Tham khảo tài liệu 'grammar practice for upperintermediate - part 3', ngoại ngữ, ngữ pháp tiếng anh phục vụ nhu cầu học tập, nghiên cứu và làm việc hiệu quả | Verbs Past continuous FORM was were present participle I was studying etc. USE Used in conjunction with the past simple to describe an action or event that started before the event in the past simple and was in progress when the event in the past simple occurred They were watching a film when we arrived. She was studying law when the war started. To describe an action event or situation that was in progress at a specified time in the past In 1982 we were living in a small flat in Bristol. In May of last year she was studying hard for her final exams. At 6 o clock this morning I was walking along the beach. Used with while to describe two actions that were in progress at the same time While I was driving along this morning I was thinking about what you d said. He was cooking the dinner while she was talking to him. With adverbials beginning with all . all night all morning all day yesterday to show that an action or event was in progress throughout this time I was watching television all evening. Were you working all weekend To describe the background and set the scene for a narrative in the past The wind was blowing and the rain was beating down. John Snell was standing at the bus stop shivering. He was trying to imagine being at home sitting by a warm fire. Finally he saw the headlights of the bus approaching from the distance. Contrast past continuous versus past simple The past simple describes a complete event in the past. The past continuous does not describe the complete event it describes the event in progress at some time between its beginning and its end. Stative verbs that is verbs that describe thoughts sentiments and states cannot normally be put into the continuous form. See p. 29 Look at the difference between these sentences He was cooking the dinner when I arrived. He started cooking the dinner before my arrival and the cooking was in progress at the time of my arrival. He cooked the dinner when I arrived. I arrived and then he cooked the dinner.
