Past Continuous

was/were + verb-ing

Action at specific time in the past

• Q: I called you at 7pm last night, but you didn’t answer. What were you doing at that time?

• A: At 7pm last night, I was taking a shower.

One long action and one shorter action at the same time

• While I was driving to work yesterday, a taxi hit my car.

• While I was shopping in Myong-Dong, I saw Won Bin.

Two long actions at the same time

• Last night, I was talking on the phone while I was cooking dinner.

A sequence of events (use simple past)

• Last night I got home, took off my shoes, drank a beer, ate dinner, tooka shower and went to bed.

(these actions happen one after the other – not at the same time).

We often use past continuous and simple past together to tell a story.

• Last night I finished work, walked to the bus stop and took a bus to Myong-Dong. I wantedto buy some shoes so I walked to the main shopping street in Myong-Dong to look for shoe stores. As I was walking down the street I saw Kim Tae Hee! She was filming a movie in Myong-Dong and lots of people were standing around and watching her. I stopped and askedher for a picture and she said, “Sure, no problem.” She was very pretty so I decided to ask for her phone number, but as I was asking her a security guard told me to go away! I wasvery angry!