Lecture Notes: Past Progressive and Verb Tenses

What are Verb Tenses?

• Verb tenses indicate the time an action occurs.
• Key tenses discussed:
  • Simple Past: For short past actions.
  • Past Progressive: For long, continuing past actions.

Examples of Verb Tenses

• Simple Past:

  • "I called my friend at 9 pm last night."
    • Called is a short action.
  • "I talked to my friend for two hours last night."
    • Talked is a long action.

• Past Progressive:

  • "I was talking to my friend for two hours last night."
    • Was talking emphasizes a long action.

Forming the Past Progressive

• Structure: was/were + verb-ing
  • Examples:
    • "He was walking to school."
    • "They were waiting for me."
    • "The student was taking a test."
    • "The students were eating lunch."

Uses of Past Progressive

1. Interrupting Long Actions:

   • Indicates when a short past action interrupts a long past action.
   • Common time marker: when
   • Examples:
     • "I was watching TV when the power went out."
     • "The children were doing a science experiment when the fire alarm rang."
     • "It started to rain when she was walking to school."

2. Simultaneous Long Actions:

   • Used to show two long past actions happening at the same time.
   • Common time marker: while
   • Examples:
     • "I was watching TV while you were studying."
     • "Juan was playing the guitar while Maria was singing."
     • "While the teacher was writing on the board, the students were talking."

What are Clauses?

• A clause contains a subject and a verb.
• Types of clauses:
  • Independent Clause: Can stand alone as a complete sentence.
  • Dependent Clause: Cannot stand alone.
  • Example:
    • "I was watching TV when the power went out."
      • Independent: "I was watching TV"
      • Dependent: "when the power went out"

Reversing Clause Order

• The order of clauses can be reversed without changing the meaning.
• Comma is needed when a dependent clause starts the sentence.
  • Examples:
    • "It started to rain when she was walking to school."
    • "When she was walking to school, it started to rain."
    • "The students were talking while the teacher was writing on the board."
    • "While the teacher was writing on the board, the students were talking."
    • "Juan was playing the guitar while Maria was singing."
    • "While Maria was singing, Juan was playing the guitar."

Practice Activity

• Look at a picture and create sentences using simple past or past progressive verbs.
• Examples:
  • "He was climbing a ladder when he fell."
  • "They were singing in the car while he was driving."
  • "We were hiking when it started to rain."
  • "She was watching a movie while her parents were sleeping."
  • "When the phone rang last night, I was making dinner."
  • "While my sister was studying, my brother was watching TV."

Conclusion

• Understanding past progressive and simple past is essential for clear communication of actions in the past.