# 3. Paco's parents were getting excited about the trip(past continuous)

## Caso práctico

## The Past Continuous Tense: affirmative

ING01-02-01-audio05.mp3

Paco's parents were getting excited about the trip. It wasn't the first time that Paco had travelled abroad but this time was different. They knew that their son was going to be far away for a long time.

But Paco wasn't so excited as his parents. He was reading a lot about Great Britain, London and other main British cities. He was buying some books while his parents were trying to pack his luggage. They were wondering about the most suitable things for Paco to take with him.

Imagen de striatic en Flickr. Licencia CC

Paco was thinking about how much money he had to exchange for his trip. How much would a pound sterling be?

We'll see that later.

Los padres de Paco se estaban emocionando por el viaje.No era la primera vez que Paco había viajado pero esta vez era diferente. Sabían que su hijo iba a estar fuera mucho tiempo.

Pero Paco no estaba tan emocionado como sus padres. Él estaba leyendo mucho sobre Gran Bretaña, Londres y otras principales ciudades británicas.

Estaba comprando libros mientras sus padres intentaban hacer su maleta. Se estaban preguntando sobre las cosas más adecuadas para llevar con él.

Paco estaba pensando en cuánto dinero debía cambiar para el viaje. ¿A cuánto estaría la libra esterlina?

Lo veremos luego.

¿Ves algunos ejemplos del past continuous en el texto?Claro que sí.
Can you see any Past Continuous affirmative forms in the text? Of course you can.

### Retroalimentación

Los padres de Paco se estaban emocionando por el viaje.No era la primera vez que Paco había viajado pero esta vez era diferente. Sabían que su hijo iba a estar fuera mucho tiempo.

Pero Paco no estaba tan emocionado como sus padres. Él estaba leyendo mucho sobre Gran Bretaña, Londres y otras principales ciudades británicas.

Estaba comprando libros mientras sus padres intentaban hacer su maleta. Se estaban preguntando sobre las cosas más adecuadas para llevar con él.

Paco estaba pensando en cuánto dinero debía cambiar para el viaje. ¿A cuánto estaría la libra esterlina?

Lo veremos luego.

¿Ves algunos ejemplos del past continuous en el texto? Claro que sí.

> > > > > > were getting

> > > > > > was reading

> > > > > > was buying

> > > > > > were trying

> > > > > > were wondering

> > > > > > was thinking

## Ejercicio Resuelto

Put the verbs in brackets in the affirmative form of the past continuous tense.

1. Paco __________ (to learn) the currencies of some European countries before the trip.
2. Alex and Andrés __________ (to help) Paco with the trip.
3. Sonia __________ (to try) to buy a good bilingual dictionary for his brother.
4. Antonio and Isabel __________(to buy) lots of things for Paco.
5. Paco __________ (to change) euros into pounds sterling.

### Retroalimentación

1. Paco was learning the currencies of some European countries before the trip.
2. Alex and Andrés were helping Paco with the trip.
3. Sonia was trying to buy a good bilingual dictionary for his brother.
4. Antonio and Isabel were buying lots of things for Paco.
5. Paco was changing euros into pounds sterling.

## Comprueba lo aprendido

Read the paragraph below and fill in the missing past continuous affirmative forms.

> Paco Rellenar huecos (1): JXUwMDJmJXUwMDE2JXUwMDEy Rellenar huecos (2): JXUwMDNkJXUwMDBiJXUwMDA0JXUwMDA1JXUwMDE2JXUwMDEwJXUwMDA3JXUwMDA5 (to enjoy) himself planning the trip. Everybody in his family Rellenar huecos (3): JXUwMDJmJXUwMDE2JXUwMDEy Rellenar huecos (4): JXUwMDMwJXUwMDBkJXUwMDA5JXUwMDFjJXUwMDE5JXUwMDA3JXUwMDA5 (to help) him. Sonia Rellenar huecos (5): JXUwMDJmJXUwMDE2JXUwMDEy Rellenar huecos (6): JXUwMDNmJXUwMDBlJXUwMDFmJXUwMDFmJXUwMDA3JXUwMDA5 (to give) Paco a hand by buying books, guides and maps about Britain. Antonio and Isabel Rellenar huecos (7): JXUwMDJmJXUwMDEyJXUwMDE3JXUwMDE3 Rellenar huecos (8): JXUwMDI4JXUwMDExJXUwMDAyJXUwMDA4JXUwMDAyJXUwMDA3JXUwMDA5 (to pack) Paco's luggage. His friends Rellenar huecos (9): JXUwMDJmJXUwMDEyJXUwMDE3JXUwMDE3 Rellenar huecos (10): JXUwMDJiJXUwMDE2JXUwMDA0JXUwMDEzJXUwMDExJXUwMDBiJXUwMDAxJXUwMDA3JXUwMDA5 (to search) for some useful information for Paco on the Internet .

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## Importante

Trip, travel or journey?

What is the difference between these words?

Journey = a noun. The movement from A to B, e.g.: My journey to work takes 30 minutes.

travel= a verb. To move from one place to another, e.g.: I travelled from the USA to China .

trip= a noun. It includes movement plus some activity (business, holidays, etc), e.g.: Did you have a good trip?

We don't use travel as a noun except, occasionally in plural in literature (like Gulliver's Travels).

I had a good travel

## Curiosidad

> The full, official name, pound sterling, (plural: pounds sterling) is used mainly in formal contexts and also when it is necessary to distinguish the United Kingdom currency from other currencies with the same name. Otherwise the term pound is normally used. The currency name is sometimes abbreviated to just sterling, particularly in the wholesale financial markets, but not when referring to specific amounts; for example, "Payment is accepted in sterling" but never "These cost five sterling".

> Imagen de stux en Pixabay. Licencia CC

> The abbreviations "ster." or "stg." are sometimes used. The term British pound is commonly used in less formal contexts, although it is not an official name of the currency. A common slang term is quid (singular and plural) which is thought to derive from the Latin phrase "quid pro quo".
> The currency sign is the pound sign, originally ₤ with two cross-bars, then when the currency was decimalised £ with a single cross-bar. The pound sign derives from the blackletter "L", an abbreviation of Librae in Roman £sd units (librae, solidi, denarii) used for pounds, shillings and pence in the British pre-decimal duodecimal currency system. Libra was the basic Roman unit of weight, derived from the Latin word for scales or balance.

## Para saber más

For further practice with exercises on Past Progressive or continuous, click here.

A brief explanation to refresh your knowledge of the Past Continuous.