Past Continuous Tense

PAST CONTINUOUS TENSE ❓Definition: 1. Past = the time before the moment of speaking or writing/lapse of time 2. Continuous = not affected by disconnection or interruption," (French) "joining, connecting with something; following one after another,"(Latin) - Etymology (study of words) 3. Tense = Time 👷‍♂️Formation: To be auxiliary verb (was/were) + present partciple (+ing for all verbs) 🧵🧶Use: 1. Interrupted actions in the past *It can be a real interruption or an juat an interruption in time. * The past continuous is interrupted by a shorter action in the simple past. Examples • I was watching TV when she called. • While we were having a picnic it started to rain • While John was sleeping last night, someone stole his car. • While  I was writing an email, the laptop suddenly went off • Sammy was waiting for us when we got off the plane. * A specific time can also be used as an interruption in time •Last night at 6:00PM, I was eating dinner. • At midnight, we were still driving through the desert. •Yesterday at this time, I was sitting at my desk at work. ❗Remember the simple past uses specific time to tell us when an action began and ended. BUT: In the past continuous, a specific time only interrupts the action. Examples: • Last night at 6:00PM, I ate dinner. (Simple Past) • Last night at 6:00PM,  I was eating dinner. (Past Continuous) 2. When you use the Past Continuous with two actions in the same sentence, it expresses the idea that both actions were happening at the same time. We call this, parallel actions. Examples • I was studying while he was making dinner. • While Henry was reading, Tim was watching television. • Were you listening while he was talking? •They were eating dinner, having a good time while discussing their plans. 3. The Past Continuous is used with words such as "always" or "constantly" expresses the idea that something irritating or shocking often happened in the past. Examples •She was always coming to class late. •He was constantly talking. He annoyed everyone. •I didn't like them because they were always complaining. 🚧Signal words ☆While and When ☆"when" is most often followed by the verb tense Simple Past, whereas "while" is usually followed by Past Continuous. "While" expresses the idea of "during that time.