Grammatical Structure Information Chart

for the Past Continuous (or Progressive) tense

Meaning Example
1. An action in progress at a specific point He was walking to school at 8:30 this
of time in the past. morning.

2. Past action simultaneous with some Karen was washing her hair when the
other event that is usually stated in the phone rang.
simple past. While Alex was traveling in Europe, he ran
into an old friend.

3. Repetition or iteration of some ongoing Jake was coughing all night long.
past action.

4. Social distancing (which comes from the I was hoping you could lend me $10.
past tense and the tentativeness of the
progressive aspect).

Forms Example
affirmative/ negative statements He was driving home.
She was not walking with him.
interrogatives: yes/no questions, info Was she building a bookcase?
questions What was he doing in the basement?
tag questions He was walking the dog, wasn’t he?
passive voice The car was being repaired.

Focus Information
One use: reporting on action continuing at a certain point in the past, with the past point
indicated by an adverbial (word or phrase)

One form: affirmative statements/ information questions

Adapted from Marianne Celce-Murcia and Diane Larson Freeman, The Grammar Book
(Boston: Heinle &Heinle, 1999)
 Introductory Grammar Presentation Plan

Grammar Structure: Past Progressive (Continuous)

Level: Level 3 Low Intermediate

Technique: Dialogues/Skits

Materials: Handout #1, whiteboard and coloured markers

Preparation: Make sure there’s enough room at the front of the class
. for 5 students to stand comfortably
Procedure:

1. Hand out the dialogue to the class.

2. Choose five students to come to the front of the class to read the dialogue. (The
teacher can read the stage directions.)
3. Have the other students turn their hand-outs over; they should listen to and watch the
students at the front.
4. After the students have read the dialogue through once, ask comprehension questions.
“When was the fire?” “Did John see the fire?” “Why not?” “Why was Doah at
home?” “Where were Rex and Bruce yesterday afternoon?”
5. Write the answers on the board, highlighting the new structure using coloured
markers:

John was driving back from Montreal

Rex and Bruce were having coffee at the café

6. Have the other students look at the dialogue while the students at the front read it
again.
7. Ask more questions about Adeline, the firemen, the people on the sidewalk, the
smoke. “Around two-thirty, where was Mr. Lim?” Finish this sentence: “Around two-
thirty, Judy was _____________________?” (wearing her Tae Kwon Do outfit/
practicing Tae Kwon Do)

Anticipating Learners Problems

Grammar Structure: Past Progressive (Continuous)

Use: Action in progress at a specific point of time in the past
Form: Answering questions about past activities.
Problems: Distinguishing between when to use simple past and past
. progressive. Suggestions: Have students think about an
. important event in their past and relate the correct use to .
. that event “The BerlinWall came down on Nov 9th, 1989.
On Nov 9th 1989, I was . . . “
 Grammar lesson Plan on Past Progressive (Continuous)

Level : Level 3 Low Intermediate

Linguistic Objective: Introduce Past Progressive

Communicative Objective: Students will be able to understand and implement Past

Progressive when discussing an action in progress at a specific point of time in the past.

Materials/Resources: Whiteboard, coloured markers, handouts #1, #2, #3 and

homework assignment

Presentation: Five students will come to the front of the class to read a dialogue
(handout 1) while the other students watch. After the students have read the dialogue
through once, ask comprehension questions as outlined in the Presentation plan. Write
some sample sentences on the white board using coloured markers for “were/was V +
ing”

Board Explanation:

How to Form
(Past form of “To be”)
I
He/She/It + was
+ Verb + ing
You
We + were
They

How to use

1. Actions in progress at a specific point in the past

- Yesterday
- Yesterday morning
- 6:00 pm last night
- Last night
- Jan 15th 2003
- Christmas Day
- This morning

Continued….
Continued….

Controlled Practice: Handout #2

Controlled Practice: Do oral drills with the whole class, then individually.
Substitution drills: time element—“This morning Adeline was talking with Rex.”
(yesterday afternoon/ around ten o’clock last night/ on Christmas morning/ at 9 a.m. last
Tuesday/ a few minutes ago/ on Easter morning, 1999)
Verb—“Yesterday afternoon Bruce was writing a letter.” (talk to Rex/
drive to Collingwood/ fly to Vancouver/ visit friends/ shop for new shoes/ be interviewed
on TV/ prepare dinner/ read a book)

Distribute the Controlled Practice handouts. Have the students work in pairs to complete
the exercises. Circulate and make sure the students understand what to do. After they
have finished, have them report their answers.

Communicative Practice: Handout #3

Put students into groups of four and give each group a copy of the image from M. Fuchs,
M. Bonner, M.Westheimer, Focus on Grammar 3 (Pearson, 2005) (Handout # 3)

Tell the students that they will be given 30 seconds to study the image carefully.

After 30 seconds ask the students to turn their papers over and write as much as they can
remember about the scene – What were people doing? What were they wearing? Was
anything unusual going on?

Allow 15 minutes for students to discuss the scene freely. Circulate to collect errors.

After 15 minutes ask how many different things each group noticed. The group with the
most details can share them with the class.

