PASADO CONTINUOS

PAST CONTINUOUS

Se usa:

1.       a) Para hablar de acciones que estaban sucediendo en un momento concreto del pasado.

          John was reading a book in the library this mornig/ John estaba leyendo un libro en la biblioteca esta mañana.

1. b) Para acciones que se estaban desarrollando en el momento del pasado al que nos estamos refiriendo y que continuaron después de ese momento:

          Last Monday John was travelling./ El pasado lunes, John estaba viajando: la acción de viajar comenzó antes del lunes y continuó después.

2. El pasado continuo se utiliza también para referimos a dos acciones en el pasado, una de las cuales se completó, mientras que la otra continuaba: para la primera se utiliza el "past simple"(acción finalizada) y para la segunda el "past continuous (no se sabe si la acción ha terminado). 

SE PRODUCE UNA INTERRUPCIÓN. Acción corta( past simple) interrumpe a la acción larga (past continuos).

       When he arrived, I was watching TV. /Cuando él llegó, yo estaba viendo la tele: la acción de ver la tele había comenzado antes de que él llegara, y continuó después.

          While she was listening to music, her brother did his homework./ Mientras ella escuchaba música, su hermano hizo sus deberes: la acción de oír música tenía ya lugar antes de que el hermano comenzara sus deberes, y continuó una vez que el hermano había terminado.

When + sujeto + verbo 2ª columna (V. irreg) y terminados en –ed (V. regul). La acción está terminada.

While +sujeto + to be + verbo- ing. La acción continua o no se sabe si ha terminado.

Cuando las palabras “when” o “while” van en medio de la frase, no se pone “coma”.

Were you studying when I saw you?./¿Estabas estudiando cuando te ví?.

He phoned while we were listening to music./Él llamó por teléfono mientras nosotros escuchábamos música.

Estructura afirmativa:         SUJETO + WAS/WERE + VERBO- ING.      

Estructura negativa:            SUJETO + WASN’T/WEREN’T+ VERBO-ING.      

Estructura interrogativa:      WAS/WERE + SUJETO + VERBO -ING?

Ejemplos:

This morning at 8 o'clock she was working ./ A las 8 de la mañana ella estaba trabajando.

Was she playing when you arrived?./¿Ella estaba jugando cuando tú llegaste?.

They weren’t eating in the kitchen./ Ellos no estaban comiendo en la cocina.

The dog was sleeping in the garden. / El perro estaba durmiendo en el jardín.

 PASADO CONTINUO EJERCICIOS+KEYS AQUÍ
OTRO EJERCICIO para practicar con soluciones 

• Positive Sentences
• Negative Sentences
• Questions
• Questions with Interrogatives

 Level 1, Level 2, Level 3. Más ejercicios+soluciones

Ver también los siguientes enlaces:
Past simple 
Past simple VS continuos

Simple Past – Past Progressive in ENGLISH

Form

Simple Past	Past Progressive
irregular verbs: see 2nd column of irregular verbs I spoke regular verbs: verb + ed I worked	past form of 'be' + ing form of verb I was speaking you were speaking he / she / it was speaking we were speaking they were speaking
Exceptions
Exceptions when adding 'ed' : when the final letter is e, only add d. Example: love - loved after a short, stressed vowel, the final consonant is doubled Example: admit - admitted final l is always doubled in British English (not in American English) Example: travel - travelled after a consonant, final y becomes i. (but: not after a vowel) Example: worry - he worried but: play - he played	Exceptions when adding 'ing' : silent e is dropped (but: does not apply for -ee) Example: come - comingbut: agree - agreeing after a short, stressed vowel, the final consonant is doubled Example: sit - sitting final l is always doubled in British English (not in American English) Example: travel - travelling final ie becomes y. Example: lie - lying

• 
  puts emphasis on the course of an action in the past
  Example: He was playing football.
• two actions happening at the same time (in the past)
  Example: While she was preparing dinner, he was washing the dishes.
• action going on at a certain time in the past
  Example: When I was having breakfast, the phone suddenly rang

After another or at the same time?

Do you want to express that the actions in the past happened one after another or at the same time?

Simple Past	Past Progressive
after another She came home, switched on the computer and checked her e-mails.	at the same time Simon was playing on the computer while his brother was watchin TV.

New action or already in progress?

If you want to express that a new action happened in the middle of another action, you need both tenses: Simple Past the new action and Past Progressive for the action already in progress.

Simple Past	Past Progressive
new action My mobile rang (when I was sitting in a meeting.)	action already in progress While I was sitting in a meeting, (my mobile suddenly rang.)

Only mentioning or emphasising progress?

Do you just want to mention that an action took place in the past (also used for short actions)? Or do you want to put emphasis on the progress, e.g. that an action was taking place at a certain time?

Simple Past	Past Progressive
just mentioning Colin played football yesterday.	emphasising progress Yesterday at six o'clock, Colin was playing football.

Certain Verbs

The following verbs are usually only used in Simple Past (not in the progressive form).

• state: be, cost, fit, mean, suit
  Example: We were on holiday.
• possession: belong, have
  Example: Sam had a cat.
• senses: feel, hear, see, smell, taste, touch
  Example: He felt the cold.
• feelings: hate, hope, like, love, prefer, regret, want, wish
  Example: Jane loved pizza.
• brain work: believe, know, think, understand
  Example: I did not understand him.
• introductory clauses for direct speech: answer, ask, reply, say
  Example: “I am watching TV,“ he said.

Signal words

Simple Past	Past Progressive
first then If-Satz Typ II (If I talked, …)	when while as long as