Past continuous tense and Lesya Ukrainka's life story
About course
English with Lesya Ukrainka? Absolutely! As a translator proficient in several European languages, one of the first feminists in the world, and a social activist poetess, she will undoubtedly inspire you to learn English.
Our online lesson is dedicated to exploring the life story of Lesya Ukrainka and the grammatical theme of Past Continuous. You will master the use of the past continuous tense as a narrative tool to describe extended background activities. We present grammatical rules in a simple and understandable manner, accompanied by engaging exercises and fascinating facts about the life of this brilliant and remarkable poetess.
This course is a collaborative effort between Green Penguin Media agency and the Books&Cartoons animation publishing house, part of the “Mandrivka Book. Ukraine'' project.
The course features a video in English, along with a comprehensive analysis of the grammatical topic of Past Continuous and interactive exercises to expand your vocabulary.
booyya - speak English like Lesya did!
- Level: Intermediate
- 1 lesson
- Teacher's language: English
- Interactive exercises
- Video
Course program
1 LESSON
Educational video
You will get acquainted with new vocabulary and practice listening to English
Grammar
Table with grammar rules
Tasks
Tasks for practicing and learning past narrative tenses
Who is this course for
The course is designed for an average or confident initial level of English.
You will like this course if you want to learn new and exciting things and at the same time improve your English.
What will you get after the course
After completing this course, you will be able to confidently discuss the life of the iconic Ukrainian poetess in English. Moreover, you will have mastered the Past Continuous tense for narrative purposes and acquired new vocabulary related to Ukrainian history.
- Level: Intermediate
- 1 lesson
- Teacher's language: English
- Interactive exercises
- Video
Past Continuous – this is the tense, which indicates an action that was happening at a specific moment in the past. If you want to describe riding a bike in the park yesterday evening, use this tense. If you're not familiar with the rules of using Past Continuous, we'll help you solve this problem now. And we'll also tell you a bit more about the new course from Booyya.
Past Continuous: basic rules for usage in English
The Past Continuous tense in English allows you to describe events that were ongoing in the past over a period of time.
Such sentences usually cover two events. For example: The children were doing their homework when I got home. Here, both the speaker's return home and the children doing their homework in the evening are described simultaneously. Even if the speaker describes only one event in this tense, it becomes clear that this action was ongoing at a specific time in the past: I was training yesterday at 7 o'clock.
The structure for forming sentences in Past Continuous follows these rules:
Subject + was/were + V-ing
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The players were playing well in the last part of the game
To form a question in this tense in English, you need to place were or was (depending on the subject) at the beginning or after the question word:
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Were the players playing well in the last part of the game?
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Where were the players playing well?
Negative sentences in this tense, according to grammatical rules, are formed by adding the particle not to was or were:
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The team was not (wasn’t) playing well until the second half.
When to use Past Continuous in speech
Here are 5 of the most common cases for using this tense:
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Long-lasting action in the past that was interrupted by another short action in the past. These are often complex sentences using words like after, while, or when. Example: Yuliia was leaving her home when she saw a missed call on her smartphone.
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Indicating a specific time in the past. Be careful to ensure that the action was ongoing; otherwise, Past Simple should be used. Example: At midnight everyone at the party was still having fun
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An action that was frequently performed in the past but is no longer relevant. These sentences usually contain words or phrases indicating frequency or regularity. Example: She was always trying to please her mom.
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Emphasizing the duration of an action in the past. Or how long was spent on a particular task. Example: Ballerinas were preparing all year for this performance
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Narrating a literary story. Learning the rules of this tense can be facilitated by any novel that describes scenes occurring against the backdrop of/or preceding the main events of the plot. Example: Visitors at the restaurant were enjoying their meals. Then there was an explosion
Verbs that are never used in the Past Continuous tense in English
English, like any other language, has state verbs that denote permanent states or feelings. These verbs are non-continuous. Therefore, they cannot be used in any continuous tense. Here is a list of the most commonly used state verbs (verbs not used in Past Continuous):
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Believe
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Hate
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Know
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Love
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Need
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Prefer
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Seem
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Understand
If you need to use such a verb in the past tense, then instead of Past Continuous rules, recall Past Simple:
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I understood physics class until we started atomic physics
Using the construction “was understanding” in the above sentence would be a semantic error. However, you may encounter such examples in informal English.
How to quickly memorize the rules related to the Past Continuous tense in English
To quickly learn the grammar of Past Continuous, use the new course from Booyya. It contains just one lesson describing the life and work of Lesia Ukrainka. In an engaging format, you will understand how to construct sentences in the continuous tense. The course will also help you:
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Learn to understand English by ear, as the nuances of this tense are presented in storytelling form;
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Test your knowledge and skills with interactive exercises;
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Permanently memorize complex grammar, as a bonus to the course you will receive a rules table;
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Expand your vocabulary or feel more confident in conversations;
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Learn more about the history of Ukrainian culture and how to talk about it to foreign friends.
The course on the rules of Past Continuous is designed for Intermediate-level students, as the instructor's language is English. However, mastering the new knowledge will not be difficult, as the information is presented in an engaging video format. Just one lesson – and the complex topic is mastered!
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