Present simple or continuous?

Question

16. I was just opening the letter when the wind blew it out of my hand. 17. The burglar was opening the safe when he heard footsteps. He immediately put out his torch and crawled under the bed. 18. When I was looking for my passport I found this old photograph. 19. You looked very busy when I saw you last night. What were you doing? 20 . The boys were playing cards when they heard their father steps. They immediately hid the cards and took out their lesson books. 21. He was cleaning his gun when it accidentally went off and killed him. 22. He did not allowed us to go out in the boat yesterday as a strong wind was blowing.

Anonymous · Accepted Answer

16. "Was opening" is past continuous. "Blew" is past.

17. "Was opening" is past continuous. "Heard" is past. "Put out" and "crawled" are past.

18. "Was looking" is past continuous. "Found" is past.

19. "Looked," "saw," "were doing" are all past. "Were doing" is the interrogative form of "did," which is the past tense of "do."

20. "Were playing" is past continuous. "Heard," "hid," and "took out" are past.

21. "Was cleaning" is past continuous. "Went off" and "killed" are past.

22. "Did allow" is part of the negative past form, "did not allow," which is the past negative of "allow." Note: "He allows us to go out in the boat." is present. "He does not allow us to go out in the boat." is present negative. (You cannot say: "He not allow us to go out in the boat.") "He allowed us to go out in the boat." is past. "He did not allow us to go out in the boat." is past negative. (You cannot say: "He not allowed us to go out in the boat.")

"Was blowing" is past continuous.

Present simple or continuous?

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