pero ya había comenzado antes y continuaría también después):
- I lived in Rome in 1980 = Viví en Roma en el año 1980 (esto quiere decir que durante ese año yo vivía en Roma, pero no vivía allí ni el año antes ni el año después)
- I was living in Rome in 1980 = En 1980 yo vivía en Roma (esto quiere decir que yo comencé a vivir en Roma antes de ese año, y después de ese año yo aún vivía allí, aunque ya no vivo, por eso lo expreso en pasado).
Report mistakesThe past continuous is very simple if you know the present continuous. Just change the verb "to be" into the past:
I am watching TV now 
I was watching TV yesterday
She's not listening to me! She wasn't listening to me!
are you playing golf with Susan? Were you playing golf with Susan last Monday?
SIMPLE PAST VS PAST CONTINUOUS
We use the simple past to say that something happened at a particular moment:
- I worked 5 hours yesterday
- I lived in Rome when I was a child
We use the past continuous to say that something was happening at a particular moment: the action started before that time, and it finished at that time:
- Yesterday, at 3 o'clock, I was working
- In 1980 I was living in Rome (I went to Rome before 1980 and I also lived in Rome after 1980)
- In 1980 I lived in Rome (I went to Rome in 1980, I lived there for one year but in 1981 I was living in a different city)
When we use the simple past or the past continuous, I am talking about a past action, not a present one, so if I am still living in Rome I can't say "I was living in Rome", I have to say "I am living in Rome".
The most common use of the past continuous is when telling a story. We use the past continuous to describe an action that was happening for some time and then stopped when another action happened. Look at this: Past Continuous.
Here you can practise with these exercises (at the end there is a button to check your answers) :
Exercise 1, Exercise 2.
