Primary 5 English | Past Continuous: was/were + -ing 備課指引（導師用）｜was/were by subject, when for the short action, while for the long one

2026-11-10

Tutor lesson-prep guides · Primary English

A pupil can write “I was play football” and still freeze the moment when and while appear. This lesson teaches two decisions only: is the action long or short, and is the subject singular or plural.

Objectives — By the end the pupil can: (1) use was or were plus an -ing verb for something in progress in the past; (2) choose was or were from the subject alone, including the rule that you always takes were; (3) decide in a when or while sentence which verb takes the past continuous and which takes the past simple.

01 Prerequisites (3-minute check)

If any of these fails, fix it before the lesson starts.

Skill	Quick check	Pass mark
Irregular past simple	What is the past of go, see and take	went, saw, took
Present continuous	What does be plus -ing show	Something happening now
Subject and be verb	Which be verb goes with he and with they	he takes was, they take were

02 Lesson flow (40 minutes)

Time	Stage	Tutor does	Student does
0-5 min	Diagnose	Ask three times what they were doing at seven yesterday	Past simple answers expose the gap
5-15 min	The shape	be verb plus -ing, with the be verb in the past	Write the full pattern
15-25 min	was and were	Fill 12 sentences by subject	All correct
25-33 min	when and while	Long action with while, short action with when	Join two sentences
33-40 min	Exit check	Mark three items live	Three out of three

03 Teaching script (read it out)

Scene 1: Sort the actions by length before naming any tense

Pupils treat the past continuous as a louder past simple, so they use it everywhere. It does one job only: the unfinished line in the picture.
The fixed question is whether the action lasted three minutes or three seconds. Three minutes and unfinished takes was or were plus -ing; three seconds and finished takes the past simple.
Contrast one scene: I was playing football at three o clock yesterday, then the phone rang. The game is the background, the ring is the interruption.

Ask the pupil: label I was having a shower and the doorbell rang as long or short.

Scene 2: was and were follow the subject, never the clock

The common error is choosing was or were by feel. There is one rule: I, he, she, it and every singular noun take was; you, we, they and every plural noun take were. You takes were even when it means one person.
Method: after writing a sentence, circle the subject, say singular or plural, and only then write the be verb. Keep the order fixed and most errors disappear.
The model sentence is only 9 words long, which makes the subject and the be verb easy to check: I was doing my homework at seven o clock.

Ask the pupil: why is “You was” always wrong, even for one person?

Scene 3: when marks the interruption, while marks the background

The two words are not interchangeable. When introduces the moment that cuts in, usually in the past simple; while introduces what was already going on, usually in the past continuous.
Three rewriting steps: find both actions, decide which is long and which is short, then put the long one after while and the short one after when, with the main clause in the past continuous and the subordinate clause in the past simple.
The check is to read the sentence and ask which action is the background music. If the pupil can answer that, the tense follows.

Ask the pupil: join two short sentences once with when and once with while, then say what changed.

04 Question types and worked steps

Type	Example	Steps	Answer
Gap fill	Choose was or were	Circle the subject, decide singular or plural, write the be verb	You always takes were
Verb form	Change the verb to -ing	Add -ing, drop a silent e, double the final consonant	run becomes running
Picture description	Three sentences about what people were doing	Person plus was or were plus -ing plus place	Three different subjects
Sentence joining	Join two sentences with when or while	Sort by length, then place the clauses	Write both versions

Sanity check (teach this): Check the numbers: the lesson is 40 minutes and the five stages must add up to 40; only 5 of the six irregular verbs are modelled (go, see, take, come, eat) and the rest become homework; every sentence the pupil writes needs both a be verb and an -ing form, and a sentence missing either one is wrong.

05 Independent practice (3 questions)

Question	Answer	What to watch
12 gap fills	Three each for I, he, they and you	Check whether the subject was circled
-ing forms	play, run, make and swim	make drops the e, swim doubles the n
Three picture sentences	One classroom picture	No repeated subject
Joining	One sentence with when, one with while	Long and short actions assigned correctly

06 Common mistakes and what to say

Mistake	Student writes	Say this
Missing be verb	“I playing football”	-ing cannot stand alone; was or were must come first.
Wrong be verb	“They was singing”	Circle the subject: they is plural, and plural takes were.
when and while swapped	“While I watched TV, the phone rang.”	Is the television the background or the interruption? Background takes while.
-ing spelling	“makeing”, “runing”	make drops the e and run doubles the n; both are marked in exams.

07 Homework (paper, section and question numbers)

Primary English chapter index — Other grammar chapters in the subject
All prep guides — Parallel chapters in other subjects
Redo this chapter — Questions 1 to 4 again, circling the subject first

08 Exit check (last 5 minutes)

Question	Answer	Decision
Which be verb goes with you	were	Answering was means restart act two
Which tense follows while	Past continuous, the long action	Answering past simple means redo act three
The -ing form of make	making	Answering makeing means reteach the spelling rule

09 Tutor FAQ

Must the was and were table be memorised?

No. Circle the subject every time and the rule applies itself.

Can the past continuous sit with yesterday?

Yes, but with a past point in time such as at seven yesterday; a bare yesterday usually takes the past simple.

Does when always take the past simple?

Usually, because when brings the interruption; if it carries the background it can take the past continuous, so judge by length.

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A TutorZone lesson-prep guide. Written by the TutorZone team; questions and lesson flow are original and are not taken from any school or publisher material.