Past Continuous - Was going to -

Used to - Be/Get used to o

~ Listen and repeat. Then act out.

How did the thief get away? Weren't you

-ol/owing him while he wat; trying to get away? - -

.,
•

Past Continuous: was/were + verb -ing

Affirmative Interrogative Negative

Long form Short form

I was helping Was I helping? I was not helping I wasn 't helping
You were helping Were you helping? You were not helping You weren't helping
He was helping Was he helping? He was not helping He wasn't helping etc.
She was helping Was she helping? She was not helping
It was helping Was it helping? It was not helping Negative - Interrogative
We were helping Were we helping? We were not helping
You were helping Were you helping? You were not helping Wasn't I helping?
They were helping Were they helping? They were not helping Weren't you helping? etc.

Time words used with the Past Continuous: while, when , as

The fire alarm went off at the Crown Hotel last night. Put the verbs in the
past continuous to describe what each person was doing.

When the fire alarm went off, Mr Cook ........ .wa.t2 .talkinq . ....... (talk) on the phone.
2 A porter .••.•.•.••.....•.....•••...............•............. (carry) some luggage.
3 Miss Jones ..................................................... (read) a magazine.
4 Two men ................................................. (sit) in the reception area.

~ 59 -..
 Past Continuous - Was going to - Used to -
Be/Get used to

Past Continuous versus Past Simple

Past Continuous is used: Past Simple is used:

• for an action that was in the middle • for an action completed at a stated
of happening at a stated time in the time in the past.
past.
He finished his homework at 7 o'clock.
At 8 o'clock last night she was watching TV.

• for two or more actions which were • for actions which happened one after
happening at the same time in the another (sequence of actions).
past (simultaneous actions).
He slipped,
fell over and hurt his ankle.

At 5 o'clock yesterday afternoon Ben was

doing his homework while his dad was
cooking dinner.

• for a past action which was in •

'.
with non-continuous verbs: appear
progress when another action (=seem), believe, belong, cost, feel ,
interrupted it. We use Past forget, hate, have (=possess), know,
Continuous for the interrupted action like, love, mean, need, prefer, realise,
and Past Simple for the action which remember, see, seem, smell, sound,
interrupts it. suppose, taste, think, understand,
want, etc.

Linda was watching TV when the phone

rang. Sylvia saw Alex at the party yesterday.

• to describe the background to the • for people who are no longer alive.
events in a story.
Shakespeare wrote a lot of plays.
We were walking in the woods. It was (Shakespeare is dead. He won't write any
raining hard ... more.)

60
 Past Continuous - Was going to - Used to -
Be/Get used to
0
Use the past continuous or the past simple and the phrases to label the
pictures. Then identify the speech situations.

• actioA iA the middle of happeAiAg • sequence of actions • interrupted action

• simultaneous actions • completed action • people who are no longer alive

.0t;.t;i0J1 jt] .tb~. r.rJidcJltL 2 ....................... 3 ...................... .

. of. b0P.P~t;1itJ@ ........ .

(they sleep/at 11 o'clock/ (wash up/feed the dog/an (last night/Mrs Smith ,
yesterday evening) hour ago) knit/Mr Smith watch TV)
.Tbei/. were.sleepit:1g. .. ...................... . ·......................
.at.11. o.'clock. ......... . .. . . .. .. . . . . . . . .. . .. . . ·......................
,)iest~rdai/. e.v~l1in@ •.. . ...................... ·......................
4 ....................... ," 5 . ....................... 6 ·......................

(they sunbathe/start to (Gustave Eiffel/build/the (Claire/have first birthday /

rain) Eiffel Tower) 2 days ago)

Was / Were going to

Was going to is used to express fixed arrangements in the past, unfulfilled plans or
an action which someone intended to do in the past but didn't do.

He got up early. He was going to catch the 6 o'clock train. (fixed arrangement in the past)
She was going to travel around Europe but she didn't because she fell ill. (unfulfilled plan)
She was going to buy a new car but in the end she repaired her old one. (She intended to buy a car
but she didn't)
•

Past Continuous - Was going to - Used to -

Be/Get used to

Write what was going to happen but didn't.

catch / bus have / picnic buy / dress

1 . s.fJ~. v.vti~ . @Ojr,10. tP. ... 2 ....•.......•.•.•.••.•• 3 ••.......••.••.•.......

. bJJ;j. ti dr.~;5£3. .... but a : I

thief stole her bag. : but he was too late. but it started to rain.

Put the verbs in brackets into the past simple or the past continuous. Then
say which uses of these tenses are shown in each extract.

[!] Heath Ledger 1) ... waB. .. (be) a very talented Australian actor who 2) •..••...•••.....
(try) different kinds of roles. One of the last films he 3) •.•.. : ••...•.•.••..• (take) part in was
The Dark Knight, where he 4) . . . . . . . . . . . • . . . . . . .. (play) the evil Joker. Sadly, he
5) ••...••••.•.....•.•. (die) on January 22nd, 2008 at the age of 28.

