Adv4 Un2 - Pst Progres and Simp Pst

Past Progressive and Simple Past:

Past Progressive and Simple Past Someone Stole His Briefcase! 1 Focus on Grammar 3 Part I, Unit 4 By Ruth Luman, Gabriele Steiner, and BJ Wells Copyright © 2006. Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

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What did you see ? It was about ten in the morning, and I was sitting in Maxi’s Café near City Park. I was having a cup of coffee, and I was watching the people in the café. What were you doing ? Reporting to the Police 1

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Suddenly, there was another young man. He snatched the red briefcase and ran away with it so fast that no one knew what was happening . To my left, there was a young man. He was drinking coffee and reading a newspaper. A big red briefcase was standing next to his feet. Reporting to the Police 2 To my right, there was a young woman. She was eating a huge dish of ice cream. She was enjoying it. After the man stole the briefcase, we were all talking loudly. The owner of the briefcase was very upset!

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10 a.m. Past Progressive Use the past progressive to describe an action that was in progress at a specific time in the past. now was having past future I was having coffee. She was eating ice cream. was eating

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Be Careful! Non-action verbs are not usually used in the progressive. Note the exception with have . I was having coffee. She was having ice cream. I was having a headache. I had a headache. Here the meaning of have is eat or drink .

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Past Progressive & Simple Past 1 Use past progressive with simple past to describe an action that was interrupted by another action. now stole They were enjoying the morning when the thief stole the briefcase. past future They were enjoying the morning when the thief stole the briefcase. were enjoying

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Past Progressive & Simple Past 2 Use past progressive for the action in progress. Use when and the simple past for the action that interrupts . now snatched The man was reading the newspaper when the thief snatched his briefcase. past future The man was reading the newspaper when the thief snatched his briefcase. was reading

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I was sitting in Maxi’s Café and watching the people there. The thief stole the briefcase and ran away. The thief stole the briefcase and ran away. Past Progressive & Simple Past 3 Use past progressive to focus on the duration of an action. Use simple past to focus on the completion of an action. now was sitting / was watching past future I was sitting in Maxi’s Café and watching people. stole ran

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The man was reading the newspaper while the woman was eating her ice cream. The man was reading the newspaper while the woman was eating her ice cream. Past Progressive with While 1 Use past progressive with while to describe two actions in progress at the same time in the past. now past future was reading was eating

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While I was describing the theft, the police officer was writing everything down. While I was describing the theft, the police officer was writing everything down. Past Progressive with While 2 Use past progressive with while to describe two actions in progress at the same time in the past. now past future was describing was writing

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Time Clauses The time clause (= the part with while or when ) can come at the beginning or the end of the sentence. They were having coffee when the thief snatched the briefcase. When the thief snatched the briefcase they were having coffee. no comma comma!!! ,

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Be Careful! Sentences with both clauses in the simple past have a different meaning from sentences with one clause in the simple past and one in the past progressive. When the waiter came , I was looking at the menu. When the waiter came , I looked at the menu. First the waiter came; then I looked at the menu. now past future came First I was looking at the menu; then the waiter came. was looking came looked