USE 1 Specific time

FORM

PAST CONTINUOUS

There are some verbs in English which are considered to be troublesome.

TRANSITIVE	INTRANSITIVE	Raise, set, and lay are transitive verbs; they are followed by an object. Rise, sit, and lie are intransitive; i.e., they are NOT followed by an object.* In(a): raised is followed by the object hand. In (b): rises is not followed by an object. Note: Lay and lie are troublesome for native speakers too and are frequently misused. Hang as a regular verb means to kill someone with a rope around ones neck.
(a) raise, raised, raised (b) rise, rose, risen Tom raised his hand. The sun rises in the east.
(c) set, set, set (d) sit, sat, sat I will set the book on the desk. I sit in the front row.
(e) lay, laid, laid (f) lie,** lay, lain I am laying the book on the desk. He is lying on his bed. (g) hang, hanged, hanged (h) hang, hung, hung They hanged the murderer by the neck I hung my clothes in the closet.

[was/were + present participle]

Examples:

· You were studying when she called.

In the interrogative form the auxiliary verb is placed before the subject. In the negative form the negative particle not is placed after the auxiliary verb

· Were you studying when she called?

· You were not studying when she called.

The Past Continuous is used when we are talking about an action in progress at a certain moment in the past

Examples:

• Last night at 6 PM, I was eating dinner.
• At midnight, we were still driving through the desert.
• Yesterday at this time, I was sitting at my desk at work.

Note: In the Simple Past, a specific time is used to show when an action began or finished. In the Past Continuous, a specific time only interrupts the action.

Examples:

• Last night at 6 PM, I ate dinner.
  I started eating at 6 PM.
• Last night at 6 PM, I was eating dinner.
  I started earlier; and at 6 PM, I was in the process of eating dinner.

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