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.
词汇和短语
| I saw you riding your bike. | 我看见你骑自行车。 |
| I was having trouble ___. | 我遇到了麻烦___。 |
| ambitious | 有雄心 |
| to finish | 完 |
| busy | 忙 |
| to guess | 猜测 |
| We should go ___. | 我们应该去___。 |
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语法
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 |
例子
| What were you doing? | 你在做什么？ |
| I was walking to the store when you phoned. | 我走的商店，当你打电话。 |
| The dog was sleeping when I walked by. | 狗在睡觉，当我走过。 |
| We were thinking about going to Costa Rica for our vacation, but eventually decided to go to Ecuador instead. | 我们考虑去哥斯达黎加我们的假期，但最终我们决定去厄瓜多尔代替。 |
Past Continuous Quiz
Here are some practice questions to help you learn the past continuous tense.
