Questions tagged [past-continuous]
Questions related to the past continuous or past progressive, which expresses an action that was ongoing in the past.
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Why we use past perfect continuous instead of past continuous in these 2 examples?
As you see in these below examples, they used past perfect continuous, but I thought it should be past continuous because they are both in shorter periods and didn't emphasize duration. And even in ...
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Is it possible to use past continuous without a time expression?
From Practical English Usage:
We use the past progressive to say that something was in progress (going on) around a particular past time.
'What were you doing at eight o'clock yesterday evening?' 'I ...
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Why is the progressive form used in “since we weren't playing...”
Why did the author choose a continuous form?
Kim would always encourage me to wear baseball hats when we played because she said it made me look a heavy metal drummer, and since we weren't playing ...
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past habits with adverbs of frequency?
Can we use past continuous tense to refer a past habit with adverbs of frequency words? For example:
He was going for a morning walk every day.
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What is the difference between Past Simple and Past Continuous for actions that are spread over time?
There are actions that are spread over time, to snore or to play tennis for example. For me it is not always clear should I use Past Simple or Past Continuous for such actions. For me it is absolutely ...
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Past continuous vs Present Perfect Continuous vs Past Simple
Past continuous tells us about an action in progress in the particular time of the past, right? And Present Perfect Continuous - about actions that started in the past, continued some time and still ...
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We had been / were waiting for an hour
We were waiting for an hour.
We had been waiting for an hour when she finally came.
we were waiting for an hour when she finally came.
what's the difference in these sentences?
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Correctly conecting two actions (Gerund)?
I want to say that someone put her baby to sleep and was reading her book while she was sitting in the sitting room.
The Continuous can't be followed by the Gerund. So, I can't say:
His wife, who ...
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Past continuous how to understand the meaning
What if I say something like this "when she arrives we are playing games together". The intended meanig is that it is my plan to play games with her once we are together. Let's say that now ...
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what is the difference between the past progressive form and simple past form in this sentence?
What is the difference between the past progressive form and simple past form in this sentence?
He purchased it at ten times the price the owner was asking and carefully hid it in his house.
If I ...
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“I rode / was riding / used to ride a bike every day”
Which tense should I use if I was on a holiday which lasted two weeks and during that time I rode a bike every day?
It was a great time because I rode a bike every day. (Past Simple)
It was a great ...
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Is the past continuous wrong in "I was working for 2 hours"?
Basically, I asked two teachers about this sentence "I was working for 2 hours". One told that it is incorrect because the past continuous needs some additional context like "I was ...
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Is there any difference in meaning between the past simple and the past continuous when used before "till" or "until"?
Could you tell me if there is any difference in meaning between the past simple and the past continuous when used before till? For example:
I worked till midnight and then went to bed.
I was working ...
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Is it correct to avoid mentioning any additional events with the past continuous?
Is it correct to say "That evening I was doing chemistry for 90 minutes." without adding any actions occured during that period (while someone was doing something or did something - these ...
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Using Past Cont instead of Past Perf Cont
I have the sentence: "The youngsters had been playing in the backyard of the home, digging in the mud, when they found something unusual just below the surface." How would the meaning here ...
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Why did the author use past continuous in that sentence
I came from a scene that is more punk than the garage scene. The first concerts I was going to were punk, like at the MIROITRIE.for a year Then I went to Canada for a year
Why "was going"? Why past ...
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Past simple and continuous time
My teacher told me that when I just want to state a fact and I don't intend to make any store then I'm only allowed to use the past simple and not the past continuous
For instance
I worked there for ...
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Usage of "Had been" and "Used to"
Are this two tenses convenient to use for the same purpose, for the event in the past that began, lasted and finished?
For example:
I used to live in London
I had been living in London
Where is the ...
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Past simple or past continuous?
1 Being students, they didn't have much money and they usually worked as waiters at weekends.
Why do we need to use the past simple?
2 While they were studying, they were working as waiters at ...
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The use of past continuous
I know that we use past simple for repeated actions for instance: 'when I was little I went to that school' or 'I worked in that firm for three years' and saying 'I was working in that firm for three ...
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Can "before" be equal to "when" in certain contexts?
There are the following sentences:
"I had been waiting for three months before they finally sent
me an answer"
"He had been waiting for the bus for 10 minutes before it arrived"
...
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Is there any difference between past continuous + past simple and past perfect continuous + past simple?
Compare:
We were watching a film when the power went out.
We had been watching a film when the power went out.
Can you see any difference in meaning?
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"When I was playing she was cooking" and "she had been cooking"
When I was playing she was cooking.
When I was playing she had been cooking.
Shows that two actions started at the same time and continued for some time simultaneously.
Shows that two actions were ...
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I worked/was working late at the office
Sarah usually returns home from work at 6:00 pm, but this time and the previous time, she came home late. As a result, she and John had the following conversation at 11:00 pm:
Dialog #1:
John: "...
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Is past perfect continuous mandatory when you mention the duration of an action in reported speech?
He said "I have been working in the garden for 8 hours" - direct speech.
He said that he had been working in the garden for 8 hours. - indirect speech
Is "He said that he was working in ...
