Lesson 4. Past Continuous Tense
Introduction
| In this lesson you'll learn about the past continuous tense, which is used to describe an action that was in progress at a specific moment in the past. The lesson starts with a conversation between Sarah and Mary, where they discuss the the Business Communication class that Mary is taking. |
Conversations
English
Sarah sees Mary downtown while she is on her lunch break. They stop and talk for a few minutes.
Sarah: I saw you riding your bike yesterday. Where were you going?
Mary: I was going to my Business Communication class. I have a class every Tuesday and Thursday evening.
Sarah: How do you like it?
Mary: I was having trouble at first, but I’m starting to enjoy it now. This is the first course I’ve taken in years, so it took me a while to get used to studying again.
Sarah: Why are you taking the course?
Mary: I want to be a Project Manager. My work will pay for all the courses I need to take to get a Project Management Certificate.
Sarah: Wow! That’s very ambitious. How many courses do you have to take?
Mary: I have to complete ten courses. I was hoping to finish in two years, but I think it will take me a little bit longer.
Sarah: I guess you’re really busy these days.
Mary: Yeah. I have some free time on Saturday though. We should go for coffee.
Sarah: Sure. What time?
Mary: 1:00 at the usual place.
Sarah: See you then.
Mary: Bye.
Français
Sarah voit Mary au centre-ville pendant qu'elle est en pause déjeuner. Ils s'arrêtent et parlent pendant quelques minutes.
Sarah: Je t'ai vu faire du vélo hier. Où allais-tu ?
Mary: J'allais à mon cours de communication d'entreprise. J'ai un cours tous les mardis et jeudis soir.
Sarah: Ça te plaît ?
Mary: J'avais des problèmes au début, mais je commence à en profiter maintenant. C'est le premier cours que j'ai suivi depuis des années, il m'a donc fallu un certain temps pour m'habituer à étudier à nouveau.
Sarah: Pourquoi tu prends ce cours ?
Mary: Je veux être chef de projet. Mon travail paiera tous les cours que je dois suivre pour obtenir un certificat de gestion de projet.
Sarah: Ouah! C'est très ambitieux. Combien de cours dois-tu suivre ?
Mary: Je dois suivre dix cours. J'espérais finir dans deux ans, mais je pense que cela me prendra un peu plus de temps.
Sarah: Je suppose que tu es très occupé ces jours-ci.
Mary: Oui. J'ai cependant du temps libre samedi. Nous devrions aller prendre un café.
Sarah: Bien sûr. Quelle heure ?
Mary: Une heure à l’endroit habituel.
Sarah: À plus tard.
Mary: Au revoir.
Vocabulaire et Phrases
| I saw you riding your bike. | Je t'ai vu faire du vélo. |
| I was having trouble ___. | J'avais des problèmes ___. |
| ambitious | ambitieuse, ambitieux |
| to finish | finir |
| busy | occupé |
| to guess | deviner, supposer |
| We should go ___. | nous devrions aller |
Annonce
Grammaire
Present Participle
| The present participle is a form of a verb that is used in the creation of the progressive tenses. The present participle is formed by adding ing to the end of a verb. If the verb ends in e and is more than three letters, the final e is dropped. | |
| The following table shows some examples of the present participle. |
| Verb | Present Participle |
|---|---|
| be | being |
| do | doing |
| make | making |
| see | seeing |
| think | thinking |
The Past Continuous Tense
| The past continuous tense, also called past progressive, refers to a continuing action or state that was happening at some point in the past. | |
It is used to indicate:
|
|
| The past continuous is formed by using the past tense of the verb be with the present participle of the main verb. | |
| The following table shows the past continuous tense for the verb go. |
| I | was going |
| you | were going |
| he / she / it | was going |
| we | were going |
| they | were going |
Exemples
| What were you doing? | Que faisiez-vous? |
| I was walking to the store when you phoned. | Je marchais vers le magasin quand tu as appelé. |
| The dog was sleeping when I walked by. | Le chien dormait quand je suis passé. |
| We were thinking about going to Costa Rica for our vacation, but eventually decided to go to Ecuador instead. | Nous pensions aller au Costa Rica pour nos vacances, mais avons finalement décidé d'aller à l'Équateur à la place. |
Past Continuous Quiz
Here are some practice questions to help you learn the past continuous tense.
