2.2. Dealing with the past
The past continuous tense
Imagen de Ray Skinner en Flickr. Licencia CC |
The past continuous tense expresses activity at a particular moment in the past. The river was flooding the wood. The action started before that moment and continues at that moment we describe. It is formed with the verb BE in past tense + an infinitive verb ending in -ing For example, I was watching a Humphrey Bogart film on TV last night but I fell asleep on the couch. They were talking about Rick's café. |
Spelling rules
1) Consonant after a short, stressed vowel at the end of the word |
Double the consonant. |
sit – sitting, put - putting |
2) In British English |
double one -l at the end of the word: |
travel - travelling |
3) One -e at the end of the word
But with double –e: (-ee) |
Leave out the -e.
add -ing |
write – writing take – taking see – seeing |
4) Verbs ending in -ie | Change 'ie' to 'y'. | lie - lying |
5) Verbs ending in -c | Change 'c' to 'ck'. | picnic - picnicking |
Use
The interruption is usually a shorter action in the Simple Past. He was drinking when the stranger came into the bar. Estaba bebiendo cuando el estraño entró al bar. |
Imagen en wikimedia. Licencia CC
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Rick was smoking while Victor was talking about Lisa. Rick estaba fumando mientras Victor estaba hablando de Lisa. (Nota: En castellano lo expresaríamos de forma distinta) |
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Where were you last night at 10:00 pm? I was sitting at my desk, working. ¿Dónde estuviste anoche a las 10? Estaba sentado a mi mesa, trabajando. |
Watch this video in Spanish for more explanations.