The Constant Past, it is a verbal time that describes actions that were being realized in a moment of the past to which one refers and which then they continued, for example:
* Yesterday he was studying English. Ayer él estaba estudiando inglés.
* John was playing tennis at 10 a.m. John estuvo jugando tenis a las 10 a.m.
The Constant Past is constructed by the auxiliary verb " to be " in his past form and the principal verb in infinitive by the completion ING:
The constant past is used:
- To speak on an action not finished in a point of the past I Have was playing football at half past four yesterday.
- To speak about 2 actions - one being longer than other one that interumpe the previous action I was cooking when the doorbell rang.
It is necessary to remember that it is possible to use when + simple past to speak about 2 consecutive actions in the past: I bought my ticket when the train arrived.
When the word is used while (while) normally the constant past is used.
examples: I listened to the news while I was driving.
Important:
There are some verbs that can´t be used in the continuous form in English. Here´s a short list:
- believe
- hear
- see
- sound
- understand
- want
- like
Since the constant past is formed
Constant affirmative past:
Subject + was/were + present participle (verbo+ing)I+ was + reading. (He was reading)
Constant negative past:
Subject + wasn´t/weren´t + present participle
I wasn´t reading. (He was not reading).
Constant interrogative past : Questions was/were + subject + present participle
Were you reading? (Were you reading?)
Spelling Tips
- To make the present participle add ‘ing’ : Finish --> finishing
- If the verb ends in one vowel and one consonant you need to double the consonant:Stop --> stopping
- If the verb ends in ‘e’ remove the ‘e’ before adding ‘ing’ : Take --> taking
Exercises
- Have a go at this exercise to practise using the past simple and continuous
- I ................(read) a magazine when it ................(start) to rain.
- Some friends ……………..(arrive) while we …………….(watch) television.
- He …………….(cook) dinner when he ………….. (receive) a text message from his girlfriend.
- They …………….(play) football when the storm …………….(begin).
- What ……………………..(you/do) yesterday at 3 pm?
- ………………(you/study) when I ………………..(ring) you last night?
- He …………….(can) sleep because the baby …………..(cry).
- She……………(arrive) as the train was ……………….(leave) the station.
- The children ………..(listen) while the teacher ………..(explain) the answers.
- I…………….(listen) to the radio when I…………..(receive) your email.
Past Continuos And simple