Other groups may be invited to share any observations that were missed.
Handout #1
A Fire in the Building

John and Doah meet in the elevator of the apartment building where they live.
Doah: Hi, John. How are you today?
John: I’m fine, thank you. How are you?
Doah: Fine. That was pretty exciting yesterday afternoon.
John: What? I’m sorry. I wasn’t here. What was exciting?
Doah: Around two-thirty there was a fire on the ninth floor. Where were you?
John: I was driving back from Montreal.. I got home around seven o’clock.
Doah: Well, I was decorating a cake for my son’s birthday. Suddenly, I had to stop everything and get out
of the building.
The elevator doors open and Adeline Smith gets on the elevator.
Adeline: Oh hi, Doah. Did you see the fire yesterday? I was talking to Rex and Bruce this morning. They
were telling me ALL about it.
Doah: Weren’t you here yesterday?
Adeline: No. I was spending the day with friends on the west side. I didn’t get home until after dark.
The elevator doors open and Rex and Bruce get on.
Rex: Adeline! We meet again! Hi, John. Hi, Doah! Did you enjoy the fire yesterday?
John: I wasn’t here.
Doah: I was. It was my son’s birthday.
Bruce: Actually, we saw you. You were wearing that old blue apron with the yellow flowers on it. We
were having coffee at the café across the street.
Rex: We were sitting by the window. The view was excellent.
Bruce: People were running out of the building.
Rex: Mr. Lim from the fourth floor was wearing a bathrobe, and Judy from the seventh was wearing her
Tae Kwon Do outfit.
Bruce: Firemen were rushing all over. Smoke was pouring out of a ninth-floor window
Rex: Half the neighbourhood was watching from the sidewalk.
Rex: I love fires. Oh, here’s our floor.
Bruce, Rex and Adeline: Bye! Bruce, Rex and Adeline get off the elevator.
John: Did the fire ruin your son’s birthday party?
Doah: Not really. The party was a little late, and I never finished the cake. Instead of “Happy Birthday,” it
said, “Happy Birth.”
John: Did he notice?
Doah: No. He’s three years old.
Handout # 2
Controlled Practice

Here is a list of some things that Mary did yesterday (and the times at which she did
them). Write sentences saying what Mary was doing at the given time.

7:15—7:45 had breakfast 3:00—5:00 interviewed job applicants

At 7:30 Mary was having breakfast. At 4:00________________________
7:45—8:15 read the newspaper 5:15—6:30 had a drink with her boss
At 8:00_______________________ At 6:10__________________________
8:15—8:55 drove to work 6:30—7:10 drove home
At 8:30_______________________ At 6:45__________________________
9:00—9:30 read her e-mail 7:30—8:00 ate leftovers for dinner
At 9:15_______________________ At 7:50__________________________
9:30—10:30 talked with a client 8:00—9:00 watched American Idol
At 10:15______________________ At 8:43__________________________
12:00—1:00 had lunch 9:00—10:00 prepared to go to bed
At 12:40______________________ At 9:30__________________________
1:30—3:00 gave a presentation 10:00—6:00 slept
At 2:20________________________ At 3:00 a.m.__________________

Around 10 o’clock one night last summer, the city suddenly blacked out; there was no
electric power. Use the words in parentheses to make sentences saying what each person
was doing at the time. Example: (Yul/ eat/ a mango) Yul was eating a mango.

(Ishmail/ read/ a book by Bob Smith)

(Jim/ play/ an online video game) ___________________________
____________________________
(Eun Bi/ write/ an e-mail message)
(Shemeeka/ listen/ to the radio) _________________________
____________________________
(Wahid/ dream/ about taking a horrible
(André/ tune/ his guitar) exam)____________________________
___________________________
(Annalee/ sing/ to her daughter)
(Silvia/ do/ her homework) _________________________
_______________________

Adapted from Raymond Murphy,

(Aidan/ brush/ his teeth) Grammar in Use (Cambridge:
____________________________ Cambridge U.P., 1989; rpt. 1998

(Laura/ wash/ dishes)

___________________________
Handout #4 Homework

Which is correct?

The little dog __________ all day yesterday.

Was barking
Barks
Is Barking

I _________ to music at dinnertime.

Am listening
Listen
Was listening

We ___________ at ten o’clock last night. That’s why we didn’t hear the phone ringing.

Have slept
Was sleeping
Were sleeping.

You ____________ about your homework in our last class.

Were talking
Talked
Are talking

She ___________ her son a bath at 6:00 last night, before bedtime.

Was giving
Is giving
Gives

Complete using the past progressive:

1. We (watch) __________________ a movie in the cinema yesterday afternoon.

1. What were you doing at the time of the murder yesterday?

I (try) __________________ to break down the door.

2. Larry arrived at Susan's house at 9:00 pm, but she was not there. She (study) _______________ for
her ESL exam in the Library.

3. I called you after dinner, but you didn’t answer. Where were you?
I (exercise) __________________ at the gym.

4. It began to rain at 2:40 in the afternoon. We (play tennis) ____________________ at the time.

What were you doing yesterday at the following times? (You can be creative.)

At 10 a.m. ________________________________________________________________________
At noon ________________________________________________________________________
At 3 p.m. ________________________________________________________________________
At 8 p.m. ________________________________________________________________________