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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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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"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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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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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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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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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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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 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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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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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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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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