Past Continuous
Tense
We use this tense to talk about
actions that were going on, or
happening at a certain moment in the
past.
At this time last Saturday, Paul was
playing in the park with his friends.
We often use past continuous to
say what was in progress, when
something happened:
The phone rang while I was doing my
homework.
I was reading a comic book while
my sister was watching TV.
When I was walking along the road, I
saw a car hit a motorbike.
Key words
1. While
2. Interruption
Last night, while I was sleeping,
the sound of the broken window
woke me up.
Form
Affirmative(Declarative)
- I, He, She, It + was + v-ing
I was studying.
He was playing.
- You, We, They + were + v-ing
You were reading.
They were sleeping.
Negative form
- I, He, She, It + wasn’t(not) + v-ing
I wasn’t (not) studying.
He wasn’t (not) playing.
- You, We, They + weren’t(not) + v-ing
You weren’t (not) reading.
They weren’t (not) sleeping.
Question form
- Was + He, She, It + v-ing?
Was he working?
- Were + you, we, they + v-ing?
Were they working?
Short answers
- Yes, he, she, it + was.
you, we, they were.
- No, he, she, it + wasn’t.
you, we, they + weren’t.
- It was raining on Monday so we didn’t
play football.
- Don’t turn the radio off! I was listening
to it.
We use the simple past to talk about a
complete action(long or short). We use
past continuous for actions which were
not complete at a past time.
- Jack got up at 6.00 and worked from
8 a.m. - 3 p.m.
- At 8 p.m., when Jack came home, I
was reading cartoon book.
We often use the past continuous and
the past simple together with while.
Past continuous: longer action or situation
Past simple: complete shorter action that
happened during the longer action.
- While I was having dinner, the phone
rang.
- While I was talking to my brother, Bill
came in.
were dancing.
was cooking dinner.
was driving home.
was not watching T.V.
“Enjoy learning my students”