Unit 2
Past continuous tense
6 Find five examples of the past continuous tense in the part of the story on page 34. 7 Write these sentences in the past continuous tense. a) Granny is cooking. c) Firefighters are running. b) The fire truck is screeching to a halt. d) Melissa is trying to help. 8 Complete the end of the story in the past continuous tense. Use the verbs in brackets. The past continuous tense tells us what was happening in the past. To form this tense we use the helping verb was / were with the present participle of the main verb. helping verb main verb Melissa was sitting on the steps.
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Example: Melissa was holding (hold) Granny’s hand.
A firefighter ____ __________ (force) open the door. Another ____ __________ (climb) in through the bedroom window. Two more ____ __________ (get) the hoses out. Mr. Joe’s cat ____ __________ (jump) out of the front window. The neighbours ____ __________ (watch). Then, Mr. Joe arrived! He asked what ____ __________ (happen) and said, “I ____ __________ (have) a drink with my friend.”
We often use the past continuous and the simple past tenses together.
9 Complete these sentences with words of your own. Use verbs in the past continuous tense.
Example: I _______________ when I saw the fire truck. è
I was walking down the street when I saw the fire truck.
1 I _____ ________ when he knocked at the door. 2 I _____ ________ when the storm broke.
3 My mom and dad _____ ________ when I got home. 4 Everyone _____ ________ when I arrived at the party. 5 My teacher _____ ________ when I entered the classroom. 6 The children _____ ________ when Mom told them to go to bed. 7 When the fire started Mr. Joe _____ ________. 8 When the firefighters arrived the neighbours _____ ________.
• Practise the continuous tenses by giving students pictures from magazines which show various activities. Ask students to describe what is or was happening. • Past continuous and simple past: Ask students to identify the two tenses in the example before they begin the exercise.
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