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I had been/was working late because my boss had assigned
Sarah and John live together. Sarah leaves her car parked at work and takes a taxi home. After she has arrived home, John returns from work. He first checks the garage and then finds Sarah in the ...
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What should I use (Past perfect or Past Simple) [closed]
I have the following sentences. And must choose on of the tences (Past Simple, Past Perfect, Past Continuos, Past Perfect Continuos):
Sally Deedes was walking home late one night. She (be) to a ...
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Past Continuous and past perfect continuous for native English speakers
According to Martin Hewing's Advanced English Grammar:
The difference between past continuous and past perfect continuous is as follows:
When we met Simon and Pat, they had been riding.(=we met ...
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can I say ' Baz has just seen a wreck and. he was swimming towards it '?
Is it correct to use present perfect 'yet or just' with past continuous in the same sentence??
Or I have to use present continuous??
' Baz has just seen a wreck he is swimming towards it' ??
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Past continuous with long actions
When I want to emphasize a fact about my past, it's a lot more natural to say
I played tennis for 10 years
I was playing tennis for 10 years
When I tell a story it's not so important any more
When I ...
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Past continuous or past perfect continuous
I read the difference in a site and really makes me confused. Is it true?
Past continuous vs. past perfect continuous tense
Both of these can show a past action interrupted by another action. However, ...
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The past continuous with an anchor
1 I played yesterday
2 I was playing yesterday
We use 1 when we refer to what we did we do not need to add anything to 1 to be correct. When it comes to 2 when it's on its own then it's grammaticlly ...
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Past simple and continuous.88
When I ask my friend about their previous day I could say
What did you do yesterday?
And he could answer
I played, watched and ate.
Could I say : What were you doing yesterday?
And he answers I was ...
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Past simple vs continuous m
I have studied a lot about the past simple and continuous. I know that we use the past simple when we state a fact and that the continuous is used to create the background. My question is I hear that ...
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How to use the past continuous [duplicate]
I worked there for two months
When it comes to this sentence there is no
Reason to use the past continuous unless i want to emphasize the lenght, right?
I went to school when I was little
Is it ...
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"While + Past Simple" or "While + Past Continuous"
Question :
Last night, while they (sleep), a burglar broke into their house.
Answer A :
Last night, while they slept, a burglar broke into their house.
Or
Answer B :
Last night, while they was ...
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Have you been learning French since you were a kid? ---> in the past
If the person you're talking about or your interlocutor is alive and still learning a language, you can say:
Have you been learning French since you were a kid?
My brother has been learning Italian ...
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Past Continuous with yesterday
I am trying to figure out if it's possible to use past continuous without specific time or interruption while talking about yesterday.
Here's the situation: I want to tell my friend how I spent my day ...
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Past Simple instead of Past Continuous
As we know, Past Continuous is mostly used to provide context or background for main events (which are in Simple Past) e.g.
(I am in a bad shape) I had a firm grip in my 20-s because I was playing ...
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Is " advertise" ok in this case?
The first time I heard about you was on his blog . At this time he was advertising for a concert promoting the new release of your record.
I dont know if my verb to advertise is ok in this case and if ...
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Past Perfect vs Past Continuous
which one of these sentences is more suitable, if I need to use one of them in a self-introduction?
I think both are fine as in the first we emphasize the duration and in the second the result.
For ...
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What does it mean "The interruption of an action in progress can be another action in progress."?
I didn't understand the exact meaning of this paragraph, could you explain it?
The interruption of an action in progress can be another action in
progress.
While I was trying to fall asleep in ...
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Strange present perfect continuous here?
In The Jam's song, "Smither's Jones", there is a sentence [in bold]
"Good Morning Smithers-Jones
How's the wife and home?
Did you get the car you've been looking for?
Did you get the ...
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How to say your past habits?
In my mother tongue, Japanese, we very often use past continuous to describe our past habits. But how about in English?
ex. 1... To say that you were an early bird when you were in high school, ...
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past progressive or past simple: worked or working
In the following sentences, could the past progressive be replaced by the past simple with no change of meaning? Is there a preferred form?
We were working / worked hard yesterday because the boss ...
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"I wasn't listening to what the teacher was saying"? "I didn't listen to what the teacher was saying"?
We often avoid repeating the continuous form, do we? Like you say
What do you think you are doing?
instead of
What are you thinking you are doing?
How about the following sentences?
I wasn't ...
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Can we change places of the past simple and past continuous? Is it always idiomatic?
Can we change places of the past simple and past continuous? Is it always idiomatic?
I was walking home when I met Dan.
I met Dan when I was walking home.
When I met Dan, I was walking home.
When I ...
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Simple Past and Past Progressive - both possible in cases with defined period of time - Thomson (1986) says it should be Simple Past
I believe that the past progressive tense can be used with defined periods of time. However, A Practical English Grammar (A.J. Thomson, 1986) says that the simple past tense is used for well-defined ...
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Is the tense used here correct?
Yesterday, I was wearing black clothes at work, so everybody kept asking me if anyone has just passed away.
My question is about the past continuous of "wear". Somebody told me It should be ...
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Past continuous with duration and 2 concurrent actions
Which one of these sentences is preffered, if any:
He was playing video games while we were watching him for an hour.
He had been playing video games while we had been watching him for an hour.
He ...
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