[ID It 1) ........................ (happen) at 8 o'clock last night. John and his wife, Jane,
2) •••••••••.•••.••••••• (sit) in their living room. They 3) .•••.•••.•.••••.•••••. (watch) TV
while their daughter 4) •••••.••••. . • • • . • • • • • • •• (play) with her toys. Suddenly, the room
5) .••••••••••••••••••.•.•. (start) to shake and two vases 6) •••.•••••.•.•••••.•••••• (fall)
to the ground.

Put the verbs in brackets into the past simple or the past continuous.

A: I . )r~q y'/~/kir,10.. (walk) home yesterday when I ... .r.~t1. llJto.. .. (run into) Jennifer.
B: Is she OK? I haven't seen her for such a long time.
2 A: What ........................... (happen) to your leg?
B: I ........................... (break) it while I ........................... (ski).
3 A: I ......•.....•....•.... (call) you yesterday morning but you ....................•..
(not/be) at home.
B: Yes. I ... .. .. .. . .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ... (walk) my dog.

~ 62
 Past Continuous - Was going to - Used to -
Be/Get used to
0
Used to - Be/Get Used to + noun / pronoun / -ing
Used to is used to talk about past Be/Get used to is used to talk about
habits. It has the same form in all habitual actions and means 'be/get
persons, singular and plural. It forms its accustomed to', 'be in the habit of'.
negative and interrogative form with did. I'm not used to getting up early.
I used to cry when I was a baby. They are used to cold weather.
I didn't use to sleep late. You'll get used to her when you get to
Did you use to sleep late? know her better.

Rewrite Victoria's comments using used to or didn't use to as in the example:

. Y.ic.t.ar.itl .LJ~e;d .to .'&'ar.k Jonq .rJOur.f? .......................................... .

2 .......... II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II I II II II II II II II

3 II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II

4 II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II II

5
6

Complete the sentences with the correct form of used to, be/get used to
and the verbs in brackets.

1 Lisa is very tired this morning. She .... j~n't. 1)p,4d. to. f3.t~yit;l0. t-I.p. •••• (not/stay up) late.
2 Don't worry. you ..................... soon .................... (wear) contact lenses.
3 He .........•.......••••................. (eat) a lot of chocolate when he was a child.
4 They didn't like living near the airport but they ......................•••..•....•..... it.
5 I •••••.......••.........•...••....•..•... (get up) at 6:30 am, so it doesn't bother me.
6 Sheila lives in the city but she still ...•••••.......••....•..••.•.•••.• (not) all the noise.

~ 63 ~
 Past Continuous - Was going to - Used to
Be/Get used to

Put the verbs in brackets into the past continuous or the past simple.

Last night 11) •• • ba.d ... (have) a wonderful dream.

This is what I 2) •.••.••••••••.••.••• (dream). We
3) •••••••••••••••......•. (take) a trip to Hawaii.
14) •••••••.•.•...•••• (be) with my family and two
of my friends. We 5) ...••.••••••••. (be) on a ship
and we 6) • .. .. • .. .. .. .. ... (travel) to Honolulu.
On the ship there 7) •.•.••.••••.••••• (be) a party.
We 8) •••••.•...•.•••.•• (sit) on nice comfortable
seats and we 9) •••••.•.•••••.••••• (drink) exotic
juices. Lots of people 10) •••••••••••••••••••••••
(dance) and the music 11) •••••••••••••••••.••••
(play) loudly. We 12) .............................. (have) a lot of fun! When the ship
13) ....................... (arrive) in Honolulu, a man 14) ........................ (wait)
to take us to our hotel. The hotel where we 15) ••••••••••••••••••••••••• (stay) was by a beach
lined with palm trees. Drums 16) •••••••••••••••••••••••••••• (beat) and people on the beach
17) ............................ (sing) and 18) .......................... (dance) to the
music. The music 19) ................................. (get) louder and louder until I
20) ••••••••••••.•••••••••••• (hear) a ringing sound. It 21) ••••••••••••••••••••••••• (be)
my alarm clock! It 22) ...................................... (be) 7 o'clock and time to get
up for school.

Circle the mistake (A or B), then correct it.

1 While we were having a picnic, it was starting to rain. ... f?1;~rtt1.d . ..

A ®
2 Alicia was painting a picture when her mum was cooking.
A B
3 Laura was taking off her coat and sat down.
A B
4 While we were on holiday, we were spending most of our time sightseeing.
A B
5 Costas listened to his iPod, so he didn't hear the doorbell ring.
A B
 Past Continuous - Was going to - Used to - G
Be/Get used to

Speaking Activity
(Talking about a bad experience)
Chain story: Look at the pictures. Use the phrases to say what ,.

happened to John and his friends .

• John and friends / decide to take walk • they / try not to panic
in the forest • they / quickly / fall to ground / not move
• sun / shine, birds / sing at all
• they / enjoy walk / when / hear roar • bear / smell / them
• as they / look around / see big bear / • luckily / after few minutes / bear / leave
come towards them • they / feel/relieved / be / safe

S1: Last weekend John and his friends decided to take a walk in the forest, etc.

Now imagine you are John. Write in your diary about the terrifying
experience you had.
Dear Diary,
While on holiday, I had the worst experience of my life!
Last Saturday, my friends and I •.•...•..•.........................••.•..•..•..

~ 65 ~