The Past Continuous tense

Affirmative form:

Subject + was/were + present participle (ing)

 

Subject	Verb to be	Present Participle (-ing)
I	Was	Studying
You	Were	Working
He/She/It	was	Playing
We	were	Singing
They	were	Dancing

 

 

Examples:

I was studying for my exam.

You were working hard yesterday.

He was playing with his friends.

We were singing a song together.

They were dancing all night long.

 

 

 

Negative form:

 Subject + was/were + not + present participle (ing)

 

Subject	Verb to be	Not	Present Participle (-ing)
I	Was	not	Studying
You	Were	not	Working
He/She/It	Was	not	Playing
We	Were	not	Singing
They	Were	not	Dancing

 

Examples:

I was not studying for my exam.

You were not working hard yesterday.

He was not playing with his friends.

We were not singing a song together.

They were not dancing all night long.

            

 

 

Question form: 

 Was/Were + subject + present participle (ing)?

 

Verb to be	Subject	Present Participle (-ing)
Was	I	studying?
Were	you	working?
Was	he/she/it	playing?
Were	we	singing?
Were	they	dancing?

 

Examples:

Was I studying for my exam?

Were you working hard yesterday?

Was he playing with his friends?

Were we singing a song together?

Were they dancing all night long?

 

The Past Continuous tense is used to describe an action

that was in progress at a specific time in the past.

 

 

Some common situations with the Past Continuous: 

1. To describe an action that was happening at a specific time in the past:

I was studying when the phone rang.

They were playing football at 4 p.m. yesterday.

2. To describe an action that was happening over a period of time in the past:

She was working on the project all morning.

They were walking in the park for hours.

3. To describe two actions that were happening simultaneously in the past:

 While she was cooking dinner, he was setting the table.

They were watching TV and eating popcorn at the same time.

4. To describe a repeated action in the past:

Every day at 6 a.m., I was jogging in the park.

They were always arguing about politics.

 

 

 

 

Some common adverbs  with Past Continuous:

At that time: I was studying at that time.

While: She was working while he was watching TV.

All day/night/morning/afternoon: They were dancing all night long.

Constantly: He was constantly checking his phone.

Continuously: The rain was continuously falling.

At that moment: At that moment, I was talking to my friend.

 

 

 

The common situations ( Table 4)

Situation	Example
Action happening at a specific time in the past	I was studying when the phone rang.
Action happening over a period of time in the past	She was working on the project all morning.
Two actions happening simultaneously in the past	While she was cooking dinner, he was setting the table.
Repeated action in the past	They were always arguing about politics.

 

 

 

Some common adverbs with Past Continuous :(Table 5)

Situation	Adverbs
Action happening at a specific time in the past	at that time, then
Action happening over a period of time in the past	all day/night/morning/afternoon, constantly, continuously
Two actions happening simultaneously in the past	while
Repeated action in the past	every day, night, morning, or afternoon, always

 

During can also be used with Past Continuous  to describe an action that happened within a specific period of time in the past.

Example: During the storm, we were watching TV.

In this sentence, during the storm refers to a specific period of time, and we were watching TV, which describes the action that was happening within that period of time.

 

Other examples using during with Past Continuous :

During the concert, she was dancing and singing along.

He was playing video games during the entire weekend.

They were walking in the park during the sunset.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Click here The Past Continuous tense

Click here The Present Continuous tense

Click here The Future Indefinite in the Past

Click here The Future Indefinite tense ( the Future Simple)

Click here The Past Indefinite Tense ( The Past Simple)

Click here The Present Indefinite Tense (the Present Simple)

Click here The Indicative Mood – the Active Voice