TENSE TUESDAY: PAST CONTINUOUS FOR PARALLEL ACTIONS
04 / 04 / 2017
Past Continuous
TENSE TUESDAY: PAST CONTINUOUS FOR PARALLEL ACTIONS: meaning and examples
Hello, readers! Welcome to Tense Tuesday.
Today we are looking at the use of the Past Continuous with parallel actions. Remember that the Past Continuous has the following form:
was / were -ING
We use this twice in the same sentence to show when two actions were happening at the same time; these actions are parallel.
With parallel past-continuous actions, we use the word WHILE. We can place WHILE in between the two tenses or at the beginning of the sentence.
Example 1: I was reading while he was making dinner.
Example 2: While you were sleeping, I was cleaning the whole house. Now I'm tired!
Example 3: Were you watching kids while they were playing?
Example 4: I was falling asleep while the professor was lecturing.
We can also use the past continuous repeatedly in the same sentence to create various parallel actions.
Example 5: While studying at university I was working two jobs, volunteering at the local hospital, and running a small business. I was very busy.
That's all for today. Thank you for reading!
