Emma introduces the topic of the lesson - past continuous and past perfect continuous tenses in English.

• Emma from mmmEnglish introduces the topic of the lesson
• She explains that they will focus on two important past tenses: the past continuous and the past perfect continuous
• She aims to help viewers understand the difference between these two tenses and when to use each one

Emma explains the past continuous tense, including its structure and when to use it.

• Emma explains that past continuous tense is used to express an ongoing action at a specific past time
• She provides an example: 'I was washing my hair when the water ran out', with 'was washing' as the past continuous tense
• She explains that the auxiliary verb 'be' is essential in all continuous tenses, and in the past continuous, 'be' becomes 'was' or 'were' depending on the subject

Emma explains the past perfect continuous tense, including its structure and when to use it.

• Emma explains that the past perfect continuous tense is used to show an action in progress before a specific past time
• She provides an example: 'I had been doing the dishes when John arrived', with 'had been doing' as the past perfect continuous tense
• She explains that the auxiliary verbs for this tense are 'had' and 'been', followed by the main verb in -ing form

Emma discusses the differences between the past continuous and past perfect continuous tenses.

• Emma points out that past continuous and past perfect continuous tenses both describe an ongoing action in the past, but they are used differently
• She explains that the past continuous emphasizes the ongoing nature of an action at a specific past time
• On the other hand, the past perfect continuous emphasizes that an action was ongoing before a specific past time and may not have been completed

Emma explains how both past continuous and past perfect continuous tenses can be used to express action and consequence.

• Emma explains that both tenses can express action and consequence, with one action informing the state of another
• She provides the example: 'It was raining so the ground was wet', where the action of raining results in the ground being wet
• In a past perfect continuous sentence like 'It had been raining so the ground was wet', the rain has stopped but the consequence is still there

Emma discusses the importance of time references in past continuous and past perfect continuous sentences.

• Emma points out that time references are often used in past perfect continuous tenses to emphasize the duration of the action
• She provides the example: 'Julia had been cooking for several hours', where 'for several hours' is the time reference
• She points out that, in contrast, past continuous sentences need to be precise about the moment in time the action was happening

Emma provides a practice exercise for viewers to test their understanding of the past continuous and past perfect continuous tenses.

• Emma gives viewers a practice exercise to help them get comfortable with choosing between the past continuous and the past perfect continuous tenses
• She instructs viewers to write down their answers and provides a tip to look out for time references and adverbs as clues to the correct tense
• She encourages viewers to check their answers in the video description

Emma wraps up the lesson, encouraging viewers to continue practicing and promising more practice opportunities in future lessons.

• Emma concludes the lesson by reinforcing the importance of practice in mastering these tenses
• She promises more practice opportunities in future videos, including a quiz and speaking practice
• She encourages viewers to subscribe to her channel for more English grammar lessons