Grammar for Speaking & Listening
  • Past Progressive

    • Past Progressive

    Narrate & Describe
    What is a narration? A narration is a story or a sequence of events. It is the explanation of an experience to an audience. We use narrations in many different ways, but the most common in spoken English is telling about something that already happened.

    Objectives

    1. Understand the difference between the three major aspects of past
    2. Produce the correct pronunciation of -ed endings 
    3. Correct spoken narrations & descriptions for accuracy
    4. Create detailed narrations& descriptions in English

    Narrations & Descriptions

    When we talk about narrations in terms of grammar and language, there are two very important vocabulary words: tense and aspect. These two concepts give us different, but essential, information about the story we are listening to.

    Tense
    tells us WHEN in time a verb occurred. Think of this as a timeline.
    Aspect
    adds information by telling us HOW that verb occurred in that time. Was it continuous? Or was the action in one particular moment?

    Past Progressive

    The one aspect we will discuss is past progressive. We use simple to talk about an action that occurred over time. 

    For example:

    She was running yesterday when it started to rain. (ongoing action)

    We were playing basketball before school started. (ongoing action)

    I wasn't smiling in that picture.

     

    You'll notice that these past progressive actions are used in connection with a simple past action that interrupts the continuous action. The simple past action is in a time clause to show the relationship between the two events.

    Simple Past Form

    Past Progressive has two parts: the auxiliary be and a present participle. A present participle ends with -ing. Here are some examples.

    They were watching the debate on television.

    Surprisingly, the new business was earning a lot of money in the first year.

    You can read more about present participles here.

    Exercise 1: Listen

    Listen to these stories and write down the past progressive verbs you hear. Notice how past progressive is used less frequently than other forms of the past.

    Transcript

    I was going

    I was wearing 

    I was wearing

    I was walking 

    It was a taxi going 

    we were going

    I was shooting

    Speaking Practice

    • The speaker's first story describes a cultural experience of moving to a new city. Have you ever had an experience of visiting a new place and feeling surprised by the culture? Narrate and describe that experience. 
    • This first story is about supporting the "wrong" sports team. Narrate and describe about an experience you had at a sporting event. It could be a sport you played, an event you attended, or an experience of watching a game with friends or family. 

    Exercise 2: It's a Funny Story

    • Share a funny experience.
    • Include as many details as you can about the experience and why it was funny.
    • Remember to organize the events clearly and to tell the story in the past.
    • Try to use a variety of verbs in pasts progressive form.

    Exercise 3: Story Train

    • The teacher will give your group a picture to make a story about.
    • One person will begin the story by saying some ideas in the pasts progressive. (ex. The man was walking on the street. He was singing a song...)
    • Then the next person will say a sentence in the simple past to interrupt the action (ex. A bus stopped, and the man got on the bus.)
    • The person will then continue the story with past progressive ideas until the next partner's turn (ex. He was riding the bus and watching the city out the window.)
    • Repeat this activity until the teacher tells you to stop.
    • Extra: Your teacher will assign a partner for you from a different group. Try to explain the story from memory to your new partner.

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    Access it online or download it at https://edtechbooks.org/advanced_low_listening__speaking/past_progressive.