UNIT 22: Past continuous (quá khứ tiếp diễn)

I.Grammar

1.Form

             Subject+ was/were + -ing

• I/he/she/it (singular nouns): was
• Examples:
• Positive: I was working
• Negative: I was not working
• Question: Was I working?-Yes, I was./No, I was not.
• You, we, they (plural nouns): were
• Examples:
• Positive: They were going
• Negative: They were not going
• Question: Were they going? -Yes, they were./No, they were not.
• Note: was not-wasn’t, were not-weren’t

2.Usage

a) To tellan action in the past was interrupted (nói về một hành động trong quá khứ bị ngắt quãng)

• Examples:
• Iwas watchingTV when she called.
• When the phone rang, she was writinga letter.

b)  Specific time in the past (thời gian cụ thể trong quá khứ)

• Examples:
• Last night at 6 PM, Iwas eatingdinner.
• Yesterday at this time, Iwas sittingat my desk at work.

c)  Parallel actions (hành động song song)

• Examples:
• Iwas studyingwhile hewas makingdinner.
• Wereyou listeningwhile he was talking?

d) Repetition with “always” and “constantly”

 (hành động lặp lại với “always” và “constantly”)

• Examples:
• Shewas always cominglate to class.
• He was constantly talking.He annoyed everyone.
• I didn’t like them because theywere always complaining.

3. Exceptions in spelling (ngoại lệ)

-  delete the final –e, but keep the final -ee (bỏ đuôi –e nhưng giữ đuôi -ee)

• Examples: come-coming but: agree-agreeing

-       if a consonant follows a vowel at the end, double the final consonant (nếu một phụ âm theo sau một nguyên âm ở cuối câu thì nhân đôi phụ âm)

• Examples:  sit-sitting

-       double -l if -l is final consonant after a vowel, (nhân đôi –l nếu –l là phụ âm cuối cùng):Travel-travelling

-  Final -iebecomes –y (kết thúc bằng –ie thì đổi thành –y): lie-lying

4. Signal words (từ nhận biết):When, while, as long as

II.      Exercises

1.    Put the verbs into the correct tense (simple past or past continuous).

a. While Tom (to read), Emily (to watch) a documentary on TV.

b. Marvin (to come) home, (to switch) on the computer and (to check) his emails.

c. When I (to leave) the house this morning, the sun (to shine).

d. Nobody (to listen) while the teacher (to explain) the tenses.

e. While we (to do) a sightseeing tour, our friends (to lie) on the beach.

f. He (to wake) up and (to look) at his watch.

g. The receptionist (to welcome) the guests and (to ask) them to fill in the form.

h. The car (to break) down and we (to have) to walk home.

i. The boys (to swim) while the girls (to sunbath).

j. My father (to come) in, (to look) around and (to tell) me to tidy up my room.

k. While she (to speak) on the phone, the milk (to boil) over.

l. While the parents (to have) breakfast, their children (to run) about.

m. Martha (to turn) off the lights and (to go) to bed.

n. We (to wait) for Jane, when suddenly Louis (to come) around the corner.

o. I (to cycle) through the park, when I (to hear) a strange noise.

p. He (to pass) her a message while the teacher (to look / not).

2.  Simple past or past continuous?

Last week I (to decide) to invite some friends to a dinner. I (to buy) a lot of delicious food, including some ham and at about 6.00 I (to cook) in the kitchen. The sun (to shine) and it was a beautiful evening, so, I (to open) the back door. Then the telephone (to ring). I (to go) to answer it and when I (to come) back the ham wasn't on the table. I (to look) out of the window. A cat (to sit) on my garden fence and it (to eat) my ham. What (can) I do? I (to fill) a pan with water and I went quietly outside. The cat (not / to look) in my direction and it (to enjoy) the ham so much that it (not / to hear) me. I (to walk) slowly up to it. I (to want) to empty the water over its head. A bit cruel, I know. But the ham (to be) very expensive but at the last moment the cat heard me and (to escape) in the neighbourhood.