Прошедшее длительное время

The Past Continuous(Progressive)Tense

Образование. The Past Continuous (Progressive) Tense образуется при помощи вспомогательного глагола to be в форме прошедшего времени (was, were)и формы причастия настоящего времени (Present Participle) смыслового глагола: I was working, We were working.

В вопросительной форме вспомогательный глагол ставится перед подлежащим: Was I working? Were you working?

Отрицательная форма образуется при помощи частицы not,которая ставится после вспомогательного глагола: I was not working, we were not working.

Употребление the Past Continuous (Progressive) Tense.

1. Действие, которое находилось в процессе развития в определенный момент в прошлом.Момент совершения действия может быть указан:

– обозначениями времени, такими как at five o’clock в пять часов, at noon в полдень, at midnight в полночь, at that moment в тот (этот) момент и т. п.

It was raining at noon. В полдень шел дождь.

– другим прошедшим действием, выраженным глаголом в Past Indefinite:

Не was writing his exercises when I entered the room. Он писал упражнения, когда я вошел в комнату.

2. Прошлое действие в процессе развития, которое прерывается другим прошлым действием. Более длительное действие употребляется в thePast Continuous Tense, более короткое – в the Past Simple Tense.

He was doing his homework when I enteredthe room. Он делал домашнее задание, когда я вошел в комнату.

3. Два или более одновременных прошлых действия определенной длительности.

I was watching TV while he was lookingthrough the newspapers. Я смотрел телевизор, в то время как он просматривал газеты.

4. Описание обстановки, на фоне которой развивались события в рассказе.

This morning was really beautiful. The sun was shining, the birds were singing. Утро было действительно прекрасным. Сияло солнце, птицы пели.

 

EXERCISES

Exercise 1. Give the correct form of the Past Continuous of each verb.
1. Zachary ____ (play) football at half past six.
2. At 9 o’clock, I ____ (read), but Helen ____ (watch) TV.
3. Bill ____ (stand) outside the shop when suddenly two robbers ran past him.
4. I know Simon ____ (walk) with his girlfriend because I saw him when I ____ (drive) through the street.
5. ____ you ____ (have) a bath when the earthquake happened?
6. Victoria ____ (run) to stop her sister when she fell.
7. When you saw Oliver he ____ (go) home?
8. At midnight? Erm ____ we ____ (sleep), I think.
Exercise 2. Say that somebody wasn’t doing this at the definite time.
Model: I wasn’t listening (listen), so I missed what he said.
1. I ____ (sleep) when you rang me.
2. We left because we ____ (enjoy) ourselves.
3. David ____ (walk) all evening, he was watching TV.
4. It ____ (snow) all day.
5. I ____ (wonder) whether you could lend me some money.
6. We ____ (study) when the teacher left.
7. When she was younger, she ____ (do) things for other people.
8. Dan and Liz ____ (redecorate) their house at the weekend. Liz was ill.
9. The doorbell ____ (ring). Is it broken?
10. They ____ (argue) when we return. They were happy to see us.
Exercise 3. Write the questions using the Past Continuous.
Model: At 10.00 I was reading. (a newspaper) Were you reading a newspaper?

 

1. When I saw my cousin, she was writing. (letters)
2. At the weekend Joe was travelling. (where)
3. At 11.00 Ann was cooking. (what)
4. When I came in, all the children were playing. (what game)
5. At midnight, Helen and Robert were driving to Scotland. (why)
6. When I saw Peter he was eating. (what)
7. When mum entered the room, Ed was listening to music. (what kind of music)
8. At 9 o’clock I was watching a movie. (with whom)
9. At this time last week we were swimming. (where)
10. She was talking on the phone while she was drinking coffee. (who)
Exercise 4. Find and correct the mistakes in the sentences.
1. The children was laughing all the time.
2. When I saw him he was run among the trees.
3. Some drops of water have been falling to the ground at that moment.
4. Were reading you a book when dad returned?
5. The sun is shining in the morning. But now there are clouds everywhere.
6. Who was tolding a story?
7. I was seeing Meg yesterday.
8. Were you tryeing to call her at 6 o’clock?
Exercise 5. What can you say in these situations? Add a sentence with the Past Continuous to say that an action lasted a long time.
Model: You had to work yesterday. The work went on all day. I was working all day.
1. You had to make phone calls. The calls went on all evening.
2. You had to wait in the rain. The wait lasted for half an hour.
3. You had to make sandwiches. This went on all afternoon.
4. You had to sit in a traffic jam. You were there for two hours.
5. Your neighbour played loud music. This went on all night.
Exercise 6. Write what these people were doing or did at the time Paul’s parents entered the house.

Paul’s parents were going away for the weekend. Paul invited some friends to the house. However his parents’ car broke down so they had to come back home.

 

Model: Ben was washing the dog. It jumped out of the bath and started barking.

 

1. Jackie/play cards/stop playing/drop
2. Jim and Peter/hold a glass of Cola/spill/stain
3. Sarah/sleep/wake up
4. Sandy/dance/listen/not see
5. Paul/smoke/see them/throw
Exercise 7. A. What were your group mates doing yesterday evening? Complete the sentences with words from the box.
cook supper drive home play cards
dance not watch TV do homework
Model: At 9.15 Nikita was cooking.

 

1. At 10.30 ____
2. At 8.20 ____
3. At 5.30 ____
4. At 11.00 ____

 

  B. What were you doing at this time yesterday?
Exercise 8. Work in pairs. Act out a dialogue.
SA: You telephoned your friend yesterday afternoon but he/she didn’t answer. Ask him/her about what he was doing at the time when you phoned. Use the following verbs: cook, read, sleep, watch TV, do homework etc.
SB: Your friend telephoned you yesterday but you didn’t answer him. Tell your partner why you didn’t answer your call. Enumerate things that you were doing at the moment of the telephone call.