Unit - 4

 THE PAST CONTINUOUS 

Express actions or states that were taking place in the past when another action or state interrupts or reinforces it. 

Example:

I was walking when I saw an eagle (I was walking when I saw an eagle).

2. Offer context, that is, give information about facts or situations in a specific time.

Last year, I was studying for exams (Last year, I was studying for exams)

3. Mention two or more actions from the past that happened at the same time.

While my son was playing video games, I was sleeping in his bedroom (While my son was playing video games, I was sleeping in his bedroom).

VOCABULARY

Formas del past continuous en inglés
Mode	Structure	Example	Traducción
Affirmative	Sujeto + verbo auxiliar (to be) + verbo en gerundio (ing) + complemento	Your dog was playing with its toys when I arrived	Tu perro estaba jugando con sus juguetes cuando llegué
Negative	Sujeto + verbo auxiliar (to be) + not + verbo en gerundio (ing) + complemento	I was not studying Physics at that time.	No estaba estudiando Física en aquel entonces
Interrogative	Verbo auxiliar (to be) + sujeto + verbo en gerundio (ing) + complemento + ?	Were you eating candies when I entered the room?	¿Estabas comiendo dulces cuando entré al cuarto?

EXERCISE

1. The phone rang while I (have)  breakfast.

2. It (get)  dark when I left them at home.

3. He didn't steal anything because I (look)  at him.

4. Tom didn't ride his bike to school yesterday because he (feel)  bad.

5. You (watch)  TV yesterday night when I called grandma.

6. It (rain)  all the day.

7. They (drink)  coffee the afternoon.

8. His son (play)  computer games yesterday afternoon.

9. We (sit)  on the grass, having a picnic, when it started pouring rain.

10. You (sleep)  more than ten hours a night when I met you.

DIRECT OBJECTS WITH PHRASAL VERBS

Phrasal verbs are verbs with two or three words:

main verb + particle (preposition or adverb)

Examples:

• I wake up at 7:30 every day.
• Please turn off the TV.
• My brother and I don’t get along. We fight all the time.
• She came up with a good idea.

Phrasal verbs are difficult because you often can’t understand the meaning of each expression from the words themselves. Also, many phrasal verbs are very similar (take up, take on, take in, take over, etc.) and a number of phrasal verbs have multiple meanings.

In this lesson, you’re going to learn 4 types of phrasal verbs and how each one functions in an English sentence.

If you’d like to learn more than 500 phrasal verbs in a natural way, by studying how they are used in conversations, come join my Phrasal Verbs in Conversation Course!

Phrasal verbs can be transitive or intransitive.

Transitive phrasal verbs can be separable or inseparable.

Intransitive Phrasal Verbs

Intransitive phrasal verbs have no direct object. (A direct object is “acted upon” by the verb).

Examples of intransitive phrasal verbs:

• I woke up at 10:30 AM.
• You can come over to my house after school.
• He’s going back to Russia next month.

Transitive Phrasal Verbs

Transitive phrasal verbs have a direct object.

Examples of transitive phrasal verbs (direct object is in blue):

• You need to fill out this form to register for the course.
  (fill out = complete)
• I’m going to cut down on fast food this year.
  (cut down on = reduce)
• Check out that website – it’s really great!
  (check out = look at, go to)

Separable & Inseparable Phrasal Verbs

Transitive phrasal verbs can be separable or inseparable. If a phrasal verb is separable, it means you can separate the two words and put the direct object in the middle. If it is inseparable, then you can’t do this.

Separable Phrasal Verb Example: TURN OFF

• Please turn off the TV.
• Please turn the TV off.

Inseparable Phrasal Verb Example: LOOK AFTER

• I’ll look after your dog while you’re on vacation.
• I’ll look your dog after while you’re on vacation – INCORRECT

 EXERSICE

You can _____ the television. I'm not watching it.

 switch on
 turn on
 turn off
 get off

Mind the gap when _____ the train.

 getting out
 getting on
 getting in
 getting over

The concert was cancelled because the band never _____.

 gave up
 came up
 showed up
 